King-Spadina
HCD Study
City of Toronto
Taylor Hazell Architects Ltd.
Urban Strategies
ASI
Community Meeting #2
March 18, 2014
Thank you for attending the second community meeting for
the King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District (HCD)
Study. This meeting is intended to provide community
members with draft recommendations about HCD
boundaries, views and circulation routes.
We would like to gather your feedback about the
recommendations so they can be incorporated into the final
report.
Welcome
01 / Heritage Property
02 / Employment Uses in Converted Warehouse
03 / Heritage Building Streetscape
04 / Architectural Detail
7:00 p.m. Open House 7:20 p.m. Welcome & Presentation The consulting team will present the draft recommendations. 7:50 p.m. Round Table Discussion Provide your feedback on the draft
recommendations 8:20 p.m. Reporting Back A facilitated discussion of the results of the Round
Table Discussion. 8:40 p.m. Q & A 8:55 p.m. Next Steps and Thank You
Tonight’s Agenda
For more information please contact:
Scott Barrett
Senior Coordinator
Heritage Preservation Services
City of Toronto
416-338-1079
Lauren Archer
Preservation Officer
Heritage Preservation Services
City of Toronto
416-392-2653
City of Toronto, Preservation Services • Scott Barrett, Sr. Coordinator
• Lauren Archer, Preservation Officer
Taylor Hazell Architects Ltd. • Jill Taylor, Principal
• Ellen Kowalchuk, Manager Heritage Planning
• Kristina Martens, Heritage Planner
• Megan Hobson, Architectural Historian
Archaeological Services Inc. • Dave Robertson, Senior Archaeologist
• Mary-Cate Garden, Project Manager and Cultural
Landscape Specialist
• Heidi Schopf, Cultural Landscape Specialist
Urban Strategies • Melanie Hare, Principal
• Josh Neubauer, Planning Consultant
Consultant Team
• HCDs recognize and protect historic neighbourhoods.
They guide / manage change within them, so as to
maintain their heritage value and character.
• They are enclosed by a defined boundary, and are
designated by By-law of City Council.
• The By-law is registered on the title of each property.
• An HCD Study and Plan are prepared by heritage
professionals, planners, urban designers and
archaeologists.
What is an HCD?
Ontario Heritage Act (2005)
• HCDs are protected by City Council under Part V of
the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA).
• The OHA sets out the provisions for studying,
planning and designating HCDs.
• The OHA also regulates permits for alterations and
demolition within an HCD.
Legislation and Policy
Heritage Conservation Districts in Toronto:
Procedures, Policies and Terms of
Reference
• Adopted by Council in 2012.
• Available on the Heritage Preservation Services
website.
• Describes all procedures, policies and guidelines of
the City of Toronto for HCD Studies and Plans such
as:
- Community involvement
- Nomination process, nomination forms.
- Built Heritage and
Landscape Survey Form for community volunteers
• Providing policy and guidelines for how to conserve and
appropriately adapt contributing resources.
• Providing policy and guidance on how to build new
buildings.
• Every property within the HCD boundary is designated
under the OHA.
• Properties are either identified as “contributing” or “non-
contributing”.
• Every HCD has a unique plan written that defines how the
area is to be managed.
• The HCD plan will also identify the properties in the
boundary as contributing or non-contributing to the
heritage value, character, and integrity of the district.
How HCDs Work
NOMINATE • Nomination form is submitted for consideration.
• Staff report to City Council.
• Council may authorize the area for study.
STUDY • Document the study area resources and history.
• Evaluate the cultural heritage value of the area.
• Identify objectives for a plan and any conflicts with other
By-laws.
PLAN • Write policies and guidelines for the conservation and infill
of properties in the district.
• Council adopts plan and designates HCD by By-law.
Steps for an HCD
2005: Ontario Heritage Act is revised giving new powers to
Council for stronger HCDs.
2009: New HCD Studies are suspended to develop new
policy framework.
March 2012: City Council adopts “HCDs in Toronto” and
directs staff to develop a prioritization system.
October 2012: King-Spadina is authorized for Study and
made a high priority by City Council.
April 2013: Taylor Hazell Architects is retained to
undertake the HCD Study for King-Spadina.
April 2014: Completed study will be submitted to City.
