A century-old farmhouse that once received an award for its restoration is now boarded up and faces an uncertain future.
Located in the Agricultural Land Reserve, the historic Rawlins Residence, which sits on a roughly two-acre parcel at 2349-52nd St., is owned by the provincial government.
Located near the mega malls under construction at the Tsawwassen First Nation, it was part of the Roberts Bank backup lands - thousands of acres expropriated by the provincial government in the 1960s for industrial development that never occurred - but wasn't sold back to local farmers or used in the TFN treaty settlement like most of that acreage. The property until recently had been leased by Bernice Hoar, who moved there in 1978 and started a popular egg business.
Hoar, who was never able to get a longer term lease from the province, passed away in September at the age of 83.
Saying it was disgraceful how the province treated Hoar, Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington spoke out on her behalf two years ago and represented her concerns to Victoria.
Huntington said Hoar, who was only given twoyear leases, had urged the province to sell the land at a reasonable price but was rebuffed and instead faced an enormous asking price.
Noting Hoar received an award in the early 1980s from the Delta Heritage Society for restoration of the house built in 1915, Huntington said uncertainty about the ownership situation resulted in its deterioration over the years.
Several community members have raised concerns it will now be torn down.
As far as the land, Huntington recently wrote to Delta council seeking assurances every effort would be made to ensure the property, which is within Delta's boundaries, remains in the ALR and not become part of the neighbouring TFN's development plans.
Saying the Corporation of Delta would "expect" the province to go through the municipal processes if there was a plan to tear the house down, Sean McGill, Delta's director of human resources and corporate planning, told the Optimist the municipality received a legal opinion that the property would not become part of the TFN if the First Nation purchased it.
A spokesperson for the province would only confirm the land is vacant, there have been no decisions regarding the future of the property or any structures on it, and that consultations with First Nations must be completed if there is any change of land use.
The TFN can buy privately-held Brunswick Point lands should they come up for sale and add those properties to its territory, but the 52nd Street site is not part of that arrangement.
"To my further consternation, there seems to be an intent by the province to treat this land as part of the Brunswick Point right of first refusal lands, which it is most certainly not," Huntington stated.
