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*ýhâ ssebwl ÊU PAGE SEVE 3- TAX IR70LT: TILE CANAJANPo) SITION BUIILDING DEMOLiTION AS A WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUIE Part I wUp until1 last Monday there was a large (4,000 sq. ft. I wudguess) bouse at 406 Dundas St. W. across from the library. It'now part of the Brock West landfill site - (about 120 tons of landfihl). Why perfectly sound buildings should-be carted off to the dump is just one of the many waste management issues of >the nineties. The construction industry, as anyone who lias visited any of our new subdivisions can attest, is wasteful. About 16% of the total waste stream is construction *waste. Most Of it could be eliminated by reduction, reuse, or recycing - the tbree RVs of waste reduction. Uuntil about tenyes ago, buildings were demolished by.salvage companies wo manually separated all the bricks, -:boards and pipes for resale ýo whoever wanted them. It was a dirty job but depending on the building, the cost of demolition was somnetimes fully covered by the sale of used materials. .'Anybody could go.,te a demolition- site and dicker with the foreman l te buy *doors, windows, fireplaces, or whatever. In my bouse I have several doors, doorframnes, a staircase, and a ,few hundred feet of baseboard that were acquired in just this *manner .; mostly.from old buildings in Whitby. But then,- about ten years ago, developers discovered just hoW fast a big hydraulic shovel could do the job - 8 hrs vs 3 "ý,weeks. And it ail went to the dump - the craftmansbip of a ;bygone era buried alongoïde the potato peels. The bouse on- Dundas St. had a couple of fridges and stvsin it. It had a cast iron pedestal sink in the upstairs bathroom - the kind that Ginger's in Toronto selse for $700-$800. And it had thousands of board feet of lwnber - some of it hardwood. I've heard stories of homes being bulldozed with clothes still in * the closets, food in the cupboards and a the furniture stiil in place, simply because nobod couldbe bothered to sort through the sole remaining -.physical'effects of someone -who bad died. Fortunately l somle of the specia features of this particularly fine house were saved because the neiglibours were allowed to salvage what they could at the last minute. They removed two built-in corner cupboards, a mantle, a built-ta china cabinet, baseboards, and the original front bevelled-glass doorframe. They left a lot more bebind. One of the reasons builders turned to hydraulic shovels for demolition was a glut of used materials - the Greenspoon wrecking. yardin Toronto had about balf an acre of old cast» iron, bath tubs the last time I was there. The glut was caused, in part, by building codes that make it very difficuit te build anything more than a doghouse out off used materials. But were now into a garbage crisis, and just as throwing newspapers in the garbage is a no-no, so should demolishing buildings with hydraulic shovels. Old buildings are not waste - they contain products which, thougli used, were designed te last a lifetime (or two) and are essentially unchanged from when they were installed. The most efficient and least wasteful use for old buildings is to refurbish them, modernize their plumbing and wiring, and, if necessary, convert them te a new use, as bas already been done with many of Whitby's older buildings. This option would correspond more or less te reduction in waste manage- ment equation. The reuse option would be te move the building intact te a new location. Moving buildings can be expensive but given the chance, many buildings can be moved and refurbished for a lot less than the cost of new construction. Building bowever, were not designed te be moved andth uncertainties and lack of guarantees are the principle impediments te moving more of them. Fortnetelythe:house next te 406 Dundas is being moved within Î.Le .next few weeks. It is a superb example of Regency cottage design, and I take considerable pride in having been instrumental in saving it. I was teld there isnet any market'but I found that tbat's simply an excuse te tsar them down. From just one ad placed in thi aper I had more* than twenty enquiries from people fromn Scartborougb te Bowmanville who were interested in moving it. I even had a call from Kingston fromn a person who specializes in dismantling buildings, for later resale and reconstruction. The buyers are out there - ites the developers and governments who can't be bothered. Carole Danard, 'a Royal Lepage agent in Markham, who lias made a specialty of heritage real estate bas had listings for several buildings that needed te be moved and bas found that if you put a si-on on tbeam sid let people k1nwteyr m III Il 411' -~ IJ DR. J. O. RUDDY GENEIRAL HOSPTAL UNDER CON?517RUCTlON, NOV. 49 1968 The Whitby General Hospital, as it bas been known since 1987, was built from 1967 te 1969 and officially opened by Ontario Premier John Robarts on May 14, 1970. fie hospital-is currently conducting a fund-raising drive for further expansion. whftbr AmmVS .phaMo 10 TEARS AGO from the Wednesday, Mardi 12, 1980 edition of the WITBY FREZ PRESB " A Whitby girl was kille in an accident at Manning Road after a beavy snowfall. " Wihitby Senior Puli ' hof won the Bowmanville K(insmen Club's 7th annual basketbal tournament. " Councillor Barry Evans mh ' ts snowmobiles banned fr-om town road. " WhitbyPsychiatric H-ospi an id Durham Centre for the Develcpmentally Handicapped are preparing for an illega staff strike. 25 TZAIRS AGO from the Thursda:y, Mardi i11, 1965 edition of the wHfIrIRBYWZELYNEWS " Former Councillor Joyce Burns' is the new vice-president of the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority. " lhe Town Council wants to bire a fuil-time welfare officer. " Ontario Housing Corporation bas approed 50 low rental bousing units for Whitby. " A cook book is the Centennial project for the St. Margaret's (Juild of Ail Saintsi Anglican Churcli. 125 TZARS A&GO from the Thursday, March 9,1865 edition of the WITBY CHRONICIZ " Cerd wood for the stoves at Henry Street Public School cost $60 for the winter. " The Board of Schcol Trustees reports the average attendance at the tewn's tbree schools is 332. " Toronto Arcbitects Gundry anmd Langley are advertising for tenders te, build Ail Saitts Anglican Churcli at Dundas anmd Centre Streets. " James Keitb is advertising a wagon maker's sbop te SlII-or rent at Broolin. 0 lllý