King-Spadina HCD Study to Date
King-Spadina HCD Study Area
Inventory
• 388 properties surveyed
• Inventory forms completed
Thematic History
06 / Adelaide St. West at Simcoe c. 1890
FIRST PEOPLES (9000 BCE TO 1600 CE)
NATIVES AND NEWCOMERS (1600-1763)
PROVINCIAL CENTRE (1763-1840)
Establishment of Upper Canada (1763-1791)
Town of York and the Military Reserve (1793-1797)
New Town Expansion (1797-1830)
Dissolution of Military Reserve (1830-1840)
DEVELOPMENT AND INTENSIFICATION (1840-1950)
First Wave of Residential Development (1840-1860)
Residential and Industrial Intensification (1860-1950)
DECLINE (1950-1980)
Industrial Change (1950-1980)
REBIRTH & REVITALIZATION (1980-PRESENT)
Adaptive Reuse: Entertainment and Cultural Employment
New Residential Neighbourhood
Archaeology
CASE STUDIES
Bishop’s Block (Adelaide and Simcoe)
• five townhouses constructed c1930
Toronto General Hospital (King and John)
• constructed 1819-20
• Typhus epidemic 1847
• closed 1854 and demolished 1862
Thomas Bell Jr. site (King and Bathurst)
• c1842 residence represents early occupation of the
Military Reserve lands
Lowry-Hannon site (Bathurst and Adelaide)
• c1844 residence represents working class life in
early years of Military Reserve development
Policy Review
06 / Adelaide St. West at Simcoe c. 1890
REVIEW OF PLANNING POLICIES AND DOCUMENTS
• King-Spadina Secondary Plan
• Reinvestment Area (RA) Zoning in Toronto Zoning By-Law No.
438-86
• Toronto Urban Design Guidelines, King-Spadina
• King-Spadina Community Improvement Plan (CIP)
• East Precinct Built Form Study
• Funding Sources for Heritage Conservation District Studies in
King-Spadina
• Progress Report, King-Spadina East Precinct Built Form Study
• King Street West Properties—Inclusion on Heritage Inventory
• Committee of Adjustment application RE 2154 Dundas Street
West
• Entertainment District Business Improvement Association’s
Master Plan
• Committee of Adjustment application RE: 650 King Street West
& 95 Bathurst Street
• Final Report RE: King Spadina Secondary Plan Review
• Toronto Urban Design Guidelines
• Regeneration in the Kings
• Toronto Official Part II Plan, c. 19.8 King-Spadina
• King-Spadina Community Improvement Plan
• Fine Tuning of the Planning Regulations for the King-
Parliament and King-Spadina Reinvestment Areas
Consultations
06 / Adelaide St. West at Simcoe c. 1890
STAKEHOLDERS
• Toronto Entertainment District BIA
• Grange Community Association
• Wellington Place Neighbourhood Association
• King-Spadina Residents Association
• Draper Street Neighbourhood Association
• Diamond Corp
• Urban Space Property Group
• Allied REIT
• Build Toronto
Analysis
Town of York, 1797
Study Area, 1797
Study Area, 1837
Study Area, 1899
Study Area, 1910
Study Area, 1923
Study Area, 1957
Study Area, 1992
Built Form
Pre-1850
1860 to 1879
1880 to 1899
1900 to 1919
1920 to 1939
1940 to 1959
1960 to 1979
1980 to 1999
2000 to present
Properties by Date Range
Architectural Styles
07 / King St. West
Architectural Styles
07 / King St. West
Commercial 1890-1940
Toronto Bay-and-Gable 1875-1898
Second Empire 1860-1900
Mid-Century Modern 1945-1970
Conservative Renaissance Revival 1850-1910
Edwardian Classical 1900-1930
Renaissance Revival 1850-1910
Typologies
07 / King St. West
Views
07 / King St. West
Circulation Routes
07 / King St. West
Planning Context
07 / King St. West
Listed and Designated Properties
Evaluate
Significance
08 / Richmond St. West
Evaluate Significance
08 / Richmond St. West
Criteria: Does the District have a rare, unique,
representative or early collection of a style, type,
expression, material or construction method?
YES
The King Spadina HCD Study area contains a collection of late 19th
and early 20th century residential and commercial styles which share
similar characteristics in their symmetrical and orderly composition,
square and rectangular plans and classical detailing.
The styles illustrate a formative period of Toronto’s development -
between 1880 and 1939.
Residential styles such as Toronto Bay-n-Gable represent early
Toronto housing styles.
Early commercial styles such as Renaissance Revival were widely
used by Toronto’s mercantile class for commercial blocks and factories.
