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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWartime Housing City of Kitchener Corporate Archives Kitchener Wartime Housing fonds 1940-2011 Prepared by: Hilda Sturm January 2014 KITCHENER WARTIME HOUSING fonds - 1940-2011. –6cm of textual records, 1m of photographs, 1cm of drawings and blueprints. Wartime Housing Limited, (later Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation – CMHC) a Crown Corporation built over 30,000 houses between 1941 and 1947 in many communities across Canada. These homes were built to provide affordable housing for war workers and returning veterans and their families. The houses were based on a standard 1-1/2 story design which were inexpensive and sometimes pre-fabricated. These homes were intended to be temporary and many of the neighbourhoods dissolved after the war. The St. Mary’s area in Kitchener, which was developed in 1946-1947, is one of these neighbourhoods and still exists today. In 2002 the St. Mary’s area was designated as a Heritage Conservation District under the Ontario Heritage Act. Kitchener has a plan in place for this area; the plan states that, “Within the City of Kitchener the heritage environment of the St. Mary’s neighbourhood represents an important and formative aspect of post-World War II construction, planning and development. In many respects what would later become fairly commonplace features in the new evolving Canadian suburban landscape were at their initiation a departure from the traditional grid of roads and lotting patterns.” This area is representative of some of the earliest local examples of suburban planning deign with the curved tree-lined streets and crescents. Today, in the St. Mary’s area at Spadina and Glenn Roads stands the Veterans’ Green Interpretive Area. This grassy area was constructed in 2009 and has a pathway, gardens, engraved marble stones, a flagpole, benches and 2 plaques. The two plaques stand to help future generations remember the sacrifice of war veterans. One of the plaques shows Kitchener’s role in the Second World War, with pictures of soldiers from the St. Mary’s neighbourhood and stories about the home front. The other plaque shows the significance of the St. Mary’s Heritage Conservation District as a neighbourhood of wartime housing built for veterans returning from the war. This fonds consist of correspondence, agreements of sale, financial receipts and invoices, applications, landscape specifications, walking tour, district plan and photographs. The records consist of two series. Title based on contents of fonds. 1: Correspondence/Financial Information – 1940- 2011. 6cm This series consists of correspondence, agreements of sale, financial receipts and invoices, applications, landscape specifications, walking tour and district plan. An index is available in Appendix A. 2: Photographs/Blueprints – 1947 – 1959. 1cm This series consists of photographs of housing and blueprints. An index is available in Appendix B. Appendix A Series 1: Correspondence/Financial Information Title Date Volume/Item Box Correspondence regarding 1952-1957 1-1 10161 property purchase Agreements of Sale, Financial 1950-1952 1-2 10161 receipts and correspondence Agreements of sale 1953 1-3 10161 Agreements of Sale 1954 1-4 10161 Agreements of Sale 1955 1-5 10161 Agreement between Kitchener 1947 1-6 10161 & Wartime Housing Amendment No. 2 Reduction 1950 1-7 10161 of Fee Amendment No. 1 Agreement 1948 1-8 10161 Application Wartime Housing 1948 1-9 10161 Project No. 1 Land Survey 1947 1-10 10161 Landscape Specifications 1946 1-11 10161 Sale of Serviceman’s Houses n.d. 1-12 10161 Correspondence Kitchener 1947-1950 1-13 10161 Project No. 1 Correspondence regarding 1955-1957 1-14 10161 property purchase Correspondence payments in 1954-1955 1-15 10161 lieu of taxes Amendment No. 1 Kitchener 1948 1-16 10161 Project 2 Agreement Wartime Housing 1949 1-17 10161 Project No. 2 Agreement Wartime Housing 1948 1-18 10161 Project No. 2 Agreement Kitchener Project n.d. 1-19 10161 No. 2 Miscellaneous 1947-1952 1-20 10161 Correspondence Kitchener Project No. 2 Miscellaneous 1953-1957 1-21 10161 Correspondence Kitchener Project No. 1 Duplicate copies 1955-1957 1-22 10161 correspondence regarding property purchase Walking Tour 2011 1-23 10161 Heritage Conservation District 2001 1-24 10161 Plan Appendix B Series 2: Photographs/Blueprints Title Date Volume/Item Box Black and White photographs 1945-1959 1-25 10161 Blueprints Kitchener Project 1947 2-1 CH No. 2