The Bishop’s House in St. Raphaels, Ontario, is a case in point. Although the building’s future has yet to be decided, the community has followed a strategic approach that includes obtaining funding and hiring heritage consultants. The story of this community’ s initiative follows.

A citizen’s group came to the rescue by fixing the roof and commissioning a find-a-new-use study for the handsome, solid, interesting and eminently usable building. While the structure has been saved, the group is still looking for a long-term solution to preserve this important building, which dates back to 1808.

It was originally the residence of Rev Alexander Macdonell, the first bishop of Upper Canada and a major figure in pioneer times. It was also a school, from the Reverend’s era until quite recently, and an alcohol treatment centre called Mount Carmel House in the 1980s and 1990s.

By the late 1990s it was in need of a new vocation. The school board (which owns the school next door) was interested in the land, but not in the building. And the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, which owns the building, considered demolition but was dismayed by the high cost of knocking down and carting away such a huge pile of stone.

Finally, in the fall of 2004, the present bishop called a public meeting. A good crowd turned out, and though there were no easy solutions there was unanimity that it was an important building, a local landmark, a structure intimately tied both to Glengarry history and church and school history in Canada. Losing the building was out of the question …