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KITCHENER — Work crews will likely begin tearing down the modern additions that surround the 1897 Kaufman mansion this spring, in the first steps to restore the red sandstone house to its former glory.
The Victorian Gothic mansion built by industrialist Jacob Kaufman will sit in the midst of a massive new redevelopment called Sixo Midtown, which is planned for the south side of King Street just west of the railway tracks.
The $450-million project by Zehr Group includes plans for five glass and steel buildings that will add almost 1,000 residential units and 1 million square feet to a site just west of Kitchener’s downtown.
The heritage planners and architects updated Kitchener’s heritage committee this week on its approach to restoring the mansion.
The plan is to preserve the historic character of the Kaufman mansion and all the outside heritage features, including its slate roof, turret decorated with carved lions, sandstone exterior and stained-glass windows.
In an unusual move, the plan would also conserve the sightlines that allowed the industrialist to look up from his desk in his second-floor home office and see the thriving rubber factory he had built, down the hill from the mansion.
“The proposed development will connect the past to the present,” says the study prepared by McCallum Sather, the heritage firm hired by Zehr Group. “It will conserve and adapt the Kaufman House as a jewel that reflects the heritage of the site, and the Kaufman family as community leaders and city builders.”
The red-brick additions that will be removed next spring date to 1969 when the former mansion was the Ratz-Bechtel funeral home. The developer has already obtained a demolition permit to remove the additions, which include covered entries and a chapel.
Once the newer additions are gone, architects will have a better idea of what sort of shape the mansion is in, though architect Drew Hauser said the house appears to be in excellent condition.
The developer is keen to preserve the home and its heritage, Hauser said, and plans to protect the mansion with a heritage designation. “This doesn’t happen on every project,” Hauser said. “There are clients who may not have the same respect for the heritage asset, and that makes it more challenging. In this case they’re acting as a good steward.”
One major feature of the original mansion that won’t be restored is the elaborate pillared veranda that originally wrapped around two sides of the house. It was demolished after the home was converted to a funeral home, and the architects plan to build a modern glass-and-metal porch. “We want to really distinguish old from new,” Hauser said.
The plan would also ensure there is some space around the mansion — from six to 18 metres as well as a clear view of the mansion from King Street, so that the much-taller modern high-rises don’t crowd the heritage building. “We’re looking at how do we manage that sense of it being lost within the large site,” Hauser said.
As well, Hauser told the committee, the other buildings on the site will be completely modern, to ensure the historic building is easily distinguished from any later ones.
“I think it’s a fabulous project,” said Coun. Bil Ioannidis. “I don’t have any concern with the density around it (the mansion),” he added. “That’s what it’s zoned for.”
The developer still hasn’t determined what the former mansion will be used for, but Hauser said the preference is for a use such as a restaurant or artists’ studios that the broader public has access to, rather than an amenity that’s only for Sixo residents.
Next year, the developer will submit a conservation plan that spells out: how the building will be renovated; how the renovation will address modern needs such as accessibility; plans for preserving interior features such as an elaborately carved grand staircase and fireplaces; and more specific details about the design of the modern porch.