Somerset House, Wallingford-Back Mine make list of Canada's endangered places

A long-neglected Centretownlandmark and a former Outaouais quartz mine have been named to an annual top 10 list of endangered historic spaces in Canada.

Somerset House and the Wallingford-Back Mine both appear on the list released Thursday by the National Trust for Canada, a charity that advocates for the preservation of Canadian locations with historic value.

• Somerset House redesign gets nod from heritage committee
• West Quebec mayors accept plan to block entry to Wallingford-Back mine

The saga of Somerset Househas been a"decade-long story of demolition by neglect," executive director Natalie Bull said in a statement about the property at the corner of Bank and Somerset streets.

Landmark partially collapsed in 2007

Built in stages beginning in 1896, Somerset House has been home to a dry goods store, a hoteland most recently the Duke of Somerset pub.

After it partially collapsed in 2007, owner Tony Shahrasebirefused tofix it leading to a protracted legal battle with the city that eventually ended withTKS Holdings, Shahrasebi's company, being required to pay the city $650,000.

In 2016, the city reluctantly gave the demolition of the building's four easternmost bays the go-aheadafter engineeringreports suggested they could not be safely restored.

A new redesign was approved this May, but not before staff forgot to inform the project's new architectural firm that they were supposed to use bricks that would replicate Somerset House's original lookin a portion of its reconstruction.

Despite the error, the requirement to use replica bricks was ultimately scrapped so that work on the derelict property could finally begin.

Mine overrun with tourists

TheWallingford-Back Mine, meanwhile, was once one of the country's largest quartz, mica and feldspar mines.

Closed since 1970, the mine became a popularunder-the-radar draw for tourists who wouldskate on its turquoiseponds in the winter and marvel at thenatural beauty of its cliff faces in the summer.

Howeverresidents living nearby grew frustrated with touristsusing private roads, making noiseand leaving litter strewn around the site.

The Quebec governmentconsidered demolishing the mine before the mayors of theMRC de Papineauunanimously approved a plan in April 2017 to erect permanent barriers to keep people out.

At the time of that decision, municipality prefectPauletteLalandetold Radio-Canada that dynamiting the mine was now "out of the question."

The mine is located about 60 kilometres northwest of Ottawa.

Two other Ontario sites theBlack Horse Pub and Pig's Ear Tavern in Peterborough, Ont., and theDavisville Junior Public School/Spectrum Alternative Senior School in Toronto also made the list.

The National Trust of Canada has been issuing annual lists of endangered spaces since 2005.