IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF
ONTARIO
1879-1885 WESTON ROAD
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 1879-1885 Weston Road
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 1879-1885 Weston Road 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 southeast corner of Weston Road
and Lawrence Avenue West, the property at 1879-1885 Weston Road comprises a
one-storey commercial structure which was formerly the Weston Village branch of
the Bank of Nova Scotia.
The subject property was listed on the City of
Toronto's Heritage Register on March 29, 2023.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Design and Physical Value
The property located at 1879-1885 Weston Road
has design and physical value as a representative example of the Modernist
style of architecture applied to bank branches across Canada in the 1950s and
1960s. Unlike earlier bank branches, which dominated their surroundings as a
means of expressing their importance, post-War bank branches were frequently
understated. Often single storied, their designs utilized traditional materials
such as brick and stone with minimal ornamentation, expressing the simplicity of
form that would become a hallmark of the Modernist period. The former bank
building at 1879-1885 Weston Road displays this transition from Stripped
Classicism to Modernism with its flat-iron profile, red brick cladding with
limestone detailing and granite-clad colonnade, and large glazed openings
defined by strong horizontal and vertical lines of aluminum framing.
Historical and Associative Value
The property holds associative value for its
historical connection to the Bank of Nova Scotia, who owned the property and
served the local Weston community at this location for more than 100 years
(1910 to 2016).
The property is also valued for its association
with the architectural firm of Page & Steele, which was one of the leading
practitioners of modernism in Toronto during the post-war period and has
received 24 design awards and 5 Massey Medals, the highest architectural award
in Canada. Drawing on their extensive knowledge in both Classical and Modern
design, the former bank building is a notable example of their work which
skillfully utilizes massing and materials to create a structure with a high
level of detail that simultaneously emphasizes simplicity of form.
Contextual Value
The property at 1879-1885 Weston Road has
contextual value for defining, maintaining and supporting the character of the
area, where the current bank building on its wedge-shaped property anchors the
southeast corner of Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue on its prominent corner lot
just as the earlier Bank of Nova Scotia had done on this site since 1910.
The property is visually and historically linked
to the 1966 property at 1906 Weston Road on the northwest corner of Weston Road
and Lawrence Avenue West, as the flat-iron design of both properties responds
to their irregularly shaped lots and to each other across this important
historical intersection in the Weston community.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the design and physical value of the 1962 bank building as representative of
the Modernist style:
·
The scale, form and
massing of the red brick commercial bank building with its single-storey
wedge-shaped plan and flat roof
·
The flatiron profile
of the building with its curved northwest main entrance that emphasizes its
prominent corner location
·
The cladding
materials on all elevations with the red Flemish-bond brick walls and black
granite plinth
·
The limestone
detailing, including the capped brick parapet, cornice, window panels and
window surrounds
·
The single-bay return
of the limestone cornice around the rear of the building at both ends and the
brick pilasters below the cornice that define the two return bays
·
The front entry with
its curved projecting roof and limestone cornice supported by four precast,
granite (terrazzo) clad columns, and remnant black granite stair treads and
risers at street level
·
The double-height
glazed front entrance
·
The 14 identical and
symmetrically arranged window openings on the north (Lawrence Avenue West) and
west (Weston Road) elevations
Contextual Value
The following heritage attribute contributes to
the contextual value of the former Bank of Nova Scotia building at 1879-1885
Weston Road as it conveys the historical character of the property and
intersection:
The set-back, placement and orientation of the
building anchoring its prominent, wedge-shaped lot at the southeast corner of
Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West where it is mirrored by a similarly shaped
1966 property on the northwest corner of the intersection (1906 Weston Road).
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 June 20, 2023, which is July 20, 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.PH4.4
Dated at the City of Toronto on June 20, 2023.
John D. Elvidge
for City Clerk