Heritage NL is highlighting another heritage building in the town of Harbour Grace worthy of preserving after two historic structures recently fell to the wrecking ball.
Dale Jarvis says the Parsons-Collis Building is actually owned by the town but it has been sitting empty for years.
The Parsons/Collis building is a three-storey commercial structure on Water Street in Harbour Grace dating to the 1800s.
The Parsons/Collis building after the fire of 1944 that destroyed much of the mercantile portion of Harbour Grace (Heritage NL)
It was one of a handful of buildings that survived a massive fire in 1944 and was part of a series of buildings known as Pike’s Block. It’s connected to the Parsons family who ran a famous photo shop from the building, and later the Collis family who specialized in piano tuning, music and instruments.
Jarvis says a “small, but passionate group of people” want to see it saved and they fear that if the work needed on the building isn’t done, it will meet the same fate as Ridley Offices and Stevenson House which were both demolished last week.
Local historian and author Pat Collins says it’s a building worth preserving, he cites the old court house and the RC Cathedral as examples of adapting historic buildings for new uses to keep them preserved.
He credits Brenda O’Reilly and Craig Flynn for helping to preserve the buildings which he believes would have met the same fate as Ridley Office had they not stepped in. “You know, people are critical of the fact that it’s become a brewery and hotel and spa” he says of the old RC Cathedral, “well I’m not, I’m totally supportive of that.”
