The former Connaught School, now known as the Collingwood Fitness Centre or Contact Centre, has been disignated as a heritage building. The Town of Collingwood owns the former east-end school and council recently passed a by-law to give the building a heritage designation.

A heritage designation means that a building can be renovated inside, but the original state of the building is protected on the outside. The Standards for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada are intended to promote responsible conservation practices that help protect Canada’s irreplaceable historic places. They provide a philosophical consistency for project work; and while neither technical nor case-specific, they provide the framework for making essential decisions about which features of a historic place should be maintained, and which can be altered.

Tax Refund For Heritage Owners Approved By Council

Collingwood Council has approved a tax refund program for owners of heritage buildings. The Winter 2010 Collingwood Heritage Newsletter states that the municipal program would offer a 10 percent tax relief to owners of properties designated under Part IV and Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. The province of Ontario participates in the program by funding a 10 percent reduction in the education portion of the property tax.

The Staff Report states that heritage property tax relief is a financial tool for municipalities to help owners maintain and restore their properties for the benefit of the entire community by providing incentives for residential and commercial property owners to maintain and improve heritage designated properties.

Under the tax relief program, the owner of a large Part IV residential property with an assessed value of $654,000 would save $683 (10% of the town and education portion) on a total 2009 tax bill of $8,681.

Applications will be reviewed by the buuilding department and the Heritage Committee before recommendations are made to Collingwood council for approval.