Concerned citizens want to save Stratford’s first public hospital from the wrecking ball.
The Save Avon Crest group is intent on preserving Avon Crest, located at 86 and 90 John St. S. The building is owned by the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance (HPHA) and is intended to be demolished early next year.
Howard Shubert, a member of the group, told StratfordToday that many people in the city don’t even know that the old building across from the Stratford General Hospital is the city's former hospital. Built in 1891, the building has a unique architectural pedigree and is significant to the area, he said.
It is not a designated heritage building.
Shubert insists that their group is not trying to impose on the HPHA.
“We aren’t anti-hospital,” he said. “We just think they are missing an incredible opportunity … the greenest building is the building you already have.”
The group are inviting citizens to an open meeting/information session. The planned public meeting is one of the first steps in finding a solution for Avon Crest. A round-table discussion on the site will precede a number of notable guests speaking on various aspects of the building.
Professor Thomas Strickland of the McEwen School of Architecture will explain Avon Crest’s significance. Robert Lemon, a heritage architect, will speak on embodied carbon (the greenhouse gas emissions associated with building materials). CEO at a+LiNK Architecture Inc. Ed van der Maarel will discuss his firm’s restoration projects.
Mitchell Rhodes, director of the community renewal company at United Way Perth-Huron, will speak on the housing crisis and the need to house the homeless in the region. Avon Crest may be a part of the plan to solve that problem.
The meeting takes place on Dec. 13 at the Queen’s Inn at 7 p.m.. For more information, visit their website.
