Heritage Properties of Ottawa & Gatineau

[rocketphish]

Uganda's diplomatic residence in Rockcliffe lost to 'unapproved' demolition
Like all homes in its conservation district, 235 Mariposa Ave. had heritage protection

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC
Posted: Feb 09, 2024 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours ago



The City of Ottawa is taking legal action after a heritage-protected home owned by the Uganda High Commission was allegedly demolished without a permit.

The 67-year-old stucco house at 235 Mariposa Ave. was the high commission's official residence.

It was a Grade 2 heritage property in the Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District and was on the city's heritage watch list of at-risk properties.

The local city councillor called the home's destruction "very frustrating" and part of a broader pattern of neglected diplomatic properties.

The local residents' association called it shocking and urged council to refuse an application to build a larger residence on the site.

Norman Allen, the city's deputy chief building official, called the contravention a serious matter. A staff report called it an "unapproved demolition" in violation of the Ontario Heritage Act and Ontario's Building Code Act.

In response, the city is taking action in provincial court against Elite Dream Construction of Toronto.

<more>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...lish-1.7108021

[rocketphish]

Heritage committee approves plan to de-list almost 4,600 properties by year's end
The plan is to de-list almost all the properties on the city's heritage register, then re-list priority properties in January.

Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 13, 2024 • 4 minute read

The city’s built heritage committee has approved a convoluted manoeuvre to protect priority properties from demolition in the face of new provincial legislation aimed at building more homes faster.

Building new homes sometimes means demolishing old buildings. The Ford government’s Bill 23 has set a tight timeline for designating properties under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The bill also aims to shrink municipal heritage registers. Ottawa has the province’s largest register with 4,600 properties listed.

Under Bill 23, properties can only be on a heritage register for two years. If a municipal council doesn’t issue a notice of intention to designate a property that’s on their city register under the Heritage Act by the end of 2024, the property must be removed from the register — and it can’t be re-listed for five years.

That’s a concern for Ottawa heritage advocates. Being on the municipal register offers a measure of protection for properties that have not been designated heritage, but are still of interest. If a property owner wishes to demolish a building on the register, the city has 60 days to decide whether to protect the building from demolition by designating it under the Heritage Act.

The convoluted plan approved Tuesday involves removing almost all of the 4,600 properties from the city register by the end of the year in batches, then re-listing a couple dozen of the top-priority properties in January. All of the 465 properties approved for de-listing on Tuesday were in rural areas and the outer suburbs, but they will be followed by thousands more from other parts of the city in the next few months.

About 700 Ottawa properties have been identified as potential candidates for designation, said Lesley Collins, the city’s program manager for heritage planning. She anticipates there will likely be fewer than 100 properties left on the register at the end of the year.

“We have to take them off (the register) because that’s what the legislation says we do,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep working through that list of 700. They just won’t have interim protection in the meantime.”

The de-listing and re-listing strategy will give heritage planners a bit of extra time, said David Flemming, chair of Heritage Ottawa’s advocacy committee.

“Most of them (buildings on the heritage register) will never be developed. It’s a way of dealing with this overwhelming job heritage planners face.”

Heritage planners will bring forward a report on heritage conservation districts this spring, with the goal of approving at least one new district, said Collins.

“We might look at listing all of the properties (on the heritage register) within that study area to provide interim protection while we’re undertaking that study.”

The city will also maintain an interim register containing all of the 4,600 properties so members of the public and property owners who are interested can access information such as when a listed property was built, who built it and other historical information.

“When the register was created through the heritage inventory project, we collected a vast amount of data about these properties,” said Collins. “We don’t want that to go to waste, because we think it’s very interesting and useful data for the public to have access to.”

De-listing and re-listing properties will create work for staff. It’s frustrating, but necessary, said Rideau-Rockcliife Coun. Rawlson King, the chair of the built heritage committee.

“It’s an innovative way to respond to the legislative changes that we’ve seen around Bill 23. And it’s a made-in-Ottawa solution that ensures that at least we retain the information.”

Meanwhile, city staff aim to designate between 25 and 30 individual properties under the Heritage Act before the end of the year — about five or six times the usual number.

It will not be a smooth process. The committee has already approved designating six properties last month and was set Tuesday to discuss designating a seventh building, Église évangélique baptiste, a late Gothic revival church at the intersection of King Edward Avenue and Clarence Street, built between 1904 and 1920.

