Sarnia has picked its top three candidate buildings for heritage designation, as delisting looms for undesignated properties on the city’s heritage registry.
Advertisement 2
Article content
The Mackenzie House, built in 1861 by former Canadian prime minister Alexander Mackenzie, for his brother John, at 316 Christina St. N.; the 1922-built section of the former Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS) at 275 Wellington St.; and the former Central United Church building at 220 George St., built in 1888, are the most urgent for designation, the city’s heritage committee said in a recent report.
Article content
City council earlier this month authorized sending letters to property owners, asking them if they want to designate the properties.
Sarnia has 28 properties designated under the Ontario Heritage Act on its heritage properties registry, last updated in 2010. Another 224 are listed that aren’t designated but still protected from demolition and major alterations, while they remain on the list.
Advertisement 3
Article content
Properties that aren’t designated by Jan. 1, 2025 come off the list, and can’t go back on for five years, under the provincial More Homes Built Faster Act.
The act’s changes were introduced in the fall of 2022 as part of a provincial plan to increase housing stock.
City council last September directed its heritage committee to figure out top candidates for designation.
If owners volunteer for designation, the designation process is easier, said city planning and development services manager Eric Hyatt.
“Ultimately any type of a process for designation requires notice, and then there is appeal mechanisms as well,” he said.
In the absence of property owners agreeing to designation, council can opt to pay for heritage impact assessments, estimated to cost up to $8,500 for each property, based on the latest figures in 2023, Hyatt said.
Advertisement 4
Article content
City staff expect to report back before July on how receptive property owners are to the idea of heritage designation, he said.
All three properties the city’s heritage committee named as priorities meet heritage value or interest criteria, Hyatt said.
“While all of these properties have deep historical significance to our community, they have been acquired by private property owners who could potentially demolish them or negatively affect the heritage integrity of the building through extensive renovations for development,” he and city planner Max Williams said in a report.
The Mackenzie House is currently for sale, the report says. The SCITS property was purchased to be repurposed as a private school, and the church property was purchased to be converted to housing.
Advertisement 5
Article content
How many eligible properties in Sarnia could be designated before the deadline isn’t clear, but it would be difficult to get to everyone on the registry, Hyatt said.
City staff also don’t have the expertise to do that work, he said, so it depends on consultant availability.
“There’s value in maintaining and protecting the heritage properties within the municipality, from both a cultural and physical aspect,” he said.
Sarnia in 2019 conducted an assessment on the former SCITS building that found “significant cultural heritage value.”
City council held off on designation at the timewhile the Lambton Kent District School Board was shopping the property.
The school building closed in 2019, after Great Lakes Secondary — formed when SCITS and St. Clair Secondary merged in 2016 — moved to a renovated school building on the former St. Clair Secondary site.
In 2021, city council approved rezoning and official plan amendments to let London-based Xoana Corp. transformed parts of Central United Church into 15 new units.
Article content