HomeMy WebLinkAboutProposed Alterations - Homer Watson House & Gallery - 1754 Old Mill RdLaurier Proulx
Director of Facilities Management
City Hall PO Box 1118
200 King Street West
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2G 4G7
Phone: (519)741 -2424
FAX (519)741 -2222
Email: laurier. roulx (@citv.isitchener.on.ca
TTY teletypewriter or text telephone (519) 741 -2385
February 12, 2008
Michelle Hedges
Acting Easement Program Coordinator
Ontario Heritage Trust
10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 1 J3
Dear Michelle Hedges:
Re: Homer Watson House & Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
Consider this letter our request for approval of an alteration we propose for this facility
that will materially affect the appearance of the fagade.
The property is municipally known as Homer Watson House & Gallery, at 1754 Old Mill
Road in Kitchener. I am the owner's representative, and I can be reached by phone at
519 741 -2424, by fax at 519 741 -2222, or by email at laurier.proulx@kitchener.ca.
The proposed work involves the replacement of clerestory windows, and the
replacement of the cedar - shingled roof. The occupants have been dealing with leaks for
several years, particularly at times when there was snow and ice build -up.
To evaluate the problem, we retained IRC Group to look at the building and evaluate the
problem areas. We will fax separately their Reports 1 and 2 dated August 28, 2007 and
August 29, 2007, respectively.
We then retained an architect, Mr. Dave Wilkinson of Totten Sims Hubicki Associates,
to review the reports and to prepare drawings to reflect the solution to the problem.
It would appear that the existing clerestory window extends too close to the roofline at
the bottom of the window: therefore, there is little room for appropriate flashing where
the shingles meet the window frame. (Please note that these windows are not original to
the building.)
The proposal is to replace the windows with slightly smaller units, and to build up the
bottom of the clerestory window to allow for more sufficient flashing. The details I have
described are apparent on the drawing.
We hope to tender the work in early spring, so that work can proceed expeditiously
once the snow is gone. We seek your approval to comply with our obligations under the
easement with the Trust. Please advise if you require any additional information.
Sincerely,
Laurier Proulx CET, CMM III
Director of Facilities Management, City of Kitchener
LP /cr
cc. Leon Benason, Coordinator, Cultural Heritage Planning, City of Kitchener
Faith Hieblinger, Executive Director, Homer Watson House & Gallery
10 Adelaide Street East
TARIO Toronto, Ontario M5C 1J3
HERITAGE
zn TRUST
Telephone:
Fax :416-325-5071
An agency of the Government of Ontario www.heritagetrust.
March 10, 2008
Laurier Proul
Project Manager and Director,
Facilities Management, Corporate Services Department
City Hall
200 ping Street West, �1`�� Floor
ISO lox 111
Kitchener, Ontario!
N2G 447
Dear Sir,
Ike. 1754 Old Mill Road - Hamer Watson Hoarse
Heritage Conservation Easement Agreement - Alteration Request
I am writing in response to your letter dated February 12, 2008 requesting approval for work to
the gallery at Homer Watson [louse. As you are no doubt aware, the property known as the
Homer Watson House is protected by a heritage conservation agreement held by the Ontario
[Heritage Trust (Instrument No. 1067748, registered .February 1, 199 1 ). Under the terms of the
easement agreement the owner is required to request approval for alteration. I have reviewed
your proposal as prepared by Totten Sims Hubicki Associates in drawing No. A 1 (revision 2
dated January 16, 2 08) to alter the gallery roof and clerestory windows. I have also reviewed'
the analysis ofdefects as described in [RC Building Sciences Group's Observation Report No. I
(dated August 28 to 29, 2007). The following are the Trust's comments on the request based on
the information provided..;
Roof'
As reported in the document prepared by IRC the roof to the gallery is leaking. This poses a.
significant concern for the historic fabric of the structure and internal finishes. The Trust
approves the repair and renewal of the roof cladding in principal with the following
conditions:
a) Please provide further information regarding the location and number of roof vents for
approval, Please provide a ju ti,lication for the number of roof vents proposed. Several of
the new roof vents have been proposed for location on prominent elevations i.e. south and
east. Please investigate alternative methods for venting the roof space, locating the
proposed vents in less conspicuous areas i.e. north and west and redwing the nurnber.
IMOMEM
b) Please describe the proposed alteration at the junction of the lean -to roof and the main
gallery roof in greater detail and explain whether this alteration represents a restoration of
the roofs to a previous form (e.g. detail section 11 shows the existing roof structure
below) or whether this is a new design.
