What is Heritage?

Heritage is defined as “something that is handed down from the past”. In the context of a community, it embodies everything concerned with the history, activities and creation of that community. This includes the music, art, costumes, cultural traditions and buildings of a community.

North Shore Heritage is mostly concerned with “built heritage." The historical development of the three North Shore communities is reflected in their buildings, both public and residential. The physical buildings reflect the residents’ prosperity and the natural building materials available at the time of construction.

In addition, heritage buildings may be valued for their association with one or more of their occupants or the activities associated with a public building. Heritage buildings, plus their surrounding landscape, are also an integral part of the streetscape.

Our society believes that each time a building is demolished, a tangible link to the community’s heritage is lost.

It is also a fact that the demolition of older buildings results in the squandering of irreplaceable resources such as “first growth” wood; hence, the ‘greenest’ building is an existing building.

For these reasons, our society advocates for the conservation of heritage buildings.