On February 14th, 2023, the City of Winnipeg’s Executive Policy Committee voted on the removal of Leacock House at 442 Scotia Street from the City of Winnipeg’s List of Historical Resources. Heritage Winnipeg’s Executive Director, Cindy Tugwell, Councillor Ross Eadie and Natalie Smith (an area resident) were at the meeting to speak in opposition to the delisting of Leacock House. Nancy Parker, the Executive Director of Marymound, spoke about the organization’s request to have Leacock House delisted along with Kenneth Ingram. Councillor Sherri Rollins voted in favour of delisting Leacock House, while Mayor Scott Gillingham, Councillor Jeff Browaty, Councillor Janice Lukes, Councillor Brian Mayes and Councillor John Orlikow voted against delisting. As the motion to removal Leacock House from the List of Historical Resources did not pass, the house will retain its heritage designation, protected from demolition or alteration of its character defining element, and the issue will not proceed to Council.

Heritage Winnipeg is pleased that the City has chosen to uphold this heritage designation after the Historical Buildings and Resources Committee recommended the application for Leacock House to be removed from the List of Historical Resources, be denied on July 12th, 2022 and the Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development could make no recommendation after a tie vote on February 2nd, 2023.

Leacock House is a two and a half storey Queen Anne Revival style home built in 1882 for Edward Philip Leacock, a businessman and politician, which has been used to provide social services since 1911. The current owners, Marymound, a youth and family social services organization, sought a historical designation for the house, which it was given in 2012. In 2022, Marymound submitted an application to delist Leacock House as they no longer had any use for it and seemingly planned to demolish it. The application disingenuously pitted heritage conservation against the delivery of important social services, with little evidence to justify the potential demolition of a valuable historic building.

Heritage Winnipeg is grateful to Councillor Eadie and Natalie Smith for speaking in opposition to delisting Leacock House and to the Mayor and Councillors who voted against delisting. Leacock House is an important part of Winnipeg’s built heritage and should not only be protected for its historic value but also because it is the most environmentally sustainable option.