What is LACAC?
The purpose of the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory
Committee (LACAC) is to advise and assist the city council on
matters relating to the conservation of a building or property
of historic or architectural value.
Heritage Thorold LACAC researches and examines the history
and/or architecture of a candidate for designation to determine
if it meets the criteria set forth by the Ontario Heritage Act.
Heritage Thorold LACAC is active in promoting heritage
conservation within communities, and advising property owners on
appropriate conservation and maintenance practices.
Evaluating Heritage Properties
Designation is a municipal matter, for that reason the
legislation provides for a Local Architectural Conservation
Advisory Committee (LACAC) to assist city council in determining
the heritage value of the property to be designated. Some of the
criteria to determine designation are:
- A building or property may have been associated with the
life of a historic person, or have played some role in an
important historic event.
- A building may be a prime example of architecture or
construction of a specific period, or the work of an
important builder, designer, or architect.
- Antiquity alone is not a sufficient basis for nomination,
but may be a vital factor where comparable structures have
become rare.
- Where a building is an integral part of a distinctive area
of the community, or is considered to be a landmark, its
contribution to the neighbourhood character may be of
special value.
- A modest structure may be no less important to the
community's heritage than an architectural gem such as a
mansion or public building.
- A building, together with its site, should retain a large
part of its integrity - its relation to its earlier state -
in the maintenance of its original or early materials and
craftsmanship.
- Subjective factors such as personal memories, community
attachments, or aesthetic tastes are not unimportant, but
require balanced judgments.
- Specific architectural considerations should include
style, plan and the sequence of spaces: use of materials and
details including windows, doors, signs, ornaments, and so
on.
- Natural heritage is also observed and is evaluated by
LACAC. Natural heritage includes trees, forests and
historically significant natural landmarks.
In general, properties of historic or architectural value
should be able, with suitable interpretation, to reveal some of
the broad architectural, cultural, social, political economic or
military patterns of our history, or should have some
association with specific events or people that have shaped the
details of that history.
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