The City of Delta will help the owner of an historic house in Ladner keep up its appearances.
Council recently approved a recommendation to provide a Heritage Conservation Grant for repairs to the Frederick Residence at 4633 Arthur Drive.
The house was built in 1920, when the street was called Georgia Street, as a retirement residence for William Frederick and his wife Sarah.
It’s considered an excellent example of a California bungalow, which is a variation of the Craftsman-style.
The building includes a number of well-maintained decorative features such as leaded and stained glass windows.
The $17,633 grant to current owner Anne-Marie Semke is to help pay for repairs and repainting of the siding, roughly half the total estimated cost of the project.
The old home has been extensively renovated over the years, receiving Delta’s Heritage Award of Merit in 2009.
The city’s Heritage Conservation Grant is a fund that was created in 2017 from a five percent levy on building permits.
Since 2017, the city has awarded approximately $101,101. The new balance in the fund, minus the payment of the latest grant, is $466,036.
In June 2021, the fund had a balance of $319,925
It’s only been in the last year or so that the number of applications for a grants handed out has seen an uptick.
Few property owners in the first few years of its existence applied due to the requirements being found to be too onerous.
The city has since made a number of changes including increasing the maximum annual grants from $15,000 to $30,000.
The conditions remain that structures receiving funding be placed in Delta's Heritage Register and that a covenant be signed to protect buildings from demolition for a period of 10 years.