Later commercial styles such as Conservative Renaissance Revival,
Commercial and Edwardian Classical) use of concrete and steel
construction materials maximized building heights, allowed large area
for glazing and had flexible open interior plans. These are particularly
evident on Spadina Avenue.
Evaluate Significance
08 / Richmond St. West
Criteria: Does the District have a rare, unique, or
representative layout, plan, landscape, or spatial
organization
YES The study area contains a unique layout of laneways, a designed
landscape which includes two significant parks and a unique
organization of spaces along Spadina Avenue.
Laneways
The square and rectangular plans of the manufacturing buildings
create a network of north-south lanes, representing the historic uses of
these spaces as work yards and areas associated with mid-size
production facilities. These often run through the entire block.
Designed Landscape
Wellington Street West anchored by Victoria Memorial Square on
the west and Clarence Square on the east is a designed boulevard
dating to the mid-19th century. The generous width of the street was
intended to be lined with trees and serve as an area for wealthy
residents.
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue has a between Front and Richmond has a unique
character due to the width of the street, the size and scale of the
buildings and their use as factories and warehouses for the garment
industry. The street has a concentration of buildings over 10 storeys in
height.
Evaluate Significance
08 / Richmond St. West
Criteria: Does the District have direct associations with
a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or
institution that is significant to a community
YES
The study area is directly associated with the increasing importance
of manufacturing to Toronto between 1880 and 1939. The
introduction of the railways to the City in 1850s, initiated
manufacturing in the area due to its proximity to the railway tracks
and the water.
Manufacturing in the area expanded rapidly after the Great Fire of
1904 wiped out the manufacturing area located at Front and Bay. By
1911, manufacturing was the largest source of employment in
Toronto.
Criteria: Does the District possess a character that
defines, maintains or supports the area’s history and
sense of time and place
YES
The character of the study area is defined by former manufacturing
buildings constructed between 1880 and 1939. Although varying in
date of construction and architectural style, the buildings are
consistent and characterized by their square and rectangular
plans, symmetrical design, red brick cladding with cut stone
detailing and 3 to 6 storey height.
Evaluate Significance
08 / Richmond St. West
Evaluate Significance
08 / Richmond St. West
Visual, functional or historical coherence
The buildings in the study area create a consistency of size and
scale. This is due to their square and rectangular plans,
symmetrical layouts, red brick cladding with cut stone detailing
and typical 3 to 6 storey height.
The space between the buildings forms laneways that represent
historic uses of the spaces as work areas.
Authenticity
Of the more than 388 properties evaluated as part of the study,
just over 260 (67%) were constructed between 1880 and 1939.
Most of the historic residential properties are the first and only use
the properties have ever served.
Although the existing manufacturing buildings replaced much of
the original residential building stock, they represent the second
wave of construction. While the uses of the buildings have
changed (from manufacturing to office), the second wave of
building stock is evident in the area.
Draft
Recommendations
08 / Richmond St. West
Draft Recommendation 1
08 / Richmond St. West
1A. UNDERTAKE HCD PLAN FOR AREA BETWEEN PETER AND BATHURST
• Peter Street reflects historic boundary of New Town
• maintains both sides of Spadina Avenue as well as the back lots
• maintains Wellington Street with anchors at Victoria and Clarence Squares
• concentration of former manufacturing buildings and intact laneway system
1B. EXTEND PLAN AREA BOUNDARIES
• as per section2.3 (page 55) of the City HCD TOR, extend the plan area boundaries to include both sides of Richmond
Street (including St. Andrew’s Park) and the west side of Bathurst Street (including St. Mary’s Parish as well as views
to the property along Adelaide St. W.)
Draft Recommendation 2
08 / Richmond St. West
2A. UNDERTAKE AN HCD PLAN FOR THE AREA BETWEEN PETER AND SIMCOE STREETS -concentration of former manufacturing buildings, especially between Adelaide and King Streets West and John and
Simcoe, Duncan
-this is a destination area characterized by entertainment venues (including Royal Alex NHS) and restaurants (including
those on John Street). 2B. EXTEND PLAN AREA BOUNDARIES
-as per section2.3 (page 55) of the City HCD TOR, extend the plan area boundaries to include both sides of Simcoe
Street (St. Andrew’s Church and Manse) as well as Roy Thompson Hall, Metro Hall and David Pecault Square
Next Steps
08 / Richmond St. West
• Feedback from this meeting incorporated into King-Spadina HCD Study final report
• Toronto Preservation Staff review report and present to Toronto Preservation Board for review and approval (May 2014)
• King-Spadina HCD Plan phase begins (August 2014)