The Branch was notified this past spring that the Mississippi Mills Heritage Committee was targeting the Legion building to designate it as Heritage. At that time President Rob Madore and 2nd Vice Paul Brundage met with Heritage Committee Members to discuss, and information was brought back to the Executives and the Members. Both the Executives and the members expressed unanimously that they were not in favour of the designation.
A letter of opposition was sent to the Heritage Committee before they voted on the matter. The letter expressed the difficulty that would be placed on the Branch if it was deemed a Heritage building but ultimately, they voted to recommend the designation to Council.
On June 9th, 2026, a delegation took place in the Council Chambers. Branch President John Dalgity, 1st Vice Paul Watters and 2nd Vice Kevin Cadman spoke to the Members of Council. The wishes of our Members and Executives were brough forward that we oppose the Heritage designation and in doing so would impose a serious financial burden on the Branch.
It was expressed that our primary financial responsibility is to support our veterans and community programs, and that it is very difficult to support a measure that would divert limited funds away from these services toward specialized heritage-standard contractors and materials, very increased insurance rates etc. for the matter of designating the building.
We stated that the building has been taken care of by our community for over 80 years. Generation after generation of our local Veterans and citizens have taken great pride in keeping this building going without a process in place in how to do it. The true heritage of Branch 240 lies in the service provided to our veterans and the community. Prioritizing the physical image over the financial viability of the organization threatens the very institution our community wishes to honor.
We asked on behalf of the members of Branch 240 that the Members of Council respect the democratic decision of our veterans and members. We ask that the proposal for designation be withdrawn, allowing us to continue our service to the community without the burden of restrictive heritage oversight and costs.
The motion went to the Committee of the Whole later in the evening and was deferred to June 23rd by Mayor Lowry for more information from the Heritage Committee.
At Mississippi Mills council’s committee meeting of June 23rd, the motion came forward to pass a by-law to designate the Almonte Legion’s building as a heritage building.
There was some discussion about the building being sold to a new owner, that without a designation it could be drastically modified or demolished to make way for a new structure. The discussed a process that would let the municipality protect the structure in case of a future sale. Councillors agreed to work with the Legion branch installing a plaque defining the history of the building and it’s uses over the years.
The motion was defeated, the building will not be designated Heritage.