BANFF – A treasured local landmark once home to Peter Whyte and Catharine Robb Whyte will now be legally protected forever.
Banff Town council passed a bylaw on March 22 designating the historic Whyte Residence at 130 Bow Ave. as a municipal historic resource.
Eric Bjorge, a development and heritage planner with the Town of Banff, said the building meets the criteria for designation as an example of intact 1930s rustic architecture, as well as its association with Peter and Catharine, who were community leaders and famed artists.
“The passing of this bylaw would ensure that this historic building is preserved for future generations, and that its character-defining elements are maintained in perpetuity,” he said.
As part of Banff’s heritage resource management policy, council has also authorized administration to enter into a compensation agreement with the Peter and Catharine Whyte Foundation.
The foundation has proposed the matching grant be used for a roof rehabilitation project.
The parties have agreed to split the requested $50,000 matching grant by getting the first $25,000 in 2021, with the remaining $25,000 to be claimed between 2022-25.
“This will allow the Town of Banff to retain a base level of funds in the heritage reserve,” Bjorge said.
The heritage reserve has been diminishing in recent years, but a $35,000 annual transfer to the reserve has been reinstated for 2021.
In addition, the Town has deferred the Old Banff Cemetery conservation plan and power substation columbarium project that would make use of this reserve.
Bjorge said the unrestricted balance of the heritage reserve currently sits at $75,887.
He said the proposed matching grant for the Whyte Residence would bring the unrestricted balance to $25,887.
“However, spreading the grant over two years would allow some flexibility in the account for 2021,” he said.
Mayor Karen Sorensen said everyone is thrilled this treasured home is being protected.
“There was a little bit of surprise that this hasn’t been done previously,” she said.
The timing couldn’t be better, said Councillor Chip Olver, who noted this year marks the 115th anniversary of the year Catharine Robb Whyte was born.
“This is just such a fabulous and exciting building to be designating, recognizing the construction, but also the incredible contribution to the community that Peter and Catharine Whyte made,” she said.
Donna Livingstone, CEO of the Peter and Catharine Whyte Foundation, thanked the Town of Banff and Banff Heritage Corporation for their support in this designation process.
She said in many ways Peter and Catharine were the founding family of Banff’s heritage.
“Their log home on the banks of the Bow River was a refuge, was a gathering place, a studio, and backdrop for their generous spirits and welcoming hospitality,” she said.
“It continues to provide visitors with a unique and palpable sense of lived culture – their travels, their relationship with their Stoney Nakoda friends, their paintings and studio sketches and books, even Catharine’s recipes, which we’re all benefiting from these days.”
The Whyte Residence is a cross-gabled, two-storey log cabin in the pre-railroad folk architectural style built in 1930-31, designed as both a home and an artists’ studio.
The Whytes lived and worked there over a 50-year period in the mid-20th century. Peter remained in the home until his death in 1966, as did Catharine until she passed away in 1979.
