Pig ’s Ear Tavern history up for grabs in charity auction

The Pig’s Ear may be about to close, but its fans can hold onto a little piece of Piggy history.

Parkview Homes, which has bought the building housing the 152-year-old tavern and plans to tear it down to build new apartments, will auction off everything inside - from the furniture to the little pigs used all over the barroom as decorations.

Proceeds will be split evenly between the YWCA Crossroads Shelter and the YES Shelter for Youth and Families.

The online auction will take place in May after the Pig’s Ear closes April 22 and will be run by Rusland Auctioneers.

Parkview Homes bought the Piggy and also The Black Horse with plans to demolish both.

The two buildings are attached on either side to The Morrow Building, an elaborate 19-century downtown landmark.

The Morrow Building has a heritage designation, but the other two do not (even though The Black Horse is an addition to the Morrow Building).

The Peterborough Architectural Conservation Committee – PACAC – voted in February to recommend that council place a heritage designation on the two buildings to protect them from demolition.

But this week, councillors voted not to do that. Instead, council wants city staff will work with Parkview Homes to come up with a design for apartment buildings that will suit the downtown.

Paul Dietrich, owner of Parkview Homes, made it clear in an interview with The Examiner that he still wants to demolish the buildings – he’s not particularly interested in reusing the buildings.

The city has already granted him demolition permits, although Dietrich said he won’t tear down the buildings anytime soon – he’ll cooperate with city staff, first, toward a new design that council can live with.

Meanwhile, that’s not a done deal: council has to vote a final time on Monday on its plan not to place heritage designations on the buildings.

Citizens can speak to council about it at the meeting, before the final vote.

You can register to speak at City Hall on Friday (which puts you in line on a registered list of speakers).

If you don’t sign up ahead to speak, you can show up on Monday and give your delegation after those who’ve pre-registered.

Su Ditta, the executive director of the Electric City Culture Council, is concerned about the potential for demolition.

Electric City Culture Council – also called EC3 – is a service organization for the arts, culture and

heritage sector in Peterborough.

They organize arts events such as Artsweek, an arts festival held every September in Peterborough.

Ditta said she’s concerned because heritage buildings are part of what makes Peterborough special.

“What distinguishes us from, say, a bedroom community is a gorgeous heritage downtown,” she said.

Ditta points out that one of the reasons developers want to build apartments downtown is because people like the heritage buildings, popular bars and restaurants.

She finds it ironic that Parkview Homes plans to wipe out two heritage buildings that house two popular bars.

“We really have to keep that in mind – it’s ironic.”