Score one for heritage preservation in the province of B.C. In a surprising decision Wednesday, a B.C. Supreme Court justice refused to do what was widely expected and rubber stamp the sale of West Vancouver's historic Binning House to a development firm owned by Bruno Wall.
Wall offered the financially beleaguered Land Conservancy $1.6 million, which would have helped the conservancy get out from under its mountain of debt.
But as heritage advocates, the province and municipal lawyers told the judge, convenient as it was, that's not what the donation of the Binning House was for.
The court case has been the first real test of whether the Charitable Purposes Preservation Act had the teeth to actually protect donated assets from later falling into private hands with no caveats about honouring the intent of the donation.
It's heartening to see the goals of the act upheld in the judgment this week.
While Wall had pledged to restore the home to its original glory, he refused to consider any legal requirements to keep it open to the public.
In a time when there's fading hope that public interest can be considered on a level playing field with the wealthy and big business, this is particularly refreshing.
The judge told the conservancy this week it had to do better than take the first unsolicited offer that came along. But this only goes part of the way to resolving the question of what will happen with the home considered to be the genesis of West Coast Modern architecture. The Binning House still needs expensive repairs and a new owner willing take it over and honour the intent of preserving it for the public.
But those who value heritage must know - the time to step up is now.