Making a decision on that matter has been deferred until next month. Representatives from the church were at the meeting, prepared to outline their objections to heritage designation for the church, which the congregation wants to sell in order to open a larger church in the west end.

“Keeping the church as some sort of monument to the past is unrealistic,” said Gordon Belyea, a retired associate pastor at the church.

“It’s 100 years old and we’ve (spent) hundreds of thousands of dollars just to keep it standing. If they designate it, we’re stuck with it.”

The plan will be before city council on Feb. 21.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...s-by-years-end

[OTownandDown]

Controversial opinion, but the Ugandans were just late to the game. This is certainly not the first 'residence' in Rockcliffe (or even on this street) to be bulldozed in order to build something more modern.

What about the residences to the east and west of Stornoway?

We're probably going to have to be more concerned with a few prime examples of our built heritage rather than blanket statements in the future.

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Uganda's diplomatic residence in Rockcliffe lost to 'unapproved' demolition
Like all homes in its conservation district, 235 Mariposa Ave. had heritage protection

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC
Posted: Feb 09, 2024 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 5 hours ago



The City of Ottawa is taking legal action after a heritage-protected home owned by the Uganda High Commission was allegedly demolished without a permit.

The 67-year-old stucco house at 235 Mariposa Ave. was the high commission's official residence.

It was a Grade 2 heritage property in the Rockcliffe Park Heritage Conservation District and was on the city's heritage watch list of at-risk properties.

The local city councillor called the home's destruction "very frustrating" and part of a broader pattern of neglected diplomatic properties.

The local residents' association called it shocking and urged council to refuse an application to build a larger residence on the site.

Norman Allen, the city's deputy chief building official, called the contravention a serious matter. A staff report called it an "unapproved demolition" in violation of the Ontario Heritage Act and Ontario's Building Code Act.

In response, the city is taking action in provincial court against Elite Dream Construction of Toronto.

<more>

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...lish-1.7108021

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by OTownandDown

Controversial opinion, but the Ugandans were just late to the game. This is certainly not the first 'residence' in Rockcliffe (or even on this street) to be bulldozed in order to build something more modern.

What about the residences to the east and west of Stornoway?

We're probably going to have to be more concerned with a few prime examples of our built heritage rather than blanket statements in the future.

Yes do we really need to protect 1960s or 1920 Mansions many of whom are shielded from the street anyway?

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

City Staff could have time to process development applications and housing permits instead of this if Ford didn't force their hand. Some of Ford's dumb policies are impeding progress.

Huh, this is very good policy. The heritage registrar has been abused for too long by nimbys, and needed a good cleaning. Too many heritage everything, including districts.

The amount of resources its taking to clear the backlog is a prime example of how abused it was.

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Yes do we really need to protect 1960s or 1920 Mansions many of whom are shielded from the street anyway?

nvm, that its not even the only example of a very plain looking house on that street.

It being possibly owned by some rich guy some time in the past doesn't make it part of Ottawa history by itself.

[rocketphish]

Heritage protection is falling by the wayside in Ottawa
Decades of neglect and destruction have turned the once-fine downtown core of the nation's capital into an architectural wasteland south of Sparks Street.

Randall Denley, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 20, 2024 • 3 minute read



The tussle over the city’s unwieldy list of potential heritage properties is a perfect Ottawa story, a microcosm of the problem that has left our city with far less architectural heritage than it should have. In short, we have too much government bureaucracy and not enough heritage preservation.

The city’s heritage protection efforts feature process galore, but precious little coming out the other end. City heritage bureaucrats spent years assembling a vast registry of buildings with potential heritage value. At 4,600, it’s the largest such list in the province. And yet, the city only confers actual heritage designation on about five properties a year. What was the point of compiling such an enormous list?

The provincial government is now limiting the length of time that properties can remain on a list without being designated, one of its many attempts to build housing faster. As a result, the city is scrambling to cut its list down to a mere 700 of the most important properties. It’s also moving at bureaucratic light speed to get those properties designated. If all goes well, the city could give heritage protection to 25 properties this year. Why, at that rate, the entire list could be cleared up in under 30 years, if no new properties are added.

