It looks like another heritage building in Delta will soon face the wrecking ball.
A temporary stop demolition order issued for the R.E Kittson farmhouse at 9230 Ladner Trunk Rd. has expired without anyone stepping forward to save the structure.
A member of Delta's community planning department told the Optimist the new owners of the property would like to proceed with demolishing the house if someone doesn't buy it and move it elsewhere. A report notes restoring the home would cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The home, which is uninhabited, is in a high profile location near the junction of highways 10 and 99.
Delta pioneer Robert Kittson built a barn on the property 1895, but it was recently demolished. The house was built in 1907.
Meanwhile, another heritage structure in East Ladner faces a similar fate.
The Delta Heritage Advisory Commission recently discussed a demolition application for the Harris Barn at 5561-64 St. The barn dates backs to the early 1900s and was moved to its current location in 1940.
The commission was told the barn scored 98/100 in a heritage inventory evaluation over 20 years ago, but the owners claim the barn is now in a state of disrepair and they'd like to replace it with a new house and barn.
One of the commissioners who toured the structure said it didn't appear to be suffering from dry rot and has considerable material that could be salvaged and reused.
It was noted during the commission's discussion that Delta's heritage incentives apply mainly to urban heritage while Delta's rural past is fast disappearing.
The commission agreed to ask Delta council to request the owner advertise the barn for $1 "in whole" to the farming community. If there's no interest, the barn would then be offered "in part" to others in the community for the repair and/or restoration of other heritage barns.
A heritage building in Ladner Village, the former McCrea Pool Hall, has been assured preservation with a bylaw considered by Delta council last week. The wood frame, two-storey commercial building, with its north façade virtually intact with original siding, window and trims, opened as a pool hall in 1913.
The building is one of the few remaining original commercial structures in Ladner, located on a block with Delta's second municipal hall and two other significant buildings from the same period.
