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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDSD-2021-111 - Options for 16-20 Queen Street North REPORT TO: City Council DATE OF MEETING: June 28, 2021 SUBMITTED BY: Bustamante, Rosa, Director of Planning, 519-741-2200 ext. 7319 PREPARED BY: Grohn, Victoria, Heritage Planner 519-741-2200 ext. 7041 WARD(S) INVOLVED: Ward 10 DATE OF REPORT: June 9, 2021 REPORT NO.: DSD-21-111 SUBJECT: Options for 16-20 Queen Street North RECOMMENDATION: That the options presented in Report DSD-21-111 be received for information; and That a decision on the Notice of Intention to Designate the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act be deferred until such time as a Notice of Intention to Demolish is received. REPORT HIGHLIGHTS: The purpose of this report is to provide City Council with contextual background regarding the development proposal at 16-20 Queen Street North and options for consideration. The key finding of this report is that the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North has cultural heritage value or interest and meets the criteria for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act, however designation is not recommended at this time. There are no financial implications. Community engagement included consultation with the Heritage Kitchener committee. The report supports the delivery of core services. BACKGROUND: The property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North is listed as a non- Register. The property was first identified as a property of interest in 1978 by the former Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC) (now Heritage Kitchener), listed on the Municipal Heritage Register for its design, physical, historical, and associative values. The building was constructed in 1916. The Economic Mutual Fire Insurance *** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. *** Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance. Company had its head office in the building between 1916 and 1954 and the Royal Conservatory of Music operated in the building between 1917 and 1935. The building was designed by notable architects William Henry Eugene Schmalz and Charles Knechtel and is a rare example of Beaux-Arts architecture in Kitchener. A Site Plan application has been received by the Planning Division for a proposal to construct a 34-storey residential tower on the subject property. The front façade and a portion of the returns (sides of the building) are proposed to be incorporated into the tower development, and select interior features are proposed to be repurposed within the development. The submission of a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) was a requirement of a complete Site Plan application. The HIA was required to confirm and expand, if appropriate, on the significance of the property, identify potential impacts associated with the development proposal, and recommend mitigating measures to avoid or reduce identified impacts. A draft HIA prepared by MHBC Planning and dated May 19, 2021 was submitted with the Site Plan application. The draft HIA prepared by MHBC Planning includes an evaluation of 16-20 Queen Street North using the established Ontario Heritage Act Regulation 9/06 criteria for designation. The draft HIA concludes that the property has cultural heritage value or interest and meets several of the criteria for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. The HIA identifies both exterior and interior attributes that contribute to the cultural heritage value or interest of the property. As ated to the Heritage Kitchener committee for review and comment. Circulation of the HIA to the Heritage Kitchener committee is not a legislated requirement under the Planning Act or the Ontario Heritage Act. The comments provided by the Heritage Kitchener committee members are taken into consideration by Planning staff when formulating a professional position on the application and preparing comments and conditions. The Heritage Kitchener committee reviewed and discussed the draft HIA at its June 1, 2021 meeting. At this meeting, Heritage Kitchener passed a motion to Council recommending that staff be directed to issue a Notice of Intention to Designate the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. REPORT: Draft HIA 16-20 Queen Street North The draft HIA prepared by MHBC Planning evaluated the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North using the established criteria in Regulation 9/06. The draft HIA confirms that the property has design/physical, historical/associative, and contextual value and is an exemplary example of Beaux-Arts architecture. The draft HIA identifies the following exterior and interior features as specific heritage attributes: Exterior: The placement, setback and orientation of the building in its original location on Queen Street North; The scale, form and massing of the original building; Materials including brick with Flemish bonding and stone; The symmetrical arrangement of the principal (east) elevation into three bays; Original window and door openings including associated brick voussoirs and stone sills and headers and remaining original windows and doors; Front portico of building including iron railings; Central frontispiece of 20 Queen Street N. including stone door surround and - Cast stone features on front elevation including: front entrance columns, entablature with decorative consoles/corbels, medallion/shield and festoon bas-reliefs; Cornicing on front elevation with Classical dentil mouldings; Balconies including: second storey balcony with balustrade and associated balusters and newel posts and Juliette balconies on second and third storey window openings on front elevation. Interior: Foyer of 20 Queen Street North with classical crown moulding, wood panelling and marble wainscotting; Decorative crown mouldings throughout the building including Doric pilasters and Greek fretting; Main meeting room on second storey level including c. 1916 electric fireplace; Wood features including partition wall on third floor with glass windows and transoms separated by wood mullions and original staircases; Original wood and terrazzo (foyer) flooring; Original light fixtures; Original Goldie & McCulloch Co. Limited Galt fireproof safe doors; Mechanical equipment including: original boiler by Waterloo Manufacturing Company Manufacturing breaker. The draft HIA concludes that the property meets seven