Windows
I have reviewed the analysis of the defect and the proposed changes to the clerestory window
design to remedy it. Although this may be a suitable solution to the defined problem of water
infiltrating the ceiling structure due to the height of the bottom rail of the window and
insufficient flashings, we require further information. As it is proposed that the windows be
replaced and the sills altered research should be done to establish if any archival information
exists on the previous and original forms of the windows. This research may inform the new
design and may help to understand mistakes that have been made it the past. Until research is
done to establish what /if information exists on the previous windows this work is not approved.
We have been contacted by the production team attempting to document the restoration works at
Homer Watson House and Gallery. They have mentioned that they wish to complete their
filming by the end of April. While we will attempt to expedite this approval request in a timely
manner as we do for all such applications we remind you that approval has currently not been
given to commence this work and is pending the requested information. A site visit may be
required by the Trust to review the proposal in greater detail. We look forward to receiving the
requested information. If you have any questions or comments please contact me at tel. 416 -314-
5968 or email michelle.hed es c herita etrust.on.ca.
Sincerely yours,
Michelle Hedges
Easement Programme Coordinator
Copy: Faith Hieblinger, Executive Director, Horner Watson House
Leon Bensason, Heritage Planner, Kitchener (E -mail only)
Page 2 of 2
Laurier Proulx
Director of Facilities Management
City Hall PO Box 1118
200 King Street West
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2G 4G7
Phone: (519)741 -2424
FAX (519)741 -2222
Email: laurier. roulx (@citv.isitchener.on.ca
TTY teletypewriter or text telephone (519) 741 -2385
March 14, 2008
Michelle Hedges
Easement Programme Coordinator
Ontario Heritage Trust
10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, Ontario
M5C U3
Dear Ms. Hedges:
Re: 1754 Old Mill Road — Home Watson House
Heritage Conservation Easement Agreement — Alteration Request
I am writing in response to your letter dated March 10, 2008, which comments on our
request for alterations to the gallery at Homer Watson House.
With respect to issue "a" under the "Roof" section of your response, please see the
attached comments from our architect.
With respect to issue "b" under the "Roof" section of your response, I offer the following
information.
I attach a rudimentary sketch showing a cross - section of roofs so I can describe what
has happened over time.
The original addition (what I call the storage shed) had an initial roofline shown dotted.
Then, the roofline was raised to tie into the framing of the upper roof. Since the slopes
of the two roofs do not exactly coincide, I have shown the effect of this by dotting a line
over the two roofs. In overall appearance, this variance in slope makes it appear from a
distance as though the roof has sagged a bit. We would propose to shim in order to
achieve that straight line in the process of re- roofing.
Please advise if this is satisfactory to receive your approval with respect to the roof
issues.
With regard to the windows, the archival information is sparse. Please find attached the
comments from Faith Hieblinger.
In my view, if we do not address the issue of water entering the building due to ice build-
up, we will cause long -term damages to the structure of the building. I acknowledge that
this is a bit of a digression from the original design but we see no other reasonable
solution.
Sincerely,
Laurier Proulx CET, CMM III
Director of Facilities Management
Cc: Faith Hieblinger, Executive Director, Homer Watson House
Leon Bensason, Heritage Planner, City of Kitchener
LP /Iw
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David Abs M B.Arch., OAA
Architect, Buildings Group
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David Abs M B.Arch., OAA
Architect, Buildings Group
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Laurier Proulx
Director of Facilities Management
City Hall PO Box 1118
200 King Street West
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2G 4G7
Phone: (519)741 -2424
FAX (519)741 -2222
Email: laurier. roulx (@citv.isitchener.on.ca
TTY teletypewriter or text telephone (519) 741 -2385
March 25, 2008
Michelle Hedges
Acting Easement Program Coordinator
Ontario Heritage Trust
10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 1 J3
Dear Michelle Hedges:
Re: Homer Watson House & Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
Consider this letter our request for approval of an alteration we propose for this facility
that will materially affect the appearance of the fagade.
The property is municipally known as Homer Watson House & Gallery, at 1754 Old Mill
Road in Kitchener. I am the owner's representative, and I can be reached by phone at
519 741 -2424, by fax at 519 741 -2222, or by email at laurier.proulx@kitchener.ca.
The proposed work involves the replacement of clerestory windows, and the
replacement of the cedar - shingled roof. The occupants have been dealing with leaks for
several years, particularly at times when there was snow and ice build -up.
