2 November 2022
The Board of Directors is very proud to welcome a new director to the team: Stephanie Read-Sukhareva. Stephanie grew up in Aylmer and is a museum professional specializing in education. Many of you have already met Stephanie, who was one of our volunteers at our last plant sale and is a member of our 175th Anniversary Committee.
Join the AHA Board !
- Do you want to be at the forefront of defending Aylmer’s built heritage and preserving and promoting the collective memory of which it is a witness?
- Do you have skills in finance, human resources, architecture, history, communications or networking?
- Do you have other skills or ideas that you would like to contribute to the AHA’s mandate?
Contact us at directionpatrimoineaylmer@gmail.com to express your interest!
Programs
Activities for the 175 th anniversary celebrations of John Egan’s election as the first Mayor of Aylmer have continued over the past few weeks:
- Several geocachers are completing the Adventure Lab challenge launched last August and claiming their souvenir geocoin each week.
- The first of a series of six articles was published in the Aylmer Bulletin. The other five will follow in the next few weeks thanks to the support of this local newspaper.
- The AHA hosted an information booth on John Egan on Saturday, October 1st during the “Journées de la culture”. We would like to thank the members who hosted the booth as well as the Galeries d’Aylmer who welcomed us for the occasion.
We also have several upcoming activities:
- A new guided tour on the built heritage bequeathed by John Egan is in the process of being tested. It should be launched in December, just in time for the holiday season.
- The recording of a series of 6 video vignettes has been completed and is now in the editing stage. It should be launched in early 2023.
Specific urban plan (Plan particulier d’urbanisme) for Old Aylmer
Our association has also been mobilized in the context of the elaboration of the special urban plan for Old Aylmer (PPU). We sit on the advisory committee set up by the City of Gatineau to give a voice to the main stakeholders of the associative world in the process. We emphasize that the issue of protection and enhancement will be at the heart of the new urban planning framework being adopted.
A meeting of the advisory committee was held on October 5. At this meeting, in which the AHA participated, the consultants mandated by the city to carry out consultations with the public and administrative staff presented a summary of the positions expressed in relation to the proposed themes for reflection (urban form, mobility, environment, etc.). We are pleased to note that our involvement in the consultation activities has been fruitful, as many of the opinions and positions expressed by the AHA were retained by the consultants.
In addition, we met with city departments to discuss the recommendations we developed for the revision of the heritage regulations. The document will be communicated to the authorities during the next stage of the work of elaboration of the PPU.
The Castel Blanc
You are probably also aware that various real estate projects are likely to have a harmful impact on our heritage. The AHA has been called upon to intervene in some of these cases. Among them is the project of subdivision of the land located at 43 rue Principale (the Castel Blanc).
We wrote a notice of opposition to this project on the grounds that the garden is an integral part, with the house, and of a harmonious heritage ensemble. The notice, supported by 4 other organizations in the Aylmer sector, was sent to the elected officials and the AHA intervened publicly at the last City Council meeting to reiterate its request to save the last large picturesque garden in the heart of the heritage site.
Archives
The inventory project of the reference documents room was completed after 20 weeks of work made possible by the City of Gatineau’s Archives Support Program. Thanks to Samuel Landry, Archival Technician at the AHA.
We are very happy to continue the work with Samuel, who will remain on the team for the next 12 weeks. He will be working on our project to digitize the more than 500 house files. These are precious reference documents on the houses and other heritage buildings of Aylmer that the AHA has built up and still maintains over the years.
A database evaluation process is underway to facilitate the search and consultation of our physical and digital archives internally, as well as for researchers and the public. In the near future, the AHA will have an online database to share our valuable resources
with you more easily.
Questions? Comments?
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us at: associationpatrimoineaylmer@gmail.com. Our coordinator, Dominique, will make sure to pass on your concerns to the Board of Directors or the committees, and we are always happy to discuss the subjects that are important to you. We look forward to hearing from you!
