This photo was taken from the second floor of 138 Court House Square shortly after the tornado.
HEATHER BOA Bullet News GODERICH – Up to five more buildings in Goderich’s heritage district that were ruined by the tornado are slated to come down, following approval of demolition permits by town council recently.
“The tornado hasn’t left us with a lot of options, quite frankly,” said the town’s planner, Denise Van Amersfoort.
The demolition permits were recommended for approval by the Heritage Committee, which is charged with the task of preserving the town’s historical assets.
“Speaking with some of the members of the heritage committee, they are really wrestling with this difficult task they’ve been handed,” she said.
The first of this batch of permits, 138 Court House Square, is expected to come down today. Although the building, which once housed the Laurentian Bank, was constructed in the 1980s and is not considered to be of heritage significance, it is in the town’s designated heritage precinct.
One building in this block will come down, while the owner of another two buildings will wait until inspectors are allowed inside before deciding whether a partial or full demolition is required.
“In an ideal world there would be the funds to still be able to do the work that needs to be done. We’re not living in that kind of a world, so with the financial requirements some of these buildings would have in order to fix them, it’s just not very feasible,” Van Amersfoort said.
The owner of two downtown buildings, which house Bailey’s Fine Dining and ABC Investments Ltd., has applied for both a partial demolition permit and a full demolition permit. At this point, no one has een allowed inside the building to assess the full extent of its damage.
Here is a list of the buildings slated for demolition (with special notes for those that may only require partial demolition) and background information, supplied by Heritage Goderich’s walking tour brochures:
- 40 Victoria St. S., Victoria Street United Church, was built in 1878 in the Gothic Revival style. The tower, a distinguishing feature of gothic architecture, was placed asymmetrically providing a dramatic contrast with the lower height of the left side of the facade. Unfortunately the tower was removed in the 1920s after being struck by lightning. The original wooden doors have been replaced but their gothic archway remains, as does the decorative brickwork on the facade, sides and capping the tall arched windows. The slightly squared stone of the foundation offers a sense of stability and a pleasing contrast to the buff brick and strong vertical gothic lines.
- 57 West St., Goderich Hydro & Veolia Water. Part of the Heritage Precinct. Although the town began at the harbour in 1827, the commercial area became established around the precisely laid-out “Town Square” after 1840, having migrated along West St. One of eight primary, radial streets, West St. still dominates the circulation patterns of the town.
- 60 West St., Allan Avis Architects Inc. Same as above.
- 116 Court House Square, Wing Hong Restaurant. Georgian style – noted for their plainness, good proportions, and medium-sloped gable roofs – with cornice that ties it to corner building. Pleasing proportions, equally spaced windows with rounded brick lintels.
- 120 Court House Square, Bailey’s Fine Dining. Also Georgian style. * The owner has applied for both a demolition permit and a partial demolition permit because the extent of damage inside is still unknown since they have not been allowed in.
- 122 Court House Square, ABC Investments. Italianate with elaborate brick cornice and flat rooftop not visible from the front; building originally extended to corner. * The owner has applied for both a demolition permit and a partial demolition permit because the extent of damage inside is still unknown since they have not been allowed in.
- 138 Court House Square, Listen Up! Hearing Health Care Centre & Complete Wind Corp. This building was constructed in the 1980s. Although it is part of the Heritage District, the building is not considered to be of potential heritage significance. The owner, Amberley Properties Ltd., has removed two boardroom tables that once resided in the Sheaffer Pen building on Hwy. 8 at the east end of town.
- 38 East St., The Centre For Employment and Learning.
In addition, council passed a number of bylaws to provide flexibility to home and business owners as they recover and rebuild.
A Temporary Use Bylaw allows businesses to relocate to areas of town where they typically wouldn’t be permitted. They will be able to set up shop in alternate locations for 18 months, before being reassessed. It’s expected they will have found permanent locations by that time.
The Tornado Bylaw allows some leeway to demolished homes and businesses that normally would not be able to rebuild the same structure to meet current bylaws. For example, a business like the car wash on Kingston Road, which was built prior to the establishment of the commercial core in 1985, isn’t an acceptable land use and is referred to as a legal non-conforming use. Under normal circumstances, if the building were damaged in such a way that it lost more than 50 per cent of its value, it would not be allowed to rebuild in the commercial zone and would be forced to move to a zone where a car wash is an allowable land use.
Under the Tornado Bylaw, the car wash would be allowed to rebuild.
“It provides some flexibility so they can build essentially what they had before but with a little bit of flexibility if they need to extend a wall out or something to accommodate what they need today that they wouldn’t have built prior to 1985 but only allowing a 20 variance in side yard setback or square footage increase,” said Van Amersfoort.
The Tornado Bylaw also means that houses such as those on St. Patrick Street and Arthur Street, which are considered to be legal non-conforming because they are so close to the streetline, will be allowed to rebuild in the same building footprint.
The town stopped short of waiving the height requirement. As a result, one-storey buildings on The Square that are demolished will be required to comply with the town’s Comprehensive Bylaw and rebuild minimum two-storey structures.
Notice of the two bylaws passed recently will be published in this week’s weekly newspaper, followed by a 20-day period in which council’s decision may be appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board. If there are no appeals, the bylaws will come into effect at the end of the appeal period, at the start of November.
