$450K plan to relocate heritage house at park moves forward
1861 farmhouse sits where city wants to put soccer fields in South District Park
KITCHENER — A proposal to move an 1861 stone farmhouse to make way for sports fields in a new district park has received the green light from Kitchener’s planning department.
The farmhouse is located where soccer fields are planned in the city’s new South District Park at Huron and Fischer-Hallman roads. Grading and other issues make it difficult to relocate the soccer fields.
A consultant’s report earlier this year concluded the house had enough heritage value to save, and recommended it be moved to another spot in the park and used to house washrooms or a snack bar.
Moving the house is likely to cost at least $450,000 according to preliminary estimates. The actual cost would be higher since that amount doesn’t include things like electrical work, paint or installing a kitchen and/or washroom.
A conservation plan will spell out in more detail the costs of either moving the house intact, or dismantling it and reassembling it at another site in the park.
The city’s heritage committee would consider those options; council would make a decision in September when it considers tenders to begin grading for the new park, said Denise McGoldrick, Kitchener’s director of operations for environmental services.
The costs of moving the heritage house are folded into the overall budget for the park, McGoldrick said. “It’s not that we would go to council for additional funding over and above what has already been approved for this project.”
Just over $10 million has been earmarked for the first phase of the park, set to open in spring 2019 with sports fields, a playground and possibly a splash pad.
The second phase would spend $5.5 million to put in washrooms, a maintenance building, walking paths and ball courts in 2021, while Phase 3 in 2025 would put in a skate park for $3.2 million, for a total of $19 million.
The consultant’s report noted that the house was in fair condition, but that it had wood rot and water damage inside and didn’t have any particular artistic merit.
The house is one of about a half dozen stone houses built between 1850 and 1870 by Scottish and English settlers in a pocket of land in the city’s southwest corner.
“Yes, there are stone buildings in other areas — Guelph and Cambridge — but for Kitchener, we’re not known to have many significant stone buildings,” said Leon Bensason, Kitchener’s co-ordinator of cultural heritage.
“We’re more of an area recognized for its brick structures, more kind of modest buildings built in a plain style. Here we have this unique enclave built by English and Scottish settlers in a particular part of the city. It’s an important part of the city’s story.”