Heritage Designation

Notice of designation of the interior of Kingston City Hall National Historic Site (216 ONTARIO ST.) to be of cultural heritage value and interest pursuant to the provisions of The Ontario Heritage Act (R.S.O. 1990, Chapter O.18)

TAKE NOTICE that on June 15, 2010 the Council of The Corporation of the City of Kingston passed Bylaw 2010-113 under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter 0.18 to designate on the lands on 216 Ontario Street (KINGSTON PT LOT 2 MARKET; RESERVE, City of Kingston) to be of cultural heritage value and interest.

Kingston City Hall National Historic Site is located at 216 Ontario St. (KINGSTON PT LOT 2 MARKET; RESERVE). The interior of Kingston City Hall National Historic is valued because of its physical/design attributes, its historical/associative values and its contextual values. Designed by George Browne to be a focal point of community activity, Kingston City Hall was constructed as a multi-use facility. It has physical/design value because of its neo-classical architecture, including the symmetrical arrangement of its interior spaces; its plasterwork, wall surfaces, niches, woodwork, doors, and finishes; interior window shutters, interior windows, lightwell and interior skylight; fireplaces and mantelpieces; the pine staircases with marble treads and risers, heavy naval style balusters and wide handrails; and the surviving wood structural framing;. Other notable elements include the basement level remnants of the historic police station and the surviving jail cells, interior stonework and the small storage rooms located underneath the main facade stairs. Main floor attributes include the Sir John A. Macdonald Room; the John Counter Room; the south wing with its corridor "gniche arcade," and calling card ledge; the south-east entrance door and transom; and the north-east entrance door and transom. On the second floor, the attributes include Memorial Hall with its bronze memorial plaques, early paintwork including murals and memorials, and stained glass windows; Ontario Hall (Council Chamber); the Cataraqui Room; and the Queen Elizabeth Room. The third floor is notable for its ruled plaster walls and the niche and skylight in the Councillors' Lounge. The Victoria Library & Dome, which begins on the fourth floor, is one of the nationally significant features, and includes the clock room with the 1909 Seth Thomas clock and mechanisms that turn the hands on the four exterior faces of the "town clock" and also strike the bell in the cupola; curved glass in windows of the dome; the spiral stairway winding up to the dome with its slender turned balusters, soffits and mouldings, and the lightwell. The historical/associative values related to the interior of City Hall stem from direct associations with a number of notable persons including George Browne;William Coverdale; Joseph Power; Sir John A. Macdonald; Dr. Jenny Trout; numerous Mayors and Councillors for the Corporation of the City of Kingston; and Field Marshal Viscount Byng of Vimy, Governor General of Canada. The historical/associative values also relate to a number of organizations that have direct associations with the history of Kingston City Hall National Historic Site. These include the Corporation of the City of Kingston; the Kingston Police Force; the Bank of British North America; the Star Chamber Saloon; Canada Customs; Canada Post; the Merchant's Exchange; the Scottish Free Church; the United Church of Canada; the Salvation Army; St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church; St. George's Cathedral; the Red Cross; the Kingston Frontenac Public Library; the Masonic Lodge; the Orange Lodge; the Kingston Mechanics Institute; the Kingston Women's Medical College and the history of medicine in Canada; Kingston's military with its traditions and history; and the historic market. Parts of the interior were also included in the reasons for designation of Kingston City Hall as a National Historic Site. The interior of Kingston City Hall has contextual value as a symbol of the corporate identity of Corporation of the City of Kingston; as a landmark of the Kingston community and as an important element of Kingston's civic identity and sense of place.

Additional information, including a full description of the reasons for designation is available upon request from the Planning and Development Department 613-546-4291, Ext 3180, during regular business hours.

DATED at the City of Kingston this 29 day of June, 2010
Carolyn Downs, City Clerk, City of Kingston