The Great Canadian Heritage Restoration Thread

[matt602]

No idea but I had some pretty fun times under that bridge as a kid. Really neat for sure.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Do any Toronto forumers know if there have been or why there haven't been plans to fix up the Bathurst Street Bridge? It's 111 years old I believe and looks it not in a good way. I know the city was looking into it back in 2008 but that was a long time ago now.

Posted by Towered of urbantoronto: http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/e...un21-08051.jpg

Fix up how? I think it looks terrific.

[TorontoDrew]

It's in desperate need of repair. Something like what they did with the Queen Street Bridge would be nice.

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Do any Toronto forumers know if there have been or why there haven't been plans to fix up the Bathurst Street Bridge? It's 111 years old I believe and looks it not in a good way. I know the city was looking into it back in 2008 but that was a long time ago now.

Pretty sure it's going to be fixed up when the lot north of the library is turned into a park.

[someone123]

It's not done yet, but the Keith Hall (1863) restoration project in Halifax already looks pretty good. The mansard roof still needs to be rebuilt and the portico has not been reinstalled yet.

Here's the state it was in a couple of years ago:


http://www.gfduffusandco.ca

October:


http://urbanhalifax.tumblr.com/

The Charles Morris House restoration is nearly done too. The house dates from circa 1760 and belonged to one of Nova Scotia's early surveyors. It was saved and moved across town. I wish more houses were saved like this and used to fill in small holes. Instead they are typically demolished.

It's one of the small blue houses pictured below:


(my photo)

New location:

https://www.facebook.com/morrishouse.ca

Another one that has started in Halifax is former NFB building, which is the facade with the metal supports in the photo below.


Source

[SignalHillHiker]

The Colonial Building, our former Parliament, is coming along nicely. This is an extensive restoration to convert it into a museum of political history from 1832-1949.

Front along Military:

Colonial Building Restoration by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

Side along Bannerman:

Colonial Building Restoration by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

Back from The Loop:

Colonial Building Restoration by Rabbittownie, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

Some good news, for a change.

A St. John's man is investing millions of dollars to restore a historic home in the centre of the city — a home that isn't protected by heritage status.

Bruce Blackwood and his partner are revamping the 12,000 square foot mansion at 55 Rennie's Mill Road.

The home was constructed in 1889 by Lord Edward Patrick Morriss, the 12th Prime Minister of Newfoundland, and was completed in 1909.

It was a family home until the 1920s, and was later turned into an Anglican hostel for hundreds of outport girls who came to St. John's to study.

Blackwood and his partner purchased the home from its previous owner Thaddeus Dreher, a prominent member of the St. John's Polish community.

"I've known [about] the house for many, many years and admired it," said Blackwood. "And when it came on the market … we immediately had a look at it and ended up buying it."

Blackwood said because the home didn't have heritage status, he could have applied for a demolition permit to tear down the building and subdivide the lot, but he didn't want to do that.

"It's a gorgeous old house and it should be preserved," he said. "We both thought it was a good investment. It's built like no house built today so it's worth restoring."

The Queen Anne style mansion sits on a private half-acre lot across the street from Bannerman Park.

The home boasts spacious dinning and living rooms with 13-foot ceilings, original windows and ornate plaster work, as well as a grand front entryway.

"The highlight of the whole house is the entrance," said Blackwood.

"It's all English oak and would have been manufactured in London or in England somewhere and then shipped over here and installed for Lord Morris."

According to Blackwood, Enligsh oak is now considered an endangered species of tree. He estimates the staircase would cost roughly $750,000 if it were replicated today.

To ensure the home will meet heritage standards, Blackwood and his partner consulted with the city.

Still, he thinks more can be done to motivate potential buyers.

"We've been trying to talk [the city] into some sort of incentives for people, either tax incentives or some sort of breaks for people, and that's something they're looking at, it's something they are trying to do," he said.

As is, the asking price for 55 Rennie's Mill Road is $1.45 million.

