Spokes
12-28-2009, 06:02 PM
Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District
Victoria Park heritage district to lose another house
December 07, 2009
By Terry Pender, Record staff
http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/8f/52/958380634dddb3fc71d749bb105e.jpeg
KITCHENER — Another old house in the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District will be demolished, bringing to six the number of properties demolished on a single block in the past 10 years.
Heritage Kitchener voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the demolition of 179 Queen St. South, a one-and-a-half storey wood house clad in vinyl siding that was moved to that location in 1902.
City staff inspected the building in September and found it to be in generally fair condition. But because it is set back from the street heritage planners say the demolition will not affect the view of the streetscape.
This house and five others were demolished to make way for the Sandhills Christian Community, a 58 unit apartment building for seniors that fronts on to St. George St.
The developer’s original plans called for a second phase—a three storey building along Queen Street South. But those plans are on indefinite hold.
David Gardy, the president of Sandhills Retirement Community Inc., told members of Heritage Kitchener the developer was not able to secure funding to help pay for the second phase that included assisted living and nursing care, and there does not appear to be a market for that type of housing in the downtown anyway.
He said the firm wants the old house at 179 Queen St. South demolished to make way for a parkette.
“Our desire is to give our aged residents some green space,” Gardy said in a brief appearance before Heritage Kitchener.
“We believe our application will enhance the downtown core not take away from it,” he said.
Developers have chipped away at the old urban fabric along Queen Street South since before the city established a Heritage Conservation District there in May 1996.
The city did so because of its fine collection of 19th and early 20th Century architecture and the historic park.
Even as the boundaries were being set the owner of a block of land next to the Iron Horse Trail, which included at least two large old houses, lobbied the city to exclude his property. It was later sold and a large apartment building now occupies the site at 560 Queen St. South.
Neighbours inside the conservation district vociferously opposed the apartment building.
Mosaic Counselling and Family Services at 400 Queen St. South angered nearby homeowner on Hilda Street when they announced plans to expand their building to within a few metres of their heritage properties.
Perhaps the most unique building in the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District is the Barra Castle at 393-411 Queen St. South. In September Heritage Kitchener approved the demolition of the middle and rear sections of the apartment building that had badly deteriorated after decades of neglect.
Then in November a fire gutted part of the building’s middle section. The owner plans to retain and restore the front section of the building that was built around 1930 and modelled after a Scottish baronial castle.
Members of Heritage Kitchener are concerned about the lack of fire alarms in the building and they instructed city staff to speak with the owners about getting alarms installed. The fire on Nov. 21 was discovered only when a passerby saw smoke coming from the empty building.
“I’m afraid of what may happen to the building if another fire happens,” Kerry Kirby, the chair of Heritage Kitchener, said.
The piecemeal demolition of old homes and redevelopment along Queen Street South is a far cry from what was envisioned for the area in the heritage conservation district plan, which called for thematic street signs, heritage lamp posts, civic sculptures and ornaments, possibly a fountain, and quiet walkways along the street connecting the park and the downtown.
The plan recommended a local development organization for the Queen Street South corridor to oversee, co-ordinate, help fund and plan redevelopment.
“Awareness raising, peer pressure and liaison activities should also be undertaken by the new local organization,” says the 1996 plan. “Property owners should commit to a common set of standards for basic upkeep, landscaping, quality of signage, location, amount and screening of parking areas and other matters.”
It was recommended that Queen Street South be designated as an improvement area, allowing the city to legally provide financial support for specific types of redevelopment that retain or blend in with the heritage characteristics.
But since this plan was approved and adopted by city council in the mid-1990s at least eight old homes along the Queen Street South corridor have been demolished for new development.
tpender@therecord.com
http://news.therecord.com/article/640392 (http://news.therecord.com/article/640392)
Victoria Park heritage district to lose another house
December 07, 2009
By Terry Pender, Record staff
http://media.therecord.topscms.com/images/8f/52/958380634dddb3fc71d749bb105e.jpeg
KITCHENER — Another old house in the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District will be demolished, bringing to six the number of properties demolished on a single block in the past 10 years.
Heritage Kitchener voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the demolition of 179 Queen St. South, a one-and-a-half storey wood house clad in vinyl siding that was moved to that location in 1902.
City staff inspected the building in September and found it to be in generally fair condition. But because it is set back from the street heritage planners say the demolition will not affect the view of the streetscape.
This house and five others were demolished to make way for the Sandhills Christian Community, a 58 unit apartment building for seniors that fronts on to St. George St.
The developer’s original plans called for a second phase—a three storey building along Queen Street South. But those plans are on indefinite hold.
David Gardy, the president of Sandhills Retirement Community Inc., told members of Heritage Kitchener the developer was not able to secure funding to help pay for the second phase that included assisted living and nursing care, and there does not appear to be a market for that type of housing in the downtown anyway.
He said the firm wants the old house at 179 Queen St. South demolished to make way for a parkette.
“Our desire is to give our aged residents some green space,” Gardy said in a brief appearance before Heritage Kitchener.
“We believe our application will enhance the downtown core not take away from it,” he said.
Developers have chipped away at the old urban fabric along Queen Street South since before the city established a Heritage Conservation District there in May 1996.
The city did so because of its fine collection of 19th and early 20th Century architecture and the historic park.
Even as the boundaries were being set the owner of a block of land next to the Iron Horse Trail, which included at least two large old houses, lobbied the city to exclude his property. It was later sold and a large apartment building now occupies the site at 560 Queen St. South.
Neighbours inside the conservation district vociferously opposed the apartment building.
Mosaic Counselling and Family Services at 400 Queen St. South angered nearby homeowner on Hilda Street when they announced plans to expand their building to within a few metres of their heritage properties.
Perhaps the most unique building in the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District is the Barra Castle at 393-411 Queen St. South. In September Heritage Kitchener approved the demolition of the middle and rear sections of the apartment building that had badly deteriorated after decades of neglect.
Then in November a fire gutted part of the building’s middle section. The owner plans to retain and restore the front section of the building that was built around 1930 and modelled after a Scottish baronial castle.
Members of Heritage Kitchener are concerned about the lack of fire alarms in the building and they instructed city staff to speak with the owners about getting alarms installed. The fire on Nov. 21 was discovered only when a passerby saw smoke coming from the empty building.
“I’m afraid of what may happen to the building if another fire happens,” Kerry Kirby, the chair of Heritage Kitchener, said.
The piecemeal demolition of old homes and redevelopment along Queen Street South is a far cry from what was envisioned for the area in the heritage conservation district plan, which called for thematic street signs, heritage lamp posts, civic sculptures and ornaments, possibly a fountain, and quiet walkways along the street connecting the park and the downtown.
The plan recommended a local development organization for the Queen Street South corridor to oversee, co-ordinate, help fund and plan redevelopment.
“Awareness raising, peer pressure and liaison activities should also be undertaken by the new local organization,” says the 1996 plan. “Property owners should commit to a common set of standards for basic upkeep, landscaping, quality of signage, location, amount and screening of parking areas and other matters.”
It was recommended that Queen Street South be designated as an improvement area, allowing the city to legally provide financial support for specific types of redevelopment that retain or blend in with the heritage characteristics.
But since this plan was approved and adopted by city council in the mid-1990s at least eight old homes along the Queen Street South corridor have been demolished for new development.
tpender@therecord.com
http://news.therecord.com/article/640392 (http://news.therecord.com/article/640392)