A city committee has approved heritage designation for six buildings so far this year. It’s a pretty unimpressive list, with two exceptions: the Southminster United Church on Bank Street and the old city waterworks on LeBreton Flats. The latter is part of the National Capital Commission’s redevelopment of the flats and was not threatened.

However, the real scandal is not what anyone is doing at city hall now. Rather, it’s the decades of neglect and destruction that turned a fine downtown into an architectural wasteland south of Sparks Street. Check out online pictures of Ottawa around 1900 and you will see a graceful core full of interesting buildings built to human scale. It bears almost no resemblance to the downtown we know today. It’s a huge and irreplaceable loss.

Those losses are not all ancient history. Many will remember the effort to save the Daly Building in the early 1980s. The architecturally significant former department store occupied an important site on Rideau Street between Mackenzie Avenue and Sussex Drive. Despite a decade-long fight by Ottawans, the building was ultimately torn down, a victim of long-term neglect by the federal government, its owner. It was replaced by a condo building, Ottawa’s go-to solution for failures of imagination.

Being the capital of the country is beneficial in many ways, but not so much when it comes to heritage preservation. The civic pride that leads some cities to excel at preservation and adaptive reuse of older buildings is easily trumped here by the power of the federal government. Regardless of who is in power, the politicians who run the government are an ever-changing cast of characters without any local roots or concern for this city, even though it’s the capital. The feds have traditionally been more interested in building cheap office towers than in building a great capital.

Perhaps heritage conservation is a problem that will eventually solve itself. It’s hard to identify much being built here now that will be cherished by future residents, or even current ones. Particularly odious is the ever-increasing supply of exceptionally tall apartment buildings, many of which are completely out of context with their surroundings.

Some recently approved buildings add a heritage twist. For example, a 27-storey residential tower on Kent Street will incorporate a reconstructed version of the former Legion building on the site. The result is a weird combination of a 1950s office building with a tower rocketing out of it. The developer optimistically calls the outsized tower “a beacon” that will guide the way to the downtown core. That deserves an A+ for creative writing.

By the way, Feb. 20 is Heritage Day in Ottawa. A moment of silence is in order.


Randall Denley is an Ottawa journalist and author. Contact him at randalldenley1@gmail.com

https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/de...side-in-ottawa

[rocketphish]

Heritage status for problem-plagued church could cost millions, pastor says
'Nobody in their right mind would move a congregation to this area'

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Mar 04, 2024 2:33 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago



A Baptist congregation in Ottawa is warning that it could lose out on millions if its problem-plagued downtown church is granted heritage designation.

The Église Évangélique Baptiste d'Ottawa is a century-old red-brick church on King Edward Avenue, steps away from the Shepherds of Good Hope emergency shelter. Senior pastor Guy Pierre-Canel said the growing congregation wants to move and has been trying to sell the property for about 12 years.

It hasn't been easy.

"The surroundings, the environment, is such that nobody in their right mind would move a congregation to this area," Pierre-Canel told a meeting of council's built heritage committee Monday.

Church leaders described what it's like worshiping in the midst of rampant drug use, social disorder and crime. The congregation has witnessed assaults, a knife attack and an arson.

"The problems are such that they've reached an unbearable level," Pierre-Canel explained. "Last Easter, we had somebody literally burn a car, set a van on fire during one of our services."

He said two people died of overdoses right on the church's doorstep.

The church has been working with the neighbouring property — currently a tombstone shop — to find a developer for the site.

Real estate agent Jane Kirchmann, who represents that property owner, said the site could host a student residence or an affordable housing project with mixed-use retail to breathe new life into the neighbourhood.

But she said the project would have to clear so many hurdles: complex zoning, poor market conditions, "extreme safety challenges" and "a humanitarian crisis unfolding daily" in the area.

In her view, heritage designation would add another burden that could sink any chance at a deal.

"This should be a thriving area of the city, and a heritage designation is just going to create further stagnation on a very challenged site that is at the centre of the homelessness and substance abuse crisis," said Kirchmann.

Pierre-Canel said the congregation was hoping to sell the property for somewhere between $2 million and $3 million. But he said he's hearing from his real estate agent that the property may have next to no value if it gets heritage status.

"We're here to say to the city, in clear terms, that this designation has impacts, has a $2-million impact for us, which is unbearable," he said.