of the nine prescribed criteria outlined in Regulation 9/06 and therefore is worthy of designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. However, a property must only meet one of the prescribed criteria to qualify for designation. Though the draft HIA establishes that the property has cultural heritage value or interest and meets the criteria for designation, the HIA does not recommend that the property be designated. In addition to an evaluation of the cultural heritage value or interest of the property, the draft HIA contains an assessment of alternative development options. The draft HIA existing heritage resource and its attributes as no development would occur. The draft HIA also acknowledges that demolishing the entire building would have the greatest impact on the heritage resource and is not recommended. A Phase Two Environmental Site Assessment was undertaken to investigate soil and groundwater quality on the site, and mercury contamination was discovered below the existing building. The draft HIA states that the development proposal requires the extraction of the contaminated soil which was a critical factor in the development of a proposal which removes most of the existing building. The HIA presents an alternative development option that would see raising the building to facilitate the extraction of the contaminated soil but notes that the mass and scale of the building present challenges for this option. Designation Process Under the Ontario Heritage Act Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act enables municipalities to pass by-laws for the protection (designation) of individual properties that have cultural heritage value or interest. Heritage designation is a protection mechanism with long-term implications for the alterations and demolition of a cultural heritage resource. Ontario Heritage Act Regulation 9/06 prescribes the criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest. The regulation into the categories of Design/Physical Value, Historical/Associative Value, and Contextual Value. Municipal councils can issue a Notice of Intention to Designate (NOID) as a way of preventing demolition or alterations to a property that may be worthy of designation. A it has been the position of the City of Kitchener to pursue designation with the full support of a property owner. Under current Ontario Heritage Act regulations, once a NOID is issued and published in the local newspaper, anyone can object to the NOID within 30 days by providing written notice to the City Clerk. If an objection is received, it is referred to the Conservation Review Board (CRB) for a hearing. The CRB holds a public hearing to determine if the property should be designated. After the hearing, the CRB will provide a report to Council setting out a finding of facts and recommends whether the property should be designated or not. Council then considers the CRB report and can either pass a by-law to designate the property or withdraw the NOID and not designate the property. The decision of Council is final. A flow chart showing the current designation process under the Ontario Heritage Act is attached to this report as Appendix A. Ontario Heritage Act Amendments Changes to the Ontario Heritage Act have been enacted by the Province and will take effect on July 1, 2021. These changes include amendments to section 29 which is the section that lays out the process for designating a heritage property by a municipality. Under these new changes, once the City publishes a NOID, any person can object to the NOID within 30 days by providing a written notice to the City Clerk. If an objection is received, Council must then consider the objection and make a decision about whether or not to withdraw the NOID. If Council does not withdraw the NOID (or no objection is received), then Council may pass a by-law to designate the property. At that time, any person who objects to the by-law may appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) (formerly LPAT). The decision of the OLT is final and binding on Council. A flow chart showing the changes to the designation process under the Ontario Heritage Act is attached to this report as Appendix B. Designation of interior heritage attributes Typically, cultural heritage value is not narrowed to just front facades, nor does heritage value have to be confined to exterior attributes. There are approximately 13 individually designated properties across the City that have interior heritage attributes identified in the designating by-law registered on title of the property. However, most designations do not include interior features as it is difficult to monitor interior designations, particularly if in have cultural heritage value can be designated. Options for Council Consideration Under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, Council may choose to issue a Notice of Intention to Designate to facilitate the designation of a property or choose not to proceed with issuing a Notice of Intention to Designate, and in turn not designate a property. 1. Proceed with issuing a Notice of Intention to Designate Council may decide to pursue designation of the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North. If a Notice of Intention to Designate (NOID) is issued, the property will be subject to certain interim protections. Any existing permit that allowed for the alteration or demolition of the property, including a building permit or demolition permit becomes void. process. Designation under the Ontario Heritage Act does not necessarily prohibit changes to a property but includes additional review processes to ensure alterations respect the cultural heritage value or interest of a property and do not negatively affect identified heritage attributes. Designation is about change management and how a building is altered, rather than whether or not a building is altered. If the NOID is published by June 30, 2021, then the current designation process under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act will apply. A draft Statement of Significance is attached as Appendix C of this report, outlining the cultural heritage value or interest of the property as well as the identified heritage attributes. 