5TH REPORT OF THE LONDON ADVISORY COMMllTEE ON HERITAGE

Transcription

1 5TH REPORT OF THE LONDON ADVISORY COMMllTEE ON HERITAGE Meeting held on April 13,2005, commencing at 530 p.m. PRESENT: J. ONeil (Chair), M. Blosh, S. Gladwell, G. Goodlet, M. Ken, S. Lorimer, T. Regnier, N. Van Sas, P. Wilkins and L. Fisher (Secretary). ALSO PRESENT: R. Panzer, J. M. Fleming, R. Gasparetto, D. Menard and C. Nelson. REGRETS: J. Monteith. I YOUR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS: 1. Designation - 2,, HallsMi,, Road That notice of the Municipal Council's intention to designate the property located at 211 Halls Mill Road to be of historical, architectural and contextual value or interest BE GIVEN for the attached reasons under the provisions of subsection 29(3) of the Ontario Herifage Acf, R.S.O. 1990, c. 0.18; it being pointed out that the owner of the subject property has not approved these reasons: it being noted that it is the current opinion of the London Advisory Committee on that if this property is designated it will assist with securing funds for the preservation of the building. II YOUR COMMITTEE REPORTS: M. Hall - 2. (2) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) heard a Process re 211 Halls Mill Road delegation and received a communication from M. Hall with respect to procedures followed by several City staff and members of the London Advisory Committee on with respect to the property located at 211 Halls Mills Road and the heritage designation process as a whole during the past several years; it being noted that the General Manager of Planning and Development expressed strong concerns with and objections to Mr. Hall's allegations that improper procedures had been followed. Homes 3. Unlimited and London Faith Team - Proposed Affordable Housing Pmject That the London Advisory committee on (LACH) heard a delegation from M. Ross, Homes Unlimited, and T. Welch, London Intercity Faith Team with respect to the future construction of a new affordable housing project which may necessitate the demolition of the house located at 446 King Street, currently listed as a priority 1 structure in the Inventory of Resources. The LACH noted that while both organizations recognize and respect the heritage significance of the house, it has been vacant for some time and has deteriorated in their architect's opinion to the point where demolition is the only financially viable option, given the limited budgets available to affordable housing projects. The LACH thanked the delegates for providing the opportunity to comment on the proposed plans and asked that they return to a future meeting of the LACH once they have developed a preliminary design for the project in order for the LACH to review the design's compatibility with the King Street streetscape and also to review their architect's written report with respect to the current condition of the house at 446 King Street. Education Sub- 4. (ii) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) heard a Committee verbal report from T. Regnier with respect to the Education Sub-committee; noting that the unveiling of the Supertest plaque will be delayed to the Fall of 2005 and that she spoke at the recent annual general meeting of the London Foundation with respect to the process used by the LACH to develop reasons for heritage designation, and specifically, the reasons for the designation of Woodholme at 1384 Wonderland Road. Stewardship Sub-Committee 5. (iii,l7) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received a report from the March 30,2005 meeting of its Stewardship Sub-committee and took the following actions: (a) 1647 Fanshawe Park Road East - recommended that this property be changed to a priority2 structure in the Inventory of Resources; and

