Waterloo aims to strengthens heritage protections on Button Factory
No rationale for why existing bylaw excludes two visible facades
WATERLOO — Broadening the list of heritage attributes on Waterloo’s Button Factory will provide better guidance for future maintenance, renovation and restoration activities, including design and construction work for a new elevator that’s anticipated later this year.
The elevator addition is identified as a capital project in 2020. As part of the planning process, facilities and heritage planning staff, along with representatives from the municipal heritage committee, conducted a site visit of the building to evaluate its interior and exterior features.
The property at 25 Regina St. S. was designated in 1982 as a property of cultural heritage value under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, but the original designation bylaw only included the north and east facades of the building as heritage attributes.
According to a report, there’s no clear heritage rationale for why the existing bylaw excludes two visible facades that are almost identical to the designated facades in terms of age, materials and architectural details.
City staff and the municipal heritage committee believe all exterior facades, brick work, windows and doors, as well as several interior and structural components, have heritage value. They recommended that council amend the designation bylaw to incorporate these heritage attributes, as well as the orientation of the building along the railway and facing Regina Street South.
The enhanced designation is seen as an opportunity for the city, as the owner of the Button Factory property, to demonstrate leadership in heritage conservation.
Adopting the revised designation bylaw will help the city recognize and understand the value of this heritage asset and ensure its long-term conservation and use, the report says.
Planning staff also conducted historical research about the property.
Here’s what they found:
á The building has direct association with historic personalities and industrial developments that are significant to the community.
á The building was constructed by Richard Roschman, a German immigrant and button maker, who with his brother Rudolph established the business, Roschman and Brother.
á The button factory operated for more than half a century, selling buttons across Canada and providing employment to as many as 100 local citizens. á The building also features cast iron skylights, patented in 1870 by Emil Vogelsang, who, like Roschman, was a German immigrant who constructed button factories in Berlin (Kitchener). á The Button Factory closed in 1946. The Ontario Glove Manufacturing Co. Ltd. purchased the site and remained there until 1957.
Since 1993, the building has been occupied by the Waterloo Community Arts Centre.