Heritage designation recommended for two iconic industrial landmarks
Two of Kitchener’s best-known industrial landmarks are being recommended for heritage designation.
The Krug furniture factory on Ahrens Street West and the former Lang Tanning Company complex, now home to tenants including Communitech, are among the latest Kitchener properties being recommended for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Designation recognizes a property’s heritage value and helps to manage changes and ensure appropriate conservation of heritage attributes.
Heritage planners are scrambling to assess properties ahead of a provincial deadline to designate those that are currently just listed on a municipal heritage register as properties with cultural heritage value. Listed properties do not have the same protections as designated ones.
Properties that are listed but not designated by Jan. 1, 2025 must come off the register and can’t be re-listed for five years. Many municipalities, including Kitchener, have asked the province for an extension, to 2030.
Last month, the Krug building was cited by a member of the North Waterloo branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario as an example of a building that could be at risk without the protections offered by designation.
Kitchener’s heritage planning staff, with assistance from the Heritage Kitchener committee and other volunteers, have been working diligently for months to assess priority properties on the register and recommend certain ones for designation.
This week, Heritage Kitchener members voted to pursue designation on several more properties.
“It really makes you appreciate the buildings that we are preserving in our city,” committee member Coun. Christine Michaud said in thanking staff for their work. The properties are:
■ The Krug factory at 111 Ahrens St. W., which spans a block.
The original building dates from 1887, with additional storeys added in 1889 and 1908, along with a later expansion.
A report notes that, at one time, it was believed to be the largest furniture plant in the British Empire. The building is still in use by the company today, and stands as a landmark in Kitchener’s Warehouse District Cultural Heritage Landscape.
■ The former Lang Tanning Company complex, now commonly referred to as The Tannery, at 113-151 Charles St. W., 170-188 Joseph St., and 3-44 Francis St. N.
Another Warehouse District landmark, the earliest portions of the complex of interconnected buildings date from 1896.
The tannery’s free-standing smokestack, which stands across Joseph Street from the main complex, was previously designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2015.
■ Buildings at 83-85, 87-91 and 9799 King St. W. in the downtown core, between Gaukel Street and Ontario Street South.
Built between 1898 and 1904, the three-storey brick buildings are each described as early examples of the Vernacular Classical Revival architectural style. A report says the buildings were likely designed and built by the same person, given their similarities including highlydecorative brickwork.
■ St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, at 148 Madison Ave. S. at the corner of Courtland Avenue East.
The third Catholic church to be built in Kitchener, the original portion dates from 1930, with the upper structure completed in 1953.
“The prominence of the church on a corner lot with a grand square bell tower make the building a recognizable neighbourhood landmark,” a report said.
■ A two-storey Italianate semi-detached building at 171-173 Victoria St. N.
Built in 1887 as a “prestigious” residential dwelling, it was converted into offices and served as planning firm MHBC’s Kitchener office from 1986 to 2009.