On Monday, councillors voted 17-0 to remove Gloucester Place from the Heritage Register so the burnt-down building can be demolished.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is planning to take a heritage home in Wallaceburg off the Heritage Register.
The home at 315 Elgin Street was added to the register of properties of cultural heritage value or interest in 2010, but it was destroyed by a fire in February. The property needs to be removed from the Heritage Register to allow the building to be demolished.
The building is known as Gloucester Place and was built in 1926 by Arthur St. Clair Gordon, a Wallaceburg Mayor, an Ontario M.P.P, and a notable entrepreneur. He started numerous companies that included Schultz Die Casting, St. Clair Tool & Die, Presto Pressure Cooker Company, and the Wallaceburg Pressed Glass Company.
The house was visited by numerous celebrities, including Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, Olympic Gold Medalist Barbara Anne Scott, and Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn.
The house was sold in 1954 to James Burgess, a local war hero and M.P. It was most recently used as a multi-unit dwelling.
The Municipal Heritage Committee was asked about the issue at its meeting on Wednesday and will have a recommendation for Monday night's council meeting.
