Committee approves designating the Ellis House at 2400 Bank Street

The Built Heritage Committee approved a heritage designation for the former Ellis House at 2400 Bank Street. The property meets three of nine criteria for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The two-and-a-half-storey, red brick farmhouse is one of the last remaining examples of a nineteenth century farmhouse in the area. The property was settled and farmed by four successive generations of the Tompkins-Ellis family, one of many farming families who cleared and settled the agricultural land in Gloucester Township. The Ellis House is also associated with the former rural village of Ellwood, which was formed in 1904 and named in part after William Ellis, who owned the Ellis House at the time. Still a landmark today, the house was also a landmark when Bank Street used to be Metcalfe Road – a key transportation route that connected the urban core to the rural villages, and to the former Canadian Pacific Railway line at the rear of the property.

Committee recommends no Heritage Conservation District (HCD) study for Wellington Street West

The Committee supported a recommendation to not undertake an HCD study for Wellington Street West in Hintonburg.

Designation of an HCD requires that at least 25 per cent of properties in an area meet two or more of the nine criteria for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. The feasibility assessment found that Wellington Street West has high potential to meet or exceed only one of the nine criteria, relating to the role of individual properties in supporting an area’s character. Staff feel there are still properties in the neighbourhood worthy of designation and those individual designations will proceed in the future. Staff will also work with local residents, the Hintonburg Community Association and the Ward Councillor’s office to consider, develop and implement other opportunities to commemorate Hintonburg’s diverse histories.

City Council will consider most recommendations from today’s meeting on Wednesday, October 22.

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