Blackwood estimates that price will likely balloon to $3-million as the renovations continue.

Ken Casey, the property's listing agent, said Blackwood and his partner just need to find the right buyer for the mansion.

In three weeks, Casey's already arranged five viewings for interested parties.

"The house is not going to move, it's not going to settle — it's been here 100 years," said Casey.

"Those things you can't buy now a days. It's well worth preserving."

Casey said the market largely dictates whether a buyer will work to preserve a heritage home, like Blackwood has, or demolish the home altogether — as was the case of 25 Winter Ave.

"Nobody wants to see these houses destroyed because they're not making any more of these," said Casey.

"There was a little bit of a shock when I saw the roof coming off of [the Winter Avenue home], but again, it depends on the circumstance and the individual who's buying it."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...1-4m-1.3013595

And some pictures from Facebook:

[red-paladin]

How is that not heritage status

Good news though!

[SignalHillHiker]

If I understand it correctly, this is how it works.

We have three Heritage Areas, which indicate the value of the buildings contained within each as well as spell out exactly what you are allowed to do without explicit approval from the Heritage Advisory Committee in these areas.

(Hilariously, the City isn't trying to save lower-class neighbourhoods like mine. The unprotected areas you see within the old town core are places that currently have modern buildings OR that look like mine, with the little hen-cage, flat-front rowhouses).



Now, any property owner can apply for an exemption to any of these rules. Say, you bought a house in Heritage Area 1 that was renovated in the 1960s and has modern windows. If you want to replace them, you're not allowed to just put in modern windows - you have to restore the exterior to its pre-rnovation status and install our traditional style of windows. That's a much more expensive project (and a common one here). So you can apply for an exemption to replace your windows with ones like those currently installed in your home. Sometimes it's granted, sometimes it's not. Homeowners have been made, at great expense, to even remove just-installed windows that weren't traditional.

From the City's website:

The following are typical renovations that require heritage approval:

Replacement of windows and doors
Change in location of window and door openings
Creation of new window or door openings
Alteration to the roof line or style of roof
Installation of new clapboard or siding
Construction of decks or verandas
Installation of an accessory building (visible from the street)
Installation of a fence (visible from the street)
New home construction
Addition to an existing property
Demolition of a building or part of a building
Exterior signage

(So for any of these things above you not only need a permit, but you need approval from the Heritage Advisory Committee)

Work that does not require heritage approval that can be carried out under a general repair permit includes:

Routine maintenance and minor repairs that do not change the appearance of the property
Re-roofing in a material that is similar to the existing material
Re-painting
Repairs to or replacement of eavestroughs and downspouts
Re-pointing and repairs to masonry

You can also apply for a permit to demolish your property and start over. That's granted even less frequently, but does happen.

Within (and outside) of these Heritage Areas, we have a completely different system of registering heritage structures. The property owner must apply for this status. It affords no benefits or support and basically completely restricts what you're allowed to do to the building except routine maintenance. That's what the article above is referring to, saying this isn't a heritage structure. But it is within a Heritage Area so any changes will require approval AND a permit.

In the whole of St. John's there's only a couple dozen registered heritage structures. But there are many hundreds of buildings within the Heritage Areas.

[lio45]

Interesting, it's very similar to how it works in Sherbrooke. There are very very few heritage structures, and this one would not be special enough to have heritage status in Sherby either (well, maybe it would have a chance but only because it was built by, and was the home of, a former PM, but architecturally, surely not)... but it would assuredly be located in the older parts of town, so you can't modify it without having a committee approving the modifications.

One difference between St. John's and Sherbrooke though is that you couldn't demolish a house like 25 Winter Avenue, even outside heritage districts. You'd have to hire an arsonist to set it on fire during the night, and then you could proceed to subdivide the 2 acres if the zoning allowed it in the first place (but the City did not let you demolish).