But city staff say the church has significant heritage value. Lesley Collins, the city's program manager for heritage planning, said the Gothic Revival building helps tell the story of the emergence of French Baptists in Ottawa.

The church was originally built in 1904, but significant additions were added between 1919 and 1920.

"When the church expanded they actually picked up the old church, moved it to the south of the site and then added onto it, which is very unusual in that time period," she said.

Collins said there are several examples of successful redevelop projects that preserved features of heritage churches including St. Charles on Beechwood Avenue.

She noted that the city has $25,000 grants that can help maintain heritage properties, and even bigger incentives for redevelopment.

"There are lots of opportunities for flexibility here," Collins said.

But Pierre-Canel called a $25,000 grant a "drop in the bucket" given the problems plaguing the church.

"The roof is falling apart. There's only two parking spots," he said. "We have water infiltration in the basement, asbestos issues. It's no longer safe for our people to be there."

The congregation has already found an alternative location, according to Gordon Belyea, another church leader who came to committee.

He said the congregation will move no matter what happens, but fears being stuck with a second property they can't afford to maintain.

"We're going. The Lord has opened this door, but it will make it immeasurably harder where it doesn't need to be," he said, adding that the result could be another crumbling "eyesore" in Lowertown.

"It will be fairly impossible to maintain two facilities," he said. "This facility will become like St. Brigid's down the road."

The city cannot take financial considerations into account under the Ontario Heritage Act, according to Collins, who noted that new provincial heritage rules are pushing the city to move fast to designate properties.

"Given the timelines and the changes that we have in the legislation, we have to recommend that council proceed at this time," she said. "We're very hopeful that a creative solution will come around for this property."

The built heritage committee voted in favour of heritage designation, with only the area councillor, Rideau-Vanier's Stéphanie Plante, opposing. It will now go to council for a final decision.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...says-1.7133204

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Heritage status for problem-plagued church could cost millions, pastor says
'Nobody in their right mind would move a congregation to this area'

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Mar 04, 2024 2:33 PM EST | Last Updated: 1 hour ago



A Baptist congregation in Ottawa is warning that it could lose out on millions if its problem-plagued downtown church is granted heritage designation.

The Église Évangélique Baptiste d'Ottawa is a century-old red-brick church on King Edward Avenue, steps away from the Shepherds of Good Hope emergency shelter. Senior pastor Guy Pierre-Canel said the growing congregation wants to move and has been trying to sell the property for about 12 years.

It hasn't been easy.

"The surroundings, the environment, is such that nobody in their right mind would move a congregation to this area," Pierre-Canel told a meeting of council's built heritage committee Monday.

Church leaders described what it's like worshiping in the midst of rampant drug use, social disorder and crime. The congregation has witnessed assaults, a knife attack and an arson.

"The problems are such that they've reached an unbearable level," Pierre-Canel explained. "Last Easter, we had somebody literally burn a car, set a van on fire during one of our services."

He said two people died of overdoses right on the church's doorstep.

The church has been working with the neighbouring property — currently a tombstone shop — to find a developer for the site.

Real estate agent Jane Kirchmann, who represents that property owner, said the site could host a student residence or an affordable housing project with mixed-use retail to breathe new life into the neighbourhood.

But she said the project would have to clear so many hurdles: complex zoning, poor market conditions, "extreme safety challenges" and "a humanitarian crisis unfolding daily" in the area.

In her view, heritage designation would add another burden that could sink any chance at a deal.

"This should be a thriving area of the city, and a heritage designation is just going to create further stagnation on a very challenged site that is at the centre of the homelessness and substance abuse crisis," said Kirchmann.

Pierre-Canel said the congregation was hoping to sell the property for somewhere between $2 million and $3 million. But he said he's hearing from his real estate agent that the property may have next to no value if it gets heritage status.

"We're here to say to the city, in clear terms, that this designation has impacts, has a $2-million impact for us, which is unbearable," he said.

But city staff say the church has significant heritage value. Lesley Collins, the city's program manager for heritage planning, said the Gothic Revival building helps tell the story of the emergence of French Baptists in Ottawa.

The church was originally built in 1904, but significant additions were added between 1919 and 1920.

"When the church expanded they actually picked up the old church, moved it to the south of the site and then added onto it, which is very unusual in that time period," she said.

Collins said there are several examples of successful redevelop projects that preserved features of heritage churches including St. Charles on Beechwood Avenue.