2. Deferring decision on the Notice of Intention to Designate to the demolition process (Recommended) Council may decide to defer a decision on the designation of the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North until a demolition permit application and Notice of Intention to Demolish an intention to demolish a building or structure. At that point, Council may choose to act on the intention to demolish and issue a NOID to designate the property to prevent demolition. The Heritage Kitchener committee would be consulted as part of this process. It is likely that this scenario would occur after July 1, 2021. As such, the new designation process under the Ontario Heritage Act would be followed. 3. Retaining a heritage qualified engineer to undertake additional building assessment The draft HIA prepared in support of the development proposal reports that mercury contamination was discovered below the existing building, primarily in the rear extension, and that an option to raise the rear portion of the building to address the contamination matter poses a significant challenge given the massing and scale of the building. The HIA concludes that the development requires the extraction of the contaminated soil and that this was a critical factor in the decision to remove most of the existing building. Planning staff would like to better understand the various options to remediate the soil on site and the feasibility and costs of these options. Planning staff would like to retain an external engineering consultant who is a member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals to undertake an independent study on behalf of the City to assess the feasibility of options to remediate the mercury contamination identified on the subject lands while conserving the building, subject to obtaining permissions from the property owner to access the property and building. It is estimated that this type of assessment may cost up to $20,000, depending on the level of complexity. A funding source has not yet been determined. Heritage Kitchener Committee Comments The Heritage Kitchener committee reviewed and considered the draft HIA prepared in support of the development proposal at 16-20 Queen Street North at its meeting on June 1, 2021. During this meeting, the committee members had opportunity to ask questions of the owner of the property and their consulting team. Heritage Kitchener committee members expressed concern with the proposal to only retain the front façade and a portion of the returns on the existing building. Heritage Kitchener committee members questioned the rationale behind the proposal to demolish the majority of the building in order to address contamination issues on site and whether there are alternative solutions that would facilitate the retention of a greater portion of the existing building. Some committee members acknowledged the need for affordable housing in the City and noted that there are competing interests in the downtown when it comes to heritage preservation and housing. Several committee members identified this building as culturally significant to the downtown and commented that it should be preserved in its entirety. Following discussion around the development proposal and the contents of the draft HIA, the Heritage Kitchener committee carried a motion recommending that Council direct staff to issue a Notice of Intention to Designate the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. Heritage Planning Comments Staff are of the opinion that the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North has design/physical, historical/associative, and contextual value and meets the criteria for designation under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. However, Heritage Planning staff do not believe a heritage designation is the best course of action currently for the following reasons. Pursuing designation at this time would be confrontational and may impact continuing efforts to achieve heritage objectives through the Site Plan process. The designation of both the exterior and the interior of the existing building ha work collaboratively with the property owner to achieve a balance of development and heritage conservation objectives. Heritage Planning staff believe there is merit in continuing to work with the owner to explore additional opportunities to achieve an appropriate and meaningful level of conservation. This could include retaining a greater portion of the existing building, adaptively re-using interior features in-situ within the proposed development, and commemorative efforts to address public interpretation and understanding of the significance of the property. These and other possible measures do not require a heritage designation to be achieved and implemented, but rather continue good faith discussion and negotiation between City staff and the property owner through the Site Plan process. The purpose of proceeding with a Notice of Intention to Designate at this time would be to prevent the partial demolition of the 16-20 Queen Street North building and conserve the existing identified heritage attributes in-situ. Heritage Planning staff are of the opinion that heritage conservation objectives can be achieved in an appropriate and meaningful way, while allowing for redevelopment in a manner that is consistent with City planning principles and objectives. In consideration of the above, Heritage Planning staff is of the opinion that no action to designate the property municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North is required at this time. Heritage Planning staff recommends deferring a decision on the Notice of Intention to Designate until such time as a demolition application and Notice of Intention to Demolish has been received from the City. At that time, City Council could choose to act on the Notice of Intention to Demolish and issue a Notice of Intention to Designate. Deferring a decision at this time would provide staff opportunity to have further discussions with the property owner and continue to work through the Site Plan process to balance development and meaningful heritage conservation efforts. STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT: This report supports the delivery of core services. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Capital Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Capital Budget. Operating Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Operating Budget. