IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
15 ELM STREET
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 15 Elm Street 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 15 Elm 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 the criteria of design and
physical, historical and associative and contextual values.
Description
Located on the south side of Elm Street between
Yonge and Bay streets in the city's first immigrant neighbourhood, The Ward,
the property at 15 Elm Street contains a 2-storey house-form building completed
by 1868 and first owned by Irish-Canadian bricklayer, Robert Kennedy, and
family.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Design and Physical Value
Built in 1868, the property at 15 Elm Street is
valued as a remaining example of a Confederation-era house-form building
designed in the Georgian Revival style which is evident in its red brick
construction, rubble stone foundation and brick, stone and wood detailing. The
symmetrically-arranged openings on the upper storey of the principal (north)
and east elevations contain masonry sills and segmental-arched brick headers in
a solider course pattern.
In 1922-1924, a storefront was added at street
level with off-set entrance to the existing residential space above. The
residential entrance maintains its wood and glass transom and door surround.
This resulting mixed use type of house-form buildings is considered a defining
feature of the south side of Elm Street today.
Historical and Associative Value
The property is significant as one of the
earliest (Confederation-era) surviving house-form buildings constructed on the
south side of Elm Street between Yonge and Bay streets in 1868. Since the
mid-19th century, Elm Street has continued to provide an understanding of the
built form of Toronto's first immigrant neighbourhood, The Ward.
Contextual Value
The property at 15 Elm Street, embodies part of
a significant collection of 19th-century house-form buildings representative of
this early period of land development on the block of Elm Street between Yonge
and Bay streets within the city's historically significant St. John's Ward
("The Ward"), and part of the collection of diverse 19th-century
building types and uses that have contributed to the unique quality of Elm
Street today.
Within the context of a neighbourhood originally
developed with mainly residential properties in the mid-to-late 19th century,
and on the south side of Elm Street between Yonge and Bay where numerous
properties of similar type, scale, placement and setback are already recognized
on the City's Heritage Register, the subject property at 15 Elm Street is
valued for its historic, physical and visual links to its surroundings for more
than 150 years.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
Attributes that contribute to the value of the
property at 15 Elm Street as representative of a Confederation-era house-form
building designed in the Georgian Revival style include:
·
The scale, form and massing of the red brick house-form building with
its two-storey rectangular plan
·
The rubble stone foundation
·
The gable roof and two red brick chimneys located north and south of the
gable peak at its western edge
·
The principal (north) elevation of the building, which is organized into
two bays
·
The segmental-arched window openings on the upper storey of the
principal (north) and east elevations, with their brick header detailing and
masonry sills
·
The early 1920s wood and glass transom and door surround at the east end
of the principal (north) elevation and leading to the upper storey space
·
The early 1920s stringcourse directly above the early storefront and
off-set residential entrance on the principal (north) elevation (currently
over-clad with wooden boards)
Contextual Value
Attributes that contribute to the contextual
value of 15 Elm Street as defining and supporting the character of this portion
of Elm Street, and as being historically and visually linked to its
surroundings include:
·
The setback,
placement and orientation of the building on its lot on the south side of Elm
Street between Yonge Street and Bay Street, and directly adjacent to Harry
Barberian Lane to the east and south of the property
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 May 16, 2023, which is June 15, 2023. 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:
https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2023.PH3.11
Dated at the City of Toronto on May 16, 2023.
John D. Elvidge
for City Clerk