Heritage Caledon looks to revive Village Heritage Plaque program

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

If you've ever walked around the villages of Caledon East, Bolton, Alton, Inglewood, Belfountain and Palgrave, you may have noticed the Village Heritage Plaques sprinkled throughout.

These plaques are hand-painted and provide information about the use, date of construction and ownership of buildings in the area.

The Village Heritage Plaque program was a local history awareness and outreach initiative of Heritage Caledon, the Town's Heritage Advisory Committee, which ran from 2002 to 2009.

Sally Drummond, Senior Planner - Heritage for the Town of Caledon, told the Citizen more than 40 plaques were installed.

“In collaboration with local historical societies and village associations, it resulted in the installation of over 40 plaques in communities across the Town, recognizing buildings of significant local historical interest. The committee felt that hand painting the plaques created an important personal touch,” said Drummond.

The initiative was brought forward once again during the recent Heritage Caledon Committee meeting.

There was discussion surrounding the potential formation of a subcommittee to look into this initiative, potential replacements of these heritage signs, and what materials may have a longer lifespan, if introduced.

When asked why there is a need to revitalize the program, Drummond told the Citizen it was due to the current decline of the signs still up.

“The hand-painted wood plaques…are showing signs of deterioration and therefore are being considered for maintenance or update,” said Drummond.

Moving forward, the signage subcommittee will investigate options for consideration by the Heritage Caledon committee. 

Renewal of the program will require Heritage Caledon to seek approval and additional project funding from Council.