Two Surrey heritage sites are at risk of being lost, despite the best efforts of the commission overseeing Surrey's history.
At its Jan. 20 meeting, the eight-member Surrey Heritage Advisory Commission addressed two properties
The first was by way of a request for the demolition of the Neville Curtis House at 5658 182 St. in Cloverdale. The commission opposed granting the permit and asked city staff to impose a 60-day protection order while the property was assessed.
Built in the 1930s, the Neville Curtis House is a one-and-a-half-storey home with jerkin-headed roofs, with a full-width porch supported by square columns. It is one of a number of high-value heritage homes built in Cloverdale during the Great Depression.
Coun. Dave Woods, the commission chair, said Monday it's a privately owned property and that there's little the city can do to save it.
The developer might have been required to pay for the heritage value, however it is not a protected heritage home.
The city classifies it as a site of interest, so the developer is free to demolish it without compensating the city.
The other property before the commission in January was the Old Anniedale School, at 9744 176 St.
Anniedale was used until 1954 and is Surrey's oldest school. The school district has sold the school to a church, which said it was open to working with the city on any rescue efforts.
Woods told the commission the first concern is to ensure the structural integrity of the school, which was built in 1890. The commission is hiring Barry McGinn Engineering and Preservation to conduct an evaluation of the property. The commission has determined its spending limit for that evaluation will be $17,000.
One possibility for rescue is to move the school to a city-owned property, perhaps in Cloverdale.
As to why the same rescue efforts aren't being made for the Neville Curtis House, Woods said the school is a higher priority.
"They're all high priorities. I hate to see these buildings go," Woods said. "But the houses are really tough."