Council moving to secure Preston Springs
CAMBRIDGE — Action is being taken to secure the former Preston Springs Hotel after Cambridge city council struck a working group to try and find a new use for the city landmark.
According to a report of council’s general committee on May 29, city staff have met with the building’s owner, Haastown Holdings Preston Inc., to make sure it meets minimum maintenance standards and ensure public safety.
Donna Reid, a member of the city’s Preston Springs working group, said a meeting has been held to “establish our goal of finding a solution.”
“I expect a second meeting very soon,” she said. “I’m hoping within two weeks.”
The old hotel has been vacant since 1990 and has suffered from vandalism and neglect as various owners have attempted to repurpose the building.
In 2000, the City of Cambridge, working with one of the previous owners, invested approximately $66,000 of a possible $100,000 grant from its Heritage Conservation Reserve Fund to replace the roof, repair and replace windows and undertake the repair of the building’s exterior stucco. The property owner stopped the project when repair costs became higher than anticipated.
On April 19, the city issued a minimum standards order on the property under the Ontario Building Code.
The city’s property standards officer continues to work with and monitor the progress on securing the building. A series of pits and holes on the building’s ground floor have been closed up and the front entrance has been secured.
Work is underway to put up hoarding around the perimeter of the structure and plans are being made with parks and recreation staff for a possible community arts project on the hoarding facing Fountain Street.