BRAMPTON - Vandals have done $2,000 worth of damage to an historic Brampton barn, prompting a plea for parents to talk to their children about the value of local heritage. "They (heritage buildings) are a non-renewable asset. Once they're gone, they're gone," said Bob Hulley, president of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO), Brampton branch. Time and effort from local volunteers- and money— are put into restoring and designating heritage buildings in Brampton, but vandals continue to destroy and damage properties left vacant or temporarily unoccupied, Hulley said. "This happens all over the city," he said, referring to the damage done last week to the Circa 1830s McVean Heritage Double English Wheat Barn in Claireville Conservation Area. The barn was recently designated as historically significant under the Ontario Heritage Act. The City of Brampton had provided $7,000 to have the barn fixed up and secured, but last week vandals destroyed a large portion of the outside wall, pulling off 22-foot long barn boards and stomping them to pieces on the ground, he said. Mike Shook, a FarmStart worker who was nearby and heard the noise, caught three teens in the act. "My heart was sad when I saw those lovely old boards, filled with old fashioned square nails, splintered on the ground," Shook said. "Hopefully, our increased presence there, with farmers coming and going daily, will prevent another occurrence." Hulley said unoccupied heritage buildings all over the city are targetted regularly. "I have seen heritage buildings where all the windows and sashes have been broken, holes punched in the walls, doors torn off their hinges and floors ripped up, I suppose all in the name of having some fun," Hulley said. "It goes much further than just bricks and mortar," he said. "These are non-renewable heritage community assets that are being preserved as reminders of the people who built this country and its culture. These buildings represent physical evidence of their existence and can't be replaced." He said it saddens him to know that the barn stood for more than 170 years and survived in tact, while it took a group of teens very little time to change all of that. The McVean barn has been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, but is no longer in use, a situation Hulley would like to see changed. He said he believes the answer is in finding uses for heritage buildings, instead of preserving them, then leaving them empty. "I think if it was occupied, and people in the community were involved in it, these kids wouldn't think it was just a piece of junk," Hulley said.
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