She noted that the city has $25,000 grants that can help maintain heritage properties, and even bigger incentives for redevelopment.

"There are lots of opportunities for flexibility here," Collins said.

But Pierre-Canel called a $25,000 grant a "drop in the bucket" given the problems plaguing the church.

"The roof is falling apart. There's only two parking spots," he said. "We have water infiltration in the basement, asbestos issues. It's no longer safe for our people to be there."

The congregation has already found an alternative location, according to Gordon Belyea, another church leader who came to committee.

He said the congregation will move no matter what happens, but fears being stuck with a second property they can't afford to maintain.

"We're going. The Lord has opened this door, but it will make it immeasurably harder where it doesn't need to be," he said, adding that the result could be another crumbling "eyesore" in Lowertown.

"It will be fairly impossible to maintain two facilities," he said. "This facility will become like St. Brigid's down the road."

The city cannot take financial considerations into account under the Ontario Heritage Act, according to Collins, who noted that new provincial heritage rules are pushing the city to move fast to designate properties.

"Given the timelines and the changes that we have in the legislation, we have to recommend that council proceed at this time," she said. "We're very hopeful that a creative solution will come around for this property."

The built heritage committee voted in favour of heritage designation, with only the area councillor, Rideau-Vanier's Stéphanie Plante, opposing. It will now go to council for a final decision.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...says-1.7133204

If the citizens of a city wants a property to be heritage protected then the city should put its money where its mouth is. In this case either buy the property or pay the difference in sale value.

25,000 grants are not at all appropriate for the size or age of that property.

Also, again, other then being old what exactly is the heritage value of this church? that's not in a heritage conservation district.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

If the citizens of a city wants a property to be heritage protected then the city should put its money where its mouth is. In this case either buy the property or pay the difference in sale value.

25,000 grants are not at all appropriate for the size or age of that property.

Also, again, other then being old what exactly is the heritage value of this church? that's not in a heritage conservation district.

It’s an old building, the same as most heritage buildings in the world.

That being said, since there is zero possibility of doing anything with it given the extreme social policies that city policy have put in the area, I think a heritage designation without funding is unreasonable.

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by acottawa

It’s an old building, the same as most heritage buildings in the world.

That being said, since there is zero possibility of doing anything with it given the extreme social policies that city policy have put in the area, I think a heritage designation without funding is unreasonable.

So its pointless nimbyism gotcha, also, most at least try for either a heritage district motif (which this isn't in) or a "famous" person was involved with it (none mentioned), or at minimum an pristine example of a architecture style (which this definitely is not)

That whole registrar is just filled with examples, ~4600 buildings on majority in the most anti-dev wards in the city.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

So its pointless nimbyism gotcha, also, most at least try for either a heritage district motif (which this isn't in) or a "famous" person was involved with it (none mentioned), or at minimum an pristine example of a architecture style (which this definitely is not)

That whole registrar is just filled with examples, ~4600 buildings on majority in the most anti-dev wards in the city.

It is a rather elegant looking church, with some memorial windows for WW1 soldiers. I am not aware of it being a best practice anywhere that heritage buildings have to be associated with famous people or form part of a district motif.

If there was some massive shortage of developable land in the city (or in the area) there might be a case for going after heritage buildings, but there is no such shortage.

[rocketphish]

"In order to be designated heritage, a building must meet two out of nine criteria. The church, Ontario’s first francophone Baptist church, was built between 1904 and 1920 and designed by architect William James Abra, who designed numerous Ottawa churches and schools.

The church meets seven out of the nine criteria, well exceeding the threshold for designation, said Lesley Collins, the city’s program manager for heritage planning.

However, the Ontario Heritage Act only outlines criteria such as the style and workmanship of a building, its relationship to the history and context of the city — not whether its owner can afford to maintain a building no one will buy."

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...-churchs-plans

[rocketphish]

He wants to demolish three dilapidated houses. One problem: They're heritage
Brian Dagenais bought three neighbouring houses in Lowertown with the plan to demolish them and replace 13 rental units with 24 units. But that done has proven difficult.

Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen
Published Mar 19, 2024 • 6 minute read



A few months before the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown began, Brian Dagenais bought three crumbling 1870s houses in Lowertown with the intention of demolishing them and redeveloping 13 decrepit rental units into 24 new units.

