HERITAGE OTTAWA

On January 16, the Built Heritage Committee (BHC) approved the application to alter three properties on Kent and MacLaren streets to facilitate development of a 289-unit, 27-storey building within the Centretown Heritage Conservation District.

As part of the proposal, the five-storey heritage property at Kent and Gilmour streets, known as Legion House, would be dismantled and rebuilt on the same site. Once reconstructed, it would be integrated with the new building and the ground floor of Legion House would be used for institutional or community purposes. Landscaped public space is proposed to the north, where two existing MacLaren Street heritage buildings would be integrated with the overall site design.

Official Plan and zoning amendments for the site were approved by the Planning and Housing Committee in November.

Heritage Ottawa had input into the proposed preservation of the heritage aspects of the proposal, particularly the effort invested in preserving the Royal Canadian Legion Headquarters building facade as an important part of the podium of the new building.

"We've also supported the design work that's gone into sympathetically integrating the two heritage houses on Maclaren - including the Noffke house - and providing a public space" stated David Flemming, Chair of Heritage Ottawa's Advocacy Committee, in comments addressed to the BHC. "We also congratulate the owners on their creative, tasteful adaptive use of the rear of the property to provide a community benefit and a financial benefit which will permit the ongoing preservation of the property. It should serve as a model to other congregations facing similar challenges."

Related Reading:

Kent Street Highrise Gets Heritage Committee Approval | Ottawa Citizen, January 16, 2024

City Committee to Consider Integrating former Legion Headquarters Facades in "Iconic" Highrise | Ottawa Citizen, January 13, 2024