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See the attachment below for a template letter to copy and paste and send to the mayor, city council, and the planning department. NOTE: To have correspondence/input listed for record retention, it is necessary to copy Tatiana Dafoe tdafoe@straford.ca OR clerks@stratford.ca AND specifically request that the comments and concerns be listed and recorded, for consideration and inclusion in upcoming meeting agendas City Contact Information:City Clerk’s Office – clerks@stratford.ca (519) 271-0250, ext. 237. City Office fax: 519-271-2783 Alyssa Bridge, City Planning Department abridge@stratford.ca Mayor Dan Mathieson – DMathieson@stratford.ca (519) 271-0250, ext. 5234 Councillors:
 
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Using the Ontario Heritage Act to Determine the Cultural Heritage Value of the Registry Office12/20/2021
With news of the Perth County Council’s decision to demolish the Registry Office, I thought I’d raise awareness of its significance and give some hope on how we can fight this. This building was designed by prominent local architect T.J. Hepburn and constructed in 1910. On this street alone, Hepburn designed the original part of the Stratford Public Library in 1903 and undertook extensive renovations of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in 1899.   The Perth County Court House (1885-7) Hepburn designed the building to complement the existing Perth County Court House and Stratford Jail, so, as the Stratford-Perth ACO stated, “when completed the addition of the building created a unified street scape from Huron Street to the jail thus creating a significant landscape along St. Andrew Street.” Demolition of the Registry Office effectively removes this unified streetscape. The similarities are evident in the Hepburn’s use of buff brick with rusticated brown stone as well as in the red painted detailing including the stamped metal ornamentation above the entry and in the gable that is designed to replicate the use of terra cotta on the Court House. Brown coloured stone is applied to the windowsills and lintels, as well as through stringcourses along the base and heads of the windows, along the eaves of the front gable, and as a plinth course along the building’s base. Even more significant, is application of this stone in a rusticated door surround. The words “REGISTRY OFFICE” are inscribed in stone above the entry door. The stone detail and colour closely resemble the Credit Valley stone used on the Court House. Similarly, there is a frieze board with prominent brackets. Signs of Stickley and the Craftsman Movement in Stratford The early 20th century was a fascinating time for innovations in building and architecture with movements that spread in what was a global society before World War I disturbed this notion. For some Canadians, it was a time of optimism where people – or a least the literature of certain echelons of society – expressed a strong faith in science, technology, and progress (a term that I believe to be quite elusive). In the period between 1900 and 1914, Canada matured into an industrial country. This was an occurrence that took place a few years after our southern neighbourhood and certainly not with the same magnitude but was nonetheless impressive.
Yet rapid industrialization disenchanted some. The Arts and Crafts movement, as well as the subsequent Craftsman movement which we explore pieces of here, formed in reaction to the monotony, mass-production, and, most crucially, the dislocation of the artisan. |
AuthorHayden Bulbrook Archives
December 2021
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