To evaluate the problem, we retained IRC Group to look at the building and evaluate the
problem areas. We will fax separately their Reports 1 and 2 dated August 28, 2007 and
August 29, 2007, respectively.
We then retained an architect, Mr. Dave Wilkinson of Totten Sims Hubicki Associates,
to review the reports and to prepare drawings to reflect the solution to the problem.
It would appear that the existing clerestory window extends too close to the roofline at
the bottom of the window: therefore, there is little room for appropriate flashing where
the shingles meet the window frame. (Please note that these windows are not original to
the building.)
The proposal is to replace the windows with slightly smaller units, and to build up the
bottom of the clerestory window to allow for more sufficient flashing. The details I have
described are apparent on the drawing.
We hope to tender the work in early spring, so that work can proceed expeditiously
once the snow is gone. We seek your approval to comply with our obligations under the
easement with the Trust. Please advise if you require any additional information.
Sincerely,
Laurier Proulx CET, CMM III
Director of Facilities Management, City of Kitchener
LP /cr
cc. Leon Benason, Coordinator, Cultural Heritage Planning, City of Kitchener
Faith Hieblinger, Executive Director, Homer Watson House & Gallery
Laurier Proulx
Director of Facilities Management
City Hall PO Box 1118
200 King Street West
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada N2G 4G7
Phone: (519)741 -2424
FAX (519)741 -2222
Email: laurieroroulx(@citykitcheneron,ca
TTY teletypewriter or text telephone (519) 741 -2385
April 24, 2008
Michelle Hedges
Acting Easement Program Coordinator
Ontario Heritage Trust
10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON M5C 1 J3
Dear Michelle Hedges:
Re: Homer Watson House & Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario
I am writing to respond to your email of April 17, 2008, regarding the proposed changes
to the north facing roof line of Homer Watson House and Gallery.
We had previously retained an architect to review the roof structure of the building.
Currently, the building has a single sloped roof structure that merges the original north
facing gallery roof and the lean -to roof. Upon review, the architect found that there is an
underlying original roof structure composed of a separate gallery roof and a separate
lean -to roof. This can reasonably assumed to represent the original design.
We propose to restore the original roofline by exposing and repairing the original gallery
and lean -to roofs.
We seek your approval to comply with our obligations under the easement with the
Trust. Please advise if you require any additional information.
Sincerely,
Laurier Proulx CET, CMM III
Director of Facilities Management, City of Kitchener
LP /Iw
ONTARIO
10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, Ontario IV15C IJ3
HERITAGE
R, TRUST
Telephone: 416- 325 -5000
Fax :416- 325 - 51171
An agency of the Governtneril of Ontario
www.heritagetrust.rn.ca
April 24, 2008
Laurier Trot #1
Project Manager and Director
Facilities Management, ement orporate Services Department
City hall
2001 King Street West, 4"' Floor
PO 'Box 1118'
Kitchener, Ontario
t`k12G 4G7
Re 1754 Old Mill Road Homer Watson House
Heritage Conservation basement Agreement - Alteration Request
With reference to our previous correspondence (ivlarch 10, 2008), thank you for providing the additional
materials prepared as requested by the Trust. As you are aware the property known as known as the
Hosier Watson House is protected by a heritage conservation agreement held by the Ontario Heritage
Trust (Instrument No. 1067748,; Registered February 1, l 9!1)
The work proposed in the documents you provided is consistent with the intent of the conservation
easement agreement. As a result the Trust hereby approves the proposal to replace the gallery
clerestory windows, the cedar shingle root" and associated. Tlashings and rain water disposal system.
The additional documents provided indicate that the number of roof vents', have been reduced and
relocated as much as possible away froth principal elevations. The alteration of the shed roof over the rear'
(north) entrance to the gallery will restore it to what was likely the original design and will restore the
original eaves line of the amain gallery roof. As you and the museum staff were unable to locate any
archival docaarments which illustrate the original design of the clerestory windows., the proposed alteration
of the bottom rail, sill and associated fleshings to prevent further water penetration and damage to the
interior is approved.
I trust you find this level of approval helpfiil. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at 416 325-
5968 or via e -mail at mic lie IIe.hedges a heritagetrust.on.ca.
Sincerely yours,
Michelle Hedges
Easement Programme Coordinator
Copy: Faith Hieblinger, Executive Director, Homer Watson House
Leon Bensason, Heritage Planner, Kitchener (E -mail only)
Page 2 of 2
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