[1overcosc]

Here's my favourite heritage restoration project done in Kingston of late: Goodes Hall, the home of the Queen's School of Business. A 150-year old red brick school that was falling apart was restored and an elegant stone and glass addition was added around it:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.22767...0140401T000000

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.22772...8N6dwcQ-Ug!2e0

The stone expansion viewed from around the corner. Yep, it's new--the same view was a parking lot in 2012.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.22810...0140401T000000

[SignalHillHiker]

This is really gaining some legs here. I love it!

'Sell Your Vinyl Castle in Suburbia and Move Downtown': Calls for Public Heritage Engagement

Heritage law reform, incentives for home owners, and education for the public were just some of the changes suggested at a packed town hall last night hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust. VOCM's Andrew Hawthorn was there.

Emotional testimony and resolution at the NL Historic Trust town hall held last night to talk about what's wrong in heritage and where to go from here.

While firmer heritage laws were called for, many suggested that not just new rules, but incentives like tax breaks for owners would go a long way. But several heritage owners present said it wasn't half as difficult or expensive as the city made it seem.

On the panel, Shannie Duff said with prosperity coming to the city, there'd been a steady erosion of council's desire to exercise power on development, heritage or otherwise.

She said the elephant in the room was owner's rights over property. But many pointed out that cities have always had the right to restrict use for zoning, commercial use, and heritage, and that it just takes will to wield it.

Former Historic Trust president John FitzGerald said things had to change from the ground up, because there were many more Quinnipiacs in the city with excavators ready to go.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?...53742&latest=1

[SignalHillHiker]

Passed a poster today with a render of what the Colonial Building, our former Parliament, is going to look like once the restorations are complete.



And a couple of old pictures/postcards, including one showing the building before all of the over-the-years changes, which is what it's being restored to look like.

[davidivivid]

The St. Matthew Anglican church was built in 1848, classified as an historic monument in 1976 and converted into a library in 1980. Really beautiful interior.

The Good Books by O.Lamalice, on Flickr



Speaking of churches, the Saint-Grégoire de Montmorency church was recently converted into a beautiful reception hall:


http://espacesaintgregoire.ca/album-photos/

[someone123]

The scaffolding has come down from the old Post Office building (now art gallery) in Halifax:


Source

Here's a Notman photo from 1869, with its original cupola:


Source

[SignalHillHiker]

The stones are a gorgeous colour. We don't have our old post anymore but it was probably 1/5th the size.

[SignalHillHiker]

I love the two converted churches. I hope people get to a point mentally where it becomes completely natural to associate church architecture with other uses. Even if it's only buildings, I'd hate to lose them. We poured the best of us into their beauty for a long time.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Beauty.

[someone123]

Here's a WWII-era picture from the NS archives:



The customs house used to be next door, and the cupola was still there in the 1940's. Unfortunately, the customs house was torn down in 1958. The taller Dominion Building in the background is still there. The foreground building is the Bank of Montreal. During this era, the 1870's Royal Bank head offices were next door. It was demolished in the 1960's for an office tower. The Bank of NS offices are nearby too; there's a great collection of old stone buildings in this area.

This is getting a bit off-topic, but Saint John also had a series of nice customs house/post office buildings. The nicest was built in the 1870's. I think it predated the fire of 1877; I've seen pictures of the building with serious fire damage. It may have been restored after the fire, because I've also read that it was demolished in 1961.


Source


Source

Another bit of trivia: the lions from the Halifax customs house were saved and are now on Granville Street.


Source

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I love the two converted churches. I hope people get to a point mentally where it becomes completely natural to associate church architecture with other uses. Even if it's only buildings, I'd hate to lose them. We poured the best of us into their beauty for a long time.

I agree. A couple of churches in Winnipeg have been converted to residential uses, but that does have the unfortunate side effect of carving up the sanctuary. It would be nice to see more of them get repurposed in a way that preserves the grand open spaces... although I can appreciate that the list of possibilities is somewhat limited, especially when you consider the cost of renovation.