2 (b) 16 Horn Street- recommended deferral of the designation process until the proposed restorative work has been done by the properly owner; it being noted that the LACH also received a verbal report from D. Menard indicating that the Ontario Realty Corporation has now secured and stabilized Middleton House on Sanitorium Road and that a second tour of the carriage, coach and stable houses on the London Psychiatric Hospital grounds on Highbury Avenue will be arranged for the LACH members. Conservation District Sub- Committee Inventory Subcommittee ACOCHO Joint Conference Demolition Procedures and the inventory of Resources Coves Subwatershed Plan Guideline Document Designation Application Waterloo SVeet London Foundation Report Property Tax Reduction Program 6. (v) That the London Advisory Committee on heard a verbal report from D. Menard noting that a public meeting was held by the Consultants on April to receive public input on the guidelines for the Old East Conservation District; it being noted another public meeting will be held by the Consultants in June 2005 and that the final report will be presented to the Planning Committee in the Fall of (vii) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received a verbal report from C. Nelson noting that the revised Inventory of Resources is nearing completion and that the drafl will be presented to the LACH at its May meeting for review and comment; it being noted that the LACH has expressed an interest in receiving a revised version more frequently than the current process allows for; it being further noted staff will be reviewing the current process as well and will report back at a future meeting of the LACH. 8. (3b,3c,l3)That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received communications from Community Ontario with respect to the ACOlCHO Joint Conference from April 29 - May in Windsor, Ontario and asked that LACH members interested in attending the conference contact the Committee Secretary by April 15, (5) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received a Municipal Council resolution adopted at its meeting held on March 7, 2005 and a notice of public meeting from T. Grawey, Senior Planner, with respect to the demolition process and heritage properties. The LACH noted that it had previously provided its input on this matter directly to Mr. Grawey for inclusion with his report to the Planning Committee. IO. (7) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received a Municipal Council resolution adopted at its meeting held on March 7, 2005 with respect to the Coves Subwatershed Plan Guideline Document: noting that part(b) of the resolution indicated that the Civic Administration will be preparing a Terms of Reference for the establishment of an Implementation Committee to implement the Plan which will include a representative from the LACH. The LACH noted it would appoint M. Kerr to this Committee as its representative once the Committee has been established. 11. (9) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received a heritage designation application from S. Andrejicka for the property located at 496 Waterloo Street. The LACH referred the application to its Stewardship Sub- Committee for review and to report back at a future meeting of the LACH. 12. (11) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received and reviewed a report from S. Lorimer with respect to the annual general meeting of the London Foundation and the Foundation's intention to review the role of the LACH representative on its Board of Directors. 13. (12) That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH)received and reviewed a draft report from the General Manager of Planning and Development with respect to the Property Tax Reduction Program. The LACH indicated that staff may wish to present more than one funding level option for the Municipal Council's review. 14. That the London Advisory Committee on (LACH) received and noted the following: 4" Report LACH (a) (1) the 4" Report of the LACH from its meeting held on March ;

3 Fw# Fl Ll CHO - Ontario Amendment Act Evaluation of B u i I d i n g Renovation Costs in Ontario and500ridout street Designation Grey Street Funding - Fanshawe Pioneer Village Waiving of Tariff Fees at Land Regisby Offices THO News" Willowbank Seminars '" Matters Newsletter Reasons for Designation 1384 Wonderland Road (Woodholme) Designation Thornton Avenue Next Meeting - 63 (b) (3a) a communication from Community Ontario with respect to the Ontario Amendment Act; (c) (3d) a communication from R. Shipley, Director, Resources Centre, University of Waterloo with respect to a study evaluating costs of building renovation in Ontario; (d) (4a.4b)Municipal Council resolutions adopted at its meetings held on March 7,2005 with respect to the properties located at 484,492,494,496 and 500 Ridout Street; (e) (6) a Municipal Council resolution adopted at its meeting held on March 7,2005 with respect to the heritage designation of the properly located at 527 Grey Street; (f) (8) a Municipal Council resolution adopted at its meeting held on March 7, 2005 with respect to funding for Fanshawe Pioneer Village; (9) (IO) a letter from the Ministry of Culture with respect to the annual waiving of tariff fees at land regishy offices for members of Municipal Committees; (h) (14) the March 2005 edition of 'CHO News"; (i) (15) a communication from the School of Restoration Arts at Willowbank advertising a number of seminars with Dr. Peter Stokes; (j) (16) the Matters newsletter from the Ontario Foundation, Volume 3, Issue I; (k) (18) a Municipal Council resolution adopted at its meeting held on April 4, 2005 with respect to the reamns for designatin for the property located 1384 Wonderland Road (Woodholme); and (I) (19) a Municipal Council resolution adopted at its meeting held on April 4, 2005 with respect to the heritage designation of the property located at 63 Thomton Avenue. 15. That the next meeting of the London Advisory Committee on will be held on Wednesday, May 11,2005. The meeting adjourned at 7:28 p.m.

