H.R. Pollock "Lakewood" house, built 1939.

*From www.insidetoronto.com, Jan. 18, 2012.
Also appeared in The Scarborough Mirror on Jan. 26, 2012.

By Mike Adler.

Scarborough councillors reject heritage designation for home built in 1939.
Bluffs’ home “Lakewood” built by Harvey Robert Pollock.

A man whose family built a home on the Scarborough Bluffs says an effort to designate the property historic wasn’t fair. “Realistically, the house is tired,” said Greg Pollock, whose grandfather Harvey Robert Pollock finished a large home on land west of the Bellamy Ravine and Gates Gully in 1939, told Scarborough councillors last week. “It makes the most economical sense to tear it down and start over.”

Pollock’s testimony on behalf of the men who bought the four acres – and a letter from his parents stating they don’t object to seeing new homes there – helped to sway councillors against investigating its heritage value.

In November, local councillor Gary Crawford, after hearing from another resident, introduced a Scarborough Community Council motion directing the Toronto Preservation Board to consider a heritage designation for the home, called Lakewood, at 13 Pine Ridge Dr. At the time, Crawford said he hadn’t had time to contact the property’s new owner but said “we owe the Pollock family” to get the designation process started before something happened to the house and land.

The matter was deferred, though, and last week the new owners complained seeking a designation now is unjust. “This is financially damaging to us,” said Robert Sterijevski, adding he and George Lazarevski paid $2.1 million in September for the property, intending to build homes for themselves and create a third building lot. The Pollock family accepted this, he said, and so did agencies such as the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, which regulates building on the bluffs.

Crawford acted when Jane Fairburn, who has investigated old homes along Toronto’s waterfront for an upcoming book, argued both Lakewood and the property itself have heritage significance. She repeated that position last week, adding she is not a “crusader” who looks around for houses to designate. It’s legal for citizens to come forward to defend heritage, Fairburn told councillors. “That’s called democracy. I’m not trying to inhibit anyone.” Asked why she didn’t act before the Pollocks sold the property, Fairburn said Lakewood’s fate was never “a live issue” until recently.

Greg Pollock said Fairburn talked to his father Robert about the house, but not, to his knowledge, about a designation. He added the family knew it was impractical for new owners to think of restoring the house. Asked by Crawford whether he felt there was historical significance in what his family contributed to Scarborough, Pollock said he felt honoured by the recognition, but “to me, it’s a private matter.”

Crawford later was alone in voting to ask the board to investigate adding Lakewood to its list of properties. He said he knew a designation may not be warranted, but wanted to be comfortable in saying the property is or isn’t worthy. “I want staff to give me proper advice.”

Lazarevski and Sterijevski said they were willing to preserve some parts of Lakewood, including a gothic stone fireplace Fairburn noted was once housed in the Ontario Legislature, in order perhaps to move them to an interested museum.

Councillor Paul Ainslie also suggested a historical plaque could one day be placed on the property.