New initiatives launched to celebrate 100th anniversary of famous Chatham architect

On what would have been his 100th birthday, new initiatives were launched this month to commemorate the legacy of famous local architect Joseph Storey.

As part of his birthday year, his family and friends are announcing several projects to raise awareness about Storey’s achievements and promote Chatham-Kent as a center for mid-century modern architecture.

Initiatives in the coming year will include the reissuing of a self-guided architectural tour brochure, a social media video series, website and walking tours of various Chatham-Kent neighbourhoods.

“To design over 1,000 buildings over the course of his relatively short career was a remarkable number,” said Kim Storey, his daughter, and an architect with Brown and Storey Architects in Toronto, in a release.

“He lived in a time when optimism, innovation and creativity were the norm, not the exception. Chatham-Kent is incredibly blessed to have so many buildings designed by him and his office still in use today. The architectural legacy that Joe left in Chatham-Kent is something to be celebrated, this year and always.”

Some of Storey’s designs include the Chatham-Kent Civic Center on King Street West, the former Kent County building, now courthouse and municipal building, on Grand Avenue West, the Enbridge headquarters on Keil Drive, the Pines Chapel at the Ursuline Sisters complex on Grand Avenue West, and the federal building on Wellington Street.

He also designed many single-family homes across the region. Architects and draftsmen in his office included Jim Jorden, Wally Stewart, Roger Duchene and Doug Brown.

According to the release, Storey was born in Windsor and moved to Chatham with his family, as a child. He had an early aptitude for the arts, particularly in drawing and photography. The home he designed for his family at 210 Victoria Ave. in Chatham included a dark room in the basement.

After graduating from the University of Toronto, and winning a national award from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. in the Canadian small homes competition, he moved back to Chatham and opened JW Storey, Architect in 1947.

Outside of Southwestern Ontario, some of his clients were from South America and Europe.

“Joe’s designs epitomized the beauty of both simple and modern forms, as you can see in his many elegant built projects across Chatham-Kent,” said Cathy Nasmith, Toronto-based architect and past-president of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.

“Whether it was a single-family home or a large public institution, he always looked to new and creative ways of designing buildings that were not only beautiful but functional as well. Joe could have made a name for himself anywhere — Chatham, a city that has been blessed with generations of great architects — was very lucky to have his contributions.”

Storey was a member and president of the Rotary Club of Chatham, commodore of the Rondeau Yacht Club and sat on Chatham city council from 1956 to 1958.

He also brought the Planning Act to Chatham and instituted the first-ever Chatham area planning board. He represented the St. Clair Region on the Ontario Association of Architects Council for many years.

He died at age 52 in 1975.

The self-guided architectural tour brochures are available at the Art and Heirloom Shoppe, 137 King St. W. in Chatham.