Heritage homes to be razed
Gives more room to neighbouring Schneider Haus
KITCHENER — The city’s heritage committee gave the green light to a proposal to demolish two heritage homes to increase the green space around the historic Schneider Haus museum.
The approval went against the advice of city heritage planners, who argued that the demolition could send a bad precedent.
“This is a unique application,” said committee member Coun. Paul Singh.
“I think it works to conserve and celebrate our heritage. My concern is a rigid view of heritage conservation sometimes loses sight of the community benefits” of a proposal.
The Region of Waterloo, which owns the historic Schneider Haus at 466 Queen St. S., bought two neighbouring homes at 474 and 484 Queen St. S. almost 30 years ago, and now wants to tear them down.
Schneider Haus, built in 1816, is the second oldest house in Kitchener. One of the two brick homes was built around 1900 and the other around 1920, as part of the third wave of development around Victoria Park. The two houses have been rented to tenants and used as offices for the past 30 years, but have been vacant since 2014.
The region says the demolition would give Schneider Haus, a National Historic Site, a more prominent frontage on Queen Street; restore more of the feel and look of the original farm setting; and give the museum more room for programming, especially for large groups.
The two lots would increase the museum’s total land by about 25 per cent to 0.35 hectares. The region would put a traditional farm garden in the lots, reducing the need for groups to cross busy Queen Street to reach the existing garden.
All three homes are protected as part of the Victoria Park heritage district, which was put in place “to protect and enhance groups of properties or neighbourhoods that collectively give an area special character,” and which discourages demolition of original buildings.
A heritage impact assessment prepared for the region by MHBC consultants concludes that the two brick homes have heritage value and contribute to the heritage district, but that the benefits of demolishing them to improve the Schneider Haus site outweigh the merits of keeping two houses that are very similar to many other houses in the heritage district.
“The (heritage) district is very resilient, and the loss of these two buildings does not in any way jeopardize that resilience,” said Dan Currie, the heritage planner hired by the region to study the merits of the proposal.
City heritage planners didn’t agree. “Staff are quite concerned that demolition will set a precedent of prioritizing one building over another, rather than understanding the collective value of all the buildings in a heritage district,” said senior heritage planner Michelle Drake.
Mario Chilanski, who lives in the Victoria Park area, told the committee he feared the demolition could be the thin edge of the wedge, sending a signal to developers that it was OK to tear down some homes.
The region said repairs to the houses to bring them up to regional rental standards would cost about $125,000, while demolition would cost $40,000.
City council will consider the heritage committee’s decision at its next meeting on Oct. 16.