The houses are in a heritage conservation district. While they aren’t significant in and of themselves, they contribute to the fabric of the historic Ottawa neighbourhood. And that means that, even though the buildings no longer make sense or money as rental units, they must remain.

Dagenais contends it’s a no-brainer that the buildings should be torn down.

“There are a lot of nice buildings and a lot of crap buildings,” he says during a walk in the neighbourhood. He figures his houses fit in the latter category.

Of the 13 units, only three are still rented. The front doors on two of the buildings have been sealed with plywood and screws, but that hasn’t stopped squatters from moving in. There are concerns about fires. The neighbours are unhappy, and Dagenais doesn’t blame them.

The houses are about 150 years old, but retain little of their original charm — although one building has third-floor dormers and another has a decorative cornice. A pair of cantilvered balconies likely only date back to the 1980s. One of the houses was constructed of concrete blocks. Another has been faced with a thin veneer of fake stone. Other sides are covered with a mishmash of stucco, vinyl siding and tin. Windows have been broken and covered with plywood. Exterior walls bulge and lean in spots.

Inside, there are building-code infractions galore. One basement— Dagenais has dubbed it the ‘Silence of the Lambs’ — is a thicket of leaning jack posts apparently holding up the ground floor. Apartments are warrens of rooms. Staircases are steep and narrow.

These houses are not stone or brick structures meant to stand the test of time, Dagenais said. “No one built these for 100 years. They built them for their present needs, and they were not expecting them to make it 50, 60, 70, 80 or 100 years.”

Dagenais paid $2.65 million for the three buildings on St. Patrick Street near the intersection with Dalhousie Street. He’s paying $28,000 a month in a mortgage, with only $4,000 a month coming in as rent. The project is deeply in the red. He rented out the apartments to tenants supported by city housing agencies as an interim measure and estimates the tenants have caused more than $100,000 in damages.

“I had an engineer here and asked him for an estimate to repair it or modernize it,” Dagenais said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Why would you even want to attempt it?'”

The buildings are in the Lowertown West heritage conservation district and are designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act, said Lesley Collins, the City of Ottawa’s program manager for heritage planning.

In a conservation district, it’s the sum of the parts that’s important, not necessarily every individual building. “These buildings are considered to be ‘contributing buildings’ within that area, meaning they contribute to the overall value,” Collins said.

“It’s about the contextual value. It’s about the sense of place you get in a historic neighbourhood.”

When a building is proposed for demolition, the question is why demolition is being proposed, Collins said.

“There has to be a rationale. Usually that’s condition. Because it is in a heritage conservation district, heritage staff have to consider the proposed replacement building or buildings. There are separate guidelines in each heritage conservation district to help evaluate development and demolition.”

Under the Ontario Heritage Act, the owner who wants to demolish a property must pay an application fee and submit the required plans and studies. City staff review applications and make recommendations to the built heritage committee and to city council, Collins said. Where demolition is proposed, there are guidelines for what the new construction should look like.

In this case, the project is still in the pre-consultation phase and the city doesn’t discuss details of an application at this stage, she said.

When he asked about the buildings, Dagenais said, he got scanty reports dating back 30 years. It’s absurd that millions of dollars worth of development decisions are restricted because of a two-page document, he argues.

“What is so hypocritical about this is that all three buildings have changed significantly over the decades, and heritage didn’t seem to care when they got altered.”

Lowertown West and the ByWard Market were both designated as heritage conservation districts about 30 years ago. A fairly thorough building-by-building evaluation was done at that time, Collins said.

The city is also in the process of finishing a new heritage conservation district plan for the ByWard Market and Lowertown that will be coming forward this year for council approval, Collins said. As it stands, there are two separate plans for each district. Both of these plans generally discourage the demolition of designated properties.

Meanwhile, city heritage planners have not received a demolition application for the three buildings, Collins said. According to Dagenais, that’s because there’s a non-refundable application fee of more than $60,000 for the three houses and he knows what the response will be.

Dagenais says he’s eager to provide a design that satisfies the city, and his proposal has already been revised a few times to include more pronounced dormers and more prominent balconies.

Just a few steps away from his houses are a row of original brick townhouses with a recent build on one side that echoes the originals. Around the block on Guigues Avenue is a recent condo building with a picturesque courtyard tucked back from the street. These examples show that new builds can fit into a heritage district, he maintains.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante has been to the site. There have been complaints from neighbours about rats, mice and loud arguments dating back to before the pandemic, she said.

