IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
68 FRASER AVENUE
(INCLUDING ENTRANCE ADDRESSES 147
AND 151 LIBERTY 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 68 Fraser Avenue (including
entrance addresses 147 and 151 Liberty 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 68 Fraser Avenue (including the
entrance addresses of 147 and 151 Liberty 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 categories of design/physical,
historical/associative, and contextual value.
Description
The property at 68 Fraser Avenue (the former
S.F. Bowser Company Factory) is located at the southwest corner of Liberty
Street and Fraser Avenue in the Liberty Village neighbourhood. The property
contains a two-story, red-brick, former factory building with understated
classical detailing. The property adjoins the c. 1913-14 S.F. Bowser Company
building to the west at 39 Mowat Avenue and is adjacent to the 1905 Arlington
Company Factory to the south at 54 and 66 Fraser Avenue.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
The former S.F. Bowser Company Factory,
constructed 1906-1909, has design and physical value for being representative
of a factory complex typology of the period. Like the
majority of industrial buildings in the Liberty Village area, the
building was constructed of red brick with a focus on utility and function
rather than ornament. The street facades are plain in design with detail mostly
limited to brickwork detailing. The brickwork detailing comprises a corbelled
cornice, building corner quoins and understated window detailing on Fraser
Avenue with classical semicircular label mouldings and brick keystone
detailing. The understated classical styling was extended to the main doorway
surround on Fraser Avenue with pilasters and entablature. Apart from these
ornamental embellishments, the building is unadorned in its design, typical of
factory buildings of the era in Toronto.
The property at 68 Fraser Avenue has historical
and associative value for being directly associated with the industrial use
activity which historically defined the Liberty Village area throughout most of
the Twentieth century. From the time of its completion in 1909, until the
company vacated the site in 1946, the complex served the S.F. Bowser Company in
the manufacturing of oil cans and tanks. Subsequently light industry occupied
the site, including the manufacturing of bedding and work clothing, the sale of
paper products and upholstering and woodwork.
The Liberty Village area is defined by its
historic industrial use and its associated extant warehouse buildings and
complexes. The former S.F. Bowser Factory occupies a central location of this
precinct and helps to form a concentration of former, historic industrial
buildings. This concentration comprises adjacent sites designed under the
Ontario Heritage Act including the 1899 former Toronto Carpet Factory at 1179
King Street, and the former Gillett Company Factory (built in phases 1911-42)
at Fraser Avenue and Liberty Street; adjacent properties listed on Toronto's
Heritage Register include the 1906 Arlington Company of Canada factory at 54
and 66 Fraser Avenue and the c.1913-14 S.F. Bowser Company building at 39 Mowat
Avenue. The form, scale, materials and building typology of the former S.F.
Bowser factory at 68 Fraser Avenue contributes to define, maintain and support
the character of the area.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
·
The following
heritage attributes contribute to the design and physical value of the
property:
·
The form, scale and
massing of the building comprising its rectangular, two-storey, flat roof form
and rectangular plan with short façade on Fraser Avenue and long façade on
Liberty Street
·
The red-brick
cladding with brickwork detailing; the stone windowsills; the stone
"1909" date-stone above the main entrance on Fraser Avenue
·
The fenestration with
rectangular and segmental-arch openings
·
The main doorway and
transom light openings on Fraser Avenue with classical surround consisting of
pilasters and entablature
Historical and Associative Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the historical and associative value of the
property:
·
The industrial
character of the property as found in its design and physical heritage
attributes
·
The presence and
location of the property adjoining the former S.F. Bowser Company building at
39 Mowat Avenue and its adjacency to the factory building at 54 and 66 Fraser
Avenue, which it shares integral and direct historical association with
Contextual Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the contextual value of the
property:
·
The building's
presence in Liberty Village which contributes to the concentration of other
industrial heritage buildings in the area
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:
Registrar Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor West,
100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: RegistrarCCO@toronto.ca within thirty (30) days
of November 17, 2025, which is December 17, 2025. 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=2025.PH25.14.
Dated at the City of Toronto on November 17, 2025.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk