A man who built a career reimagining spaces is devastated by the recent demolition of a historic property in his hometown of Fortune.

Bennett House, once a prominent structure, was torn down on Tuesday.

Ambrose Price, a former HGTV host, now retired following a successful career as a designer in Toronto, heard that the old property was destined for the wrecking ball and launched an online campaign to have it saved.

Price says it was all for naught when he emerged from a meeting on Tuesday only to find an excavator tearing the house down to make way for what he’s been told will be a parking lot.

He says Fortune, which is the gateway to St. Pierre et Miquelon, attracts large numbers of tourists every summer, but is losing its built heritage.

He’s using the incident as a rallying call for all parts of the province to take heritage seriously and reimagine spaces to keep that history alive.

“How do we help municipalities realise the beauty in their towns, and the beauty in the history…the architecture around before it becomes a pile of rubble?”