“I was really pleased to hear that (Dagenais) was willing, if it goes to rebuild, to rebuild it so it looks like the heritage building it once was. It’s a wonderful compromise because everyone loves the character of Lowertown,” Plante said.

Plante also believes that the opioid and affordable housing crises that have hit the neighbourhood must be considered holistically. As it stands, Dagenais can’t rent out his apartments, she said.

“We’re applying the heritage lens — which is an important lens. But there are issues beyond that that have to be taken into consideration. We need affordable housing. There’s building-code issues here,” she said.

Then there’s the question of public safety and the possibility the buildings might collapse or burn in a fire lit by someone who manages to get inside. Dagenais said he recently found a burning candle in a vacant unit.

The city has tools in terms of property standards to protect heritage buildings from further deterioration and collapse, Collins said.

“If the buildings were to become unsafe, we would work with our colleagues and building-code services to appropriately stabilize and maintain the buildings in their current condition,” Collins said. “The city has tools to protect heritage buildings from demolition.”

Is this an example of “demolition by neglect,” in which a protected heritage building is so poorly maintained that it falls down on its own? Dagenais argues this is not the case. If the previous owners wanted to let the houses fall down, they would not have installed the jack posts in the basement. There have been clear attempts to fix structural issues, he said.

“They all worked in the sense that the buildings are still standing, but none of them actually corrected the issues. If I wanted to demolish by neglect, I would have removed those jack posts or cut holes into the roof or not board up access points to prevent people from breaking in.”

He says he’s asked city staff to come and look at his buildings with their own experts and prove that he’s wrong about the plan to demolish.

“Because if I’m wrong, then I’m wrong. Show me the way.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...heyre-heritage

[FutureWickedCity]

Oh give me a break. Did he really not think that a 19th century carriageway house was not going to have heritage status? Cry me a river. I disagree that the house itself is not significant. There are not many carriage houses remaining.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

Oh give me a break. Did he really not think that a 19th century carriageway house was not going to have heritage status? Cry me a river. I disagree that the house itself is not significant. There are not many carriage houses remaining.

I agree. When buying a building, you should consider heritage designation and potential for redevelopment. If there is none, make a lower offer.

Seems all the issues can be resolved with a restauration of the building. Don't need to tear it down and start over.

[Ottawacurious]

I read the comments of the article (scary, i know...) The owner has been active which has provided a bit more context.

[Williamoforange]

Originally Posted by FutureWickedCity

Oh give me a break. Did he really not think that a 19th century carriageway house was not going to have heritage status? Cry me a river. I disagree that the house itself is not significant. There are not many carriage houses remaining.

Then I suggest the city buy one of the remaining ones turn it into the Museum you so desire and let the rest of the city intensify.

"The facades are 1960s/70s facades. Concrete veneer, stone stucco and modern balconies. Aside from the form, very little is original"

Cause these homes ain't one of significant examples and the homes aren't actually designated heritage, just another overarching city policy creating a facade for nimbyism.

[rocketphish]

Remnants of Britannia's past as resort getaway up for heritage protection
Residents worry it would leave them with rodents, mould, sagging foundations

Arthur White-Crummey · CBC News
Posted: Apr 10, 2024 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago



The City of Ottawa wants to preserve Britannia Village's history as a summer resort, but some worry a heritage designation will leave them stuck with rickety homes close to ruin.

During a built heritage committee meeting on Tuesday, city staff initially recommended eight properties for heritage designation, most of them built as second homes for wealthy families who flocked to Britannia as a bucolic Ottawa River getaway.

Lesley Collins, the city's program manager for heritage planning, said the cottage community grew from "the Victorian ideals of taking the airs and getting out of the heat and dirt of the city in the summertime."

Britannia's "golden age" arrived with the streetcar around 1900, with most of the properties under consideration dating from that era or shortly before.

Wrapped in generous verandas, some come with rustic-sounding names like "The Pines" and "The Gables."


<more>


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...tory-1.7168459

[J.OT13]

Shocking it took this long, but the Plaza Building and Freiman Building on Rideau have been recommended for heritage designation.

1:12:00 to 1:18:00.

• Video Link