IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
241 RICHMOND STREET WEST
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE
THE PROPERTY
TAKE NOTICE that Council for the
City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings
and structures thereon known municipally as 241 Richmond Street West under Part
IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as amended, as
a property of cultural heritage value or interest.
Reasons for Designation
The property at 241
Richmond Street West (including the entrance addresses at 239 Richmond Street
West and 137, 139, 141 and 145 John Street) is worthy of designation under
Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value
and meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for
municipal designation under all three categories of design, associative and
contextual value.
Description
The property at 241
Richmond Street West is located in the King-Spadina area.
Located on the
southeast corner of John Street and Richmond Street, the property at 241 Richmond Street West contains a two-storey
commercial building constructed in three
phases (1936, 1940 and 1948) in the Art Moderne style and designed by the
leading Toronto architecture firm, Page & Steele.
The property was
included on the City's Heritage Register on December 5, 2017.
It is also identified as a contributing property
in the King-Spadina HCD Plan (2017) that is currently under appeal.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Physical and Design Value
The property at 241
Richmond Street West has cultural heritage value for its design as a detached
commercial building associated with the second wave of development in the
King-Spadina neighbourhood in the 20th century. The detached commercial
building represents a key building typology in King-Spadina, dating to the
early to mid-1900s when the area was the city’s main industrial district and
filled with large-scale warehouses, factories and office buildings, many of
which replaced earlier low-rise structures. The building at 241 Richmond Street
West is distinguished by its Art Moderne design, particularly the stepped
parapets on the columns organizing the oversized openings facing Richmond and
John streets.
Historical and Associative Value
The property at 241
Richmond Street West is also valued for its association with Walter Harland
Steele of Page & Steele Architects who designed the original 1936 building
for Handy and Harman of Canada Limited in 1936 to house its precious metal and
alloy refinery. Page & Steele would also contribute the seamlessly
integrated 1940 and 1948 additions to the original building. The Art Moderne
styling of the building at 241 Richmond Street West reflects the design
aesthetic of architect Walter Harland Steele, whose architectural firm, Page & Steele, is recognized as one of Toronto’s leading
architecture offices.
Contextual Value
Contextually, the
property at 241 Richmond Street West is valued for the role of the detached
commercial building in defining, supporting and maintaining the historical
character of the King-Spadina neighbourhood, reflecting its evolution from a
19th-century residential and institutional enclave and Toronto’s
manufacturing centre in the 20th century, to its current status as a mixed-use
community.
The detached
commercial building at 241 Richmond Street west is historically, visually and
physically linked to its setting in the King-Spadina neighbourhood where it
anchors the southeast corner of John Street and, on the north, faces the Wesley
Building (1913), a local landmark filling part of the block bounded by
Richmond, John and Queen Streets.
Heritage Attributes of 241 Richmond Street West:
·
The setback, placement and orientation of the building on the southeast
corner of John Street
·
The scale, form and massing of the two-storey rectangular-shaped plan
·
The flat roofline with the corbelled brickwork
·
The materials, with the brick cladding and detailing (the brickwork has
been painted)
·
On the west elevation on John Street, the brick piers with the stepped
parapets that organize the wall into four bays, the large flat-headed openings
in both storeys with the stone lintels, stone sills on the second-storey window
openings and the fluted, cast stone jamb detail in the
second bay at ground level
·
The north elevation on Richmond Street West, which extends five bays and has flat-headed
openings organized by brick piers (some of the openings have been altered and
the piers removed)
Note: The south side
elevation adjoins the neighbouring building. No heritage attributes are
identified on the rear (east) elevation, which is viewed from Richmond Street
West.
Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate
Notice of an objection to the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention:
Administrator, Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor
West, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: hertpb@toronto.ca within thirty days of February 8, 2022, which is March 10, 2022. The
notice of objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property must
set out the reason(s) for the objection and all relevant facts.
Getting Additional Information:
Further information in respect of the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2022.CC39.17
Dated at the City of Toronto on February 8, 2022.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk