Owner of Port Hope heritage building seeking demolition permit
Section of former Nicholson file factory collapsed, forcing closure of a section of Cavan Street
Four years after Port Hope’s historic Nicholson File Factory was destined for development as a trendy condo building and brewery, the owner is seeking permission to demolish a portion of the structure.
The municipality, which closed a portion of Cavan Street in February after a partial collapse of the building, will hold a special meeting of council on Tuesday to consider the request. A staff report has recommended council approve a demolition permit.
The factory, at 121 Cavan St., is designated as a heritage property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act as the building — including the façade — are considered heritage features of the property.
Under the Act, removing any part of the heritage characteristics on a designated property requires council approval.
Block 2 of the building, where the partial collapse occurred, was constructed in 1853 and represents the oldest section of the factory.
In the staff report, it states that Port Hope building services was contacted by a resident on Feb. 6, who reported bricks falling from the western wall of 121 Cavan St. The town moved in the same day to close the northbound lanes of the street over safety concerns.
In the weeks since, inspectors were called in to assess the structure of the building and on March 7, Port Hope’s chief building official issued an emergency order calling for immediate action to make the building safe.
A portion of Cavan Street remains closed.
Any unplanned demolition of the historic building would come as a complete about-turn for the owner, whose intent was to turn it into a popular tourist destination for the Lake Ontario community.
In the fall of 2020, the new owners of the building announced plans to transform the factory into a mix of live-work condo lofts with a market space and a microbrewery.
At the time, Sherry Larjani — the owner of a Toronto-based real estate development firm that specializes in the acquisition of properties for the purpose of redevelopment into high density residential and mixed-use projects — told Metroland that she bought the property from a Toronto area lawyer, who himself acquired it after it had been left vacant and neglected for more than two decades.
Larjani said they both shared the same dream of seeing it preserved and developed.
“Since I have taken it over, we have been working on new plans and we’re exploring a few possibilities at this point,” she said in 2020, adding that she was looking at more of a live-work type of unit, one that is two storeys with a rooftop (patio) potentially on the top floor.
The redevelopment was to also feature a European-style market that would connect small vendors serving food, produce from local farms and vendors from the community.
A structural assessment report, conducted by a Toronto structural engineering firm and provided to the municipality, determined that Block 2 exhibits severe damage and a substantial risk of collapse, particularly the west exterior wall immediately adjacent to Cavan Street.
The property owners are requesting approval to demolish Block 2 of the File Factory in order to address the major concerns raised in the structural assessment.
Even if approval is given, it could be some time before Cavan Street is fully open again.
The file factory’s owner must prepare and submit an engineer’s report that specifically identified immediate actions required to make the building safe and ensure structural stability to all components and elements of the building.
As well, a proper demolition plan is required under the Building Code Act.
“While closure of Cavan Street is an unfortunate outcome of the owner’s neglect, adequate time should be afforded to the owner and the municipality to properly execute the work and to ensure that qualified and experienced demolition engineer and contractor are retained to execute the work,” the staff report states.