HISTORIC BUILDINGS TELL PEOPLE STORIES
Society wants to save them all/
In the vast majority of cases, historic homes are named after their first owners, or in some cases significant individuals or families who lived there.
While it is true the house featured in this article was built by (for) Frederick Brent in 1870, it has come to be called the Fleming House, due to the desire to see it restored to its appearance while owned by William H. Fleming and subsequently by his son, the Rev. Everett Fleming.
During the late 1990s, the Brent homestead was coming under increasing development pressure with the extension of Leathead Road.
To preserve the buildings, a plan was needed to move them to a new location. In June 1999, Kelowna city council approved the use of a 10-acre parcel at the corner of Leckie Place and Dilworth Drive.
For the next several years, a Central Okanagan Heritage Society (COHS) volunteer committee worked with Don Luxton, Vancouver-based heritage consultant, city staff and others on all aspects of the move.
On Dec. 5, 2001, the Conservation and Feasibility Plan was presented to council. A Dec. 10, 2001, city file states in part: “AND FURTHER THAT the Brent’s Grist Mill relocation and site development costs (servicing, parking and foundations) be included for consideration in future City of Kelowna budget considerations.”
Council comments from that same meeting state “security and fire protection will be essential from the start once the buildings are moved onto the city-owned site.”
The historic buildings were relocated in 2002. On Feb. 17, 2003, a sod-turning ceremony took place at the newly named “Brent’s Heritage Homestead and Grist Mill Park.”
In May 2003, COHS sent a letter to the city, requesting the city “commence with the planned on-site servicing of the site at the earliest possible opportunity.”
The letter went on to say “having the buildings sit empty without a resident caretaker on site increases the risk of damage and or destruction.”
In 2008, a second feasibility study was undertaken by Luxton, who worked with locally based Urban Systems and community members, including COHS staff and volunteers, to create a comprehensive park plan.
In the closing paragraph of the executive summary, Luxton stated, “It is now timely to move towards implementation of the restoration plan for the buildings.”
During the next few years, COHS raised $55,000 for restoration of the Fleming House. While the Grist Mill building is vitally important, it was felt having the house with a resident caretaker on site would provide a level of protection.
“This was no small task as we were raising funds for three derelict buildings sitting in an empty field. There was no indication from the City of Kelowna when servicing and the park plan would come to fruition,” said Janice Henry, past COHS executive director.
Money raised for the Fleming House was used for a series of repairs.
In the mid-to-late 2010s, the city’s civic properties manager, Randy Cleveland, held a series of meetings with civic groups looking for community direction in helping set the city’s heritage priorities. Brent’s Grist Mill came out on top.
In March 2014, the city issued a Request for Expression of Interest (REOI) on three city-owned heritage sites, including the Brent’s Grist Mill, house and dairy barn.
The REOI said: “The city owns a number of heritage assets that have significant meaning to the citizens of Kelowna … The city wishes to maintain these assets.”
No proposals came in on Brent’s Mill, due to the significant amount of money and expertise required. It would be wrong to think that this, in any way, was a sign of a lack of community interest.
COHS hosted a packed meeting at Reid Hall on June 23, 2014. UBC professor James Hull spoke about the importance of grist mills. Those in attendance were keen to see Brent’s Grist Mill brought back to life.
As a result of this meeting, COHS was asked by a city staff member to create a proposal for how to move the Brent’s Mill project forward. In five weeks, COHS delivered a document, “A Solution for Brent’s Mill.”
This 2014 report showed that, with a city expenditure of $100,000 a year for three years, combined with gifts in kind from community groups, the project would be well underway.
The city took the work done by COHS and started to undertake the first few steps laid out in the plan with no further contact with COHS.
Fast forward to July 2018, when the Fleming House had its first fire. The roof was destroyed. The city was going to tear down the house, but with input from local heritage experts, it is was agreed to clean it up and put on a metal roof, which would preserve the interior of the building until a way could be found to do a proper restoration.
We now have had a second fire, which has all but destroyed the Fleming house.
The city saying that, “We value our historic buildings”, and then letting them sit wasting away for close to 20 years has created the situation we are in today.
Will the City of Kelowna take action and dust off old reports, site drawings and park plans, and work with the community to settle on a solution once and for all?
While the city has many competing interests for community tax dollars, allocating some money to preserve one of the few remaining city-owned heritage assets is not unreasonable.
The location of the Brent Grist Mill and outbuildings along the Okanagan Rail Trail corridor brings hundreds of people past the doorstep of a significant piece of Kelowna and B.C. heritage. Tremendous potential exists for Brent’s Heritage Homestead and Grist Mill Park to become one of the most used and visited jewels in the city’s parks system.