4 0 w lqrl 211 Hall s Mill Road. Reasons for Designation 11 May 2003 Historical Reasons This heritage building is situated on the north west corner of Old Bridge Road and Halls Mill Road which was formerly known as Centre Street in the village of Westminister. It was built circa 1840 by Cyrenius Hall who purchased the first grist mill on the site from Burleigh Hunt and the corner and river lots from Archibald McMillen, the original patentee on the land. Cyrenius Hall was a pioneer industrialist and distiller, originally from New England who arrived in Westminister in He was a popular civic minded individual who became the first magistrate of the London District When the community grew from a population of 40 in 1837 to 200 by 1846, it was renamed Hall s Mills. The village later became known as Byron when a post office was established there in 1857 Across from the house stood Monatgue s blacksmith shop and this corner became an interesting social hub as customers gathered at the distiller s house while they waited for their blacksmithing work to be done. Cyrenius Hall and his wife were also major proponents in founding and helping to build the cobblestone church nearby. The church was used by all denominations until it became the Anglican Church of Saint Anne. Architectural Reasons The house is an architectural artifact; its interest lies as a typical homestead dwelling known as a Saltbox house. These very spartan, functional houses originated with the east coast colonist families such as that of Cyrenius Hall; they were introduced into Upper Canada and by this time, they were often slightly mellowed by the addition of such things as a front center gable or a porch. The Saltbox is characterized by a simple and economical gabled roof, in which space an upper bedroom floor was accommodated, thereby creating a one and a half storey house. In these houses, the gable roof was usually extended down over a single storey at the rear in either a straight or broken roof line depending on the lower eaves height required. There is strong evidence that this single storey part of 21 1 was built at the same time as the front of the house. The adzed wall plate, on top of the foundation is continuous as are the basement beams, floor joists and siding. The clapboard is also absent from the west wall in the roof space, if the back were to be an addition, this clapboard would most likely have remained in place. There is a front gable window lighting the top landing of the stair inside.

5 ..2 2 Early photographs also show a front porch along the full width of the house. The construction and architectural elements of the house are completely authentic underneath the latter day additions of various cheap and unsightly cladding materials. There is a root cellar basement with thick walls of medium sized river stones and a 14 to 18 stone string course. These foundation walls, of mortared river stone, are similar to the nearby foundation wall ruins of the grist mill, and support a tenoned and pegged, post and beam structure which is also similar to the sturdy red oak construction found when the old grist mill was being removed with difficulty, as reported by the London Free Press in Un-wrought log beams support the floor over the basement and crawl space as well as the roof of the single storey back. The floors are shiplapped boards of red pine or fir, fixed with local hand wrought iron nails. The wood lath for the plastering of the sloped roof is expanded lath board known as Riven Accordian Despite the simple functionality of these early buildings the trim details are often superior to those usually found in today s houses. All the original doors are four paneled, The window and door casing moldings are hand planed and the muntin bars dividing up the panes of the double hung windows are extremely narrow and fine. The rooms have the smaller scale and well crafted detail that was then expected and is to be found in the houses built by the early settlers. The original clapboarding remains on all four sides of the house. Contextual Reasons The building sits at the corner of the old Centre Street and Old Bridge Road. This road is imdortant as it led to the first river crossing in Middlesex County later built as a single pier-suspension bridge and which was the only access, from the north to the pioneer industrial complex in its early years. The house at 21 1 sits on the corner on acres of property owned by Cyrenius Hall with riverfront and water privileges from the mill race and was associated with a textile operation as well as a distillery. The mill-race was built just below the centre of the village served by Mill Creek, which flowed through the Byron flats to the village and was dammed to supply water for the woolen mill, the water would flow into a penstock with a number of sluice gates to supply power for various other industrial facilities such as potash manufactured from the sawmill waste. Charles Hall, the eldest son, purchased river front property east of Centre Street and today s Boler Road. He operated other businesses such as the grist mill, a saw mill and a distillery with his father...3

6 3 The exterior walls of this traditional structure have, in recent years, been covered with a variety ofmaterials, the south and east side are clad with a mixture of insul-stone, asbestos shingles and vinyl siding, the north and west walls have at one time been stuccoed and then scribed with ashlar stone jointing; these materials, together with the aluminum window awnings, should be removed, thereby revealing a building of historical importance and disclosing an asset to London s heritage.