11 April 2006
next to go to the landfill?48 Ontario Street North/ the Bell Telephone Building (1914??) & most recently the Royal Canadian Legion from c. 1946 - c. 2001. Currently owned by city who has deferred reaffirming its listed status on the City's Heritage Register & hence, this heritage property has no protection under PPS05. Some key players of the Centre Block project steering committee made suggestions that it should be given away without conditions to the private developer. Irony upon irony here as the City proposes to drive downtown development by creating a knowledge/education cluster that focusses on innovation and.....and.....and .... is totally oblivious to the quantum leap in communications technology that funded this Classical Revival brownstone building!
From various e-mails and news reports, Rambling Rose offers up the following considerations:
- "The city-owned building at 48 Ontario St., built by Bell Telephone Co. in 1914, will be given to the successful developer without conditions...
- Making the remaining land and buildings part of the deal will catch the attention of the development industry, said Craig Robson, a real estate lawyer on the project committee."It really boils down to 'Give us this, and we will give you that,' " he said. "We have to focus on the fact they would end up in an ownership position with the rest of the properties -- that's their business opportunity."
- "This is going to be a tough nut," Pottkamper said. "It is going to impact the "revenues of the city."
- Source: " Successful builder of main library may get Kitchener sites for free" by TERRY PENDER(Feb 3, 2006)
Other considerations?
- environmental issues - certain fluids contaminating the ground waters likely coming from the drycleaners directly beside at top of the hill and flowing downwards ?===> possibly contaminating the land under the Canadian Block as well? whose responsibility to decontaminate these lands? is someone trying to pass the buck here? Rambling Rose has yet to locate the Phase 3 environmental report used to prepare the retention, remediation, reuse options re the Forsyth bulding report presented to Council.
- A local community activist and urban promoter shared this dream via e-mail: "This 14,000 sq ft building could house simultaneously a traveller's hostel; a small business office center; a bicycle rentals business; a community performing space. I prepared a business plan back in 2004 for a traveller's hostel and determined a need and potential for success."===> Rambling Rose concludes that in the end, it's all about money and the cost to remediate would be difficult for such an enterprise to recoup from its revenues. As well, this Council has need to generate assessment revenues on a large scale to justify its $9.7 +++++ purchase of Centre Block properties.
Going back to the beginning, from WHS 1940 archives by H. W. Brown : "It is a three-story brick structure and equipped with every modern device known to telephony...Now one requires to have his speech fully prepared, for by taking the transmitter off the hook, immediate connection is made at Central. Perhaps long-distance communications by business men and others have shown the greatest percentage of growth. The first manager of the local office, were he to revisit the city, would be astounded to learn that a subscriber can speak to a friend in Europe as easily as he could in 1883 speak to one in Toronto."
& now back even further to 1883, the year the telephone first came to Kitchener: " The Bell Telephone Company of Canada extended its service to Berlin 1883. .. and appointed John S. Hoffman as local manager. Mr. Hoffman was a druggist, with a store ... at 34 King Street West. He was the son of John Hoffman I, who in 1840 founded the first furniture factory on the southeast corner of King and Ontario Streets [mmm? presently occupied by bank opposite the big Canada Trust/ TD building]. [ His son] John Hoffman was an enterprising citizen, long-time Secretary of the Berlin Board of Trade and the Park Board. After his appointment he immediately set out to get subscribers for the "talking wire."....In ....1884 the Bell Telephone was given permission to erect poles and to string wires on any street in Berlin. In...1885 the Council gave ....an order to place a set of telephone instruments in the fire hall for alarm purposes."
Photos Sandamara Images L to R: front facade of red brick with pilasters with brownstone banding; front entrance with entablature and scroll brackets streetscape looking west to the Canadian Block at corner King and Ontario Street revealing Berlin development from the historic main street up the hill.
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