Cambridge answers the need for affordable housing

There is an urgent need for affordable housing in Cambridge where approximately 400 individuals and families are stuck on a waiting list for this kind of vital accommodation.

And there is, co-incidentally, a 129-year-old landmark in the same city, the former Preston Springs hotel, that is empty, deteriorating and, in the interest of local heritage, worth preserving.

Kudos to Cambridge city council for finding a creative way to tackle both problems at once.

A newly created city task force will work with the Preston Spring’s owner, Paul de Haas, to transform a building that has served many commercial purposes into a home for people who could not otherwise afford one.

And while many levels of government could be involved before this is all over, what’s happening now is clearly a city initiative.

History and heritage buffs will applaud. Preston Springs is an imposing building that dominates the cityscape in north Preston. While it was once a truly grand hotel that lured the rich and famous to it and the local sulphur springs, its glory days have long since passed.

After serving as a religious retreat, wartime barracks and seniors’ residence, it has sat vacant for at least 20 years, becoming more and more run down and vandalized even as successive plans for redevelopment failed one after another.

It would be a major coup for city council to find a way to restore, preserve and reuse an elegant, old building that has a place in the region’s history as well as the city’s.

But the value of the city’s vision goes far beyond supporting local heritage or improving urban esthetics.

Housing prices in Waterloo Region, while seemingly affordable by Toronto standards, have risen dramatically in recent years and are out of reach for an increasing number of local residents. Meanwhile, rents in the region are rising at some of the fastest rates in Canada.

All those condominiums being built in local city cores — and the new restaurants and shops that go with them — are making these areas more dynamic and exciting.

But the cost of otherwise welcome gentrification can be overwhelming for low-income residents who suddenly can no longer afford a place in a neighbourhood they once called home. And waiting for an affordable apartment can take up to eight years.

Affordable housing is a complicated issue, not least because it can involve municipal, provincial and even federal levels of government.

Yet, it’s the people and politicians at the most local level who often see the greatest need as well as the greatest potential.

Old, unused buildings of a certain size — whether they’re former churches or factories — can be, and in many places have been, repurposed for affordable housing.

Such an opportunity recently presented itself in Cambridge when the owner of a former retirement home in east Galt, Marsdale Manor, asked the city for permission to redevelop it for affordable housing. The politicians gave unanimous approval.

Now people throughout this region should be rooting for Cambridge’s efforts to redevelop the old Preston Springs hotel.

Thousands of people in Waterloo Region deserve to have a place they can call home — along with the ability to pay what they can afford for it.

Using a historic building to help do this would honour our past while serving the present.