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: INFORM the Council meeting. CONSULT Heritage Kitchener has been consulted. PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES: Ontario Heritage Act, 2021 Ontario Regulation 9/06 Planning Act, 2021 APPROVED BY: Justin Readman, General Manager, Development Services ATTACHMENTS: Attachment A Current designation process under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act Attachment B Proposed designation process under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act Attachment C Draft Statement of Significance (16-20 Queen Street North) APPENDIX A APPENDIX B APPENDIX C Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest Description of the Property The subject property is municipally addressed as 16-20 Queen Street North in the City of Kitchener within the Region of Waterloo and the Province of Ontario. It is located on the west side of Queen Street North in the City Commercial Core planning community between King Street West and Duke Street West. The subject property includes a three storey commercial building on a 0.23-acre parcel with frontage on Queen Street North. Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest The subject property demonstrates design/physical, historic/associative and contextual values. The exterior and interior of the former circa 1916 Economical Insurance building has design/physical value as a representation of the Beaux-Arts style in the City Kitchener which displays a high degree of craftsmanship and artistic merit. The building has retained its heritage integrity and is one of the few remaining examples of commercial Beaux-Arts architecture in Kitchener. Many of the exterior heritage attributes on the front façade are original and intact. The interior was designed with the vision of Classicism demonstrating that that there was design intent for the interior arrangement as it relates to aesthetics and functionality. Most of the interior layout and heritage attributes are original and intact. The historic/associative values of the property relate to its direct association with the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Berlin (now nationally known as Economical Insurance), William Schmalz (Sr), the Royal Conservatory of Music, George H. Ziegler, and William Henry Eugene (W.H.E.) Schmalz and Charles Knetchel. The Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company was first established in Berlin (now from this building over three decades (1916 and 1952), including the Great Depression and World War II, and overcame significant, national economic and political changes during this time. Its operation yields information related to businesses within the City during this era. Several mergers took place from this building including the 1936 agreement with the Merchants Casualty Insurance Company of Waterloo, which broadened their insurance from solely fire, and the 1947 purchase of Northwestern Mutual Fire Association, which expanded the business to the Maritimes to offer insurance for automobiles, accidents and illnesses. As of 2021, the company has been in service for 150 years with head offices located in Waterloo Region. William Schmalz (Sr) was the first Mayor of the City of Berlin (now City of Kitchener) when the City incorporated in 1912. He was also the managing director of the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Berlin between 1916 and 1933. The Royal Conservatory of Music operated out of this building between 1917 and 1935. Later the building housed the Ontario Conservatory of Music and the Elsie Ewald School of Dance. George H. Ziegler managed the Conservatory of Music in this building, conducted the Kitchener Musical Society Band, and was the organist and choir master for years at Trinity United Church. Architects W.H.E. Schmalz (son of William Henry Schmalz) and Charles Knetchel were commissioned to design the building. W.H.E. Schmalz was a notable architect in the City and possibly best known for designing the original 1924 Kitchener City Hall. W.H.E. Schmalz was also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Kitchener Parks Board, the Kiwanis Club and the Kitchener Musical Society. The contextual value of the property relates to its location within Downtown Kitchener. The building supports the character of the area and is functionally and historically linked headquarters addressed as 10 Duke Street at the intersection of Duke Street and Queen at 16-20 Queen Street North. Plaques embedded into the sidewalk outline the years that the Economical Mutual Fire Insurance Company and the Royal Conservatory of Music operated out of the building. Description of Heritage Attributes The heritage attributes supporting the cultural heritage value or interest of 16-20 Queen Street North are represented in the exterior and interior of the three storey commercial building. Key heritage attributes associated with the design/physical value of the built heritage resource include: Exterior The placement, setback and orientation of the building in its original location on Queen Street North; The scale, form and massing of the original building; The materials including brick with Flemish bonding and cast stone; The symmetrical arrangement of the principal (east) elevation into three bays; The original window and door openings including associated brick voussoirs and stone sills and headers and remaining original windows and doors; The front portico of the building including iron railings; The central frontispiece of 16-20 Queen Street North including stone door surround - The cast stone features on the front (east) elevation including front entrance columns, entablature with decorative consoles/corbels, medallion/shield and festoon bas-reliefs; The cornicing on front (east) elevation with Classical dentil mouldings; and, The balconies including second storey balcony with cast stone balustrade and associated balusters and newel posts and iron Juliette balconies on second and third storey window openings on front (east) elevation. Interior The foyer of 16-20 Queen Street North with classical crown moulding, wood panelling and marble wainscoting; The decorative crown mouldings throughout the building including Doric pilasters and Greek fretting; The main meeting room on the second storey including circa 1916 electric fireplace; The wood features including partition wall on third floor with glass windows and transoms separated by wood mullions and original staircases; The original wood and terrazzo (foyer) flooring; The original light fixtures; The original Goldie & McCulloch Co. Limited Galt fireproof safe doors; and, The mechanical equipment including: original boiler by Waterloo Manufacturing breaker.