The City of Timmins' designated properties on the municipal heritage registry could be doubled.
Timmins council is backing a bid to add city hall to the municipal heritage register and designate the decades-old building as a property with cultural heritage value or interest. If there aren't any objections to it in the next 30 days, a bylaw will be created to officially declare it a heritage property.
The main concern at the July 9 council meeting was what the designation would mean if the building is ever sold.
Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau used to sit on the municipal heritage committee.
The designation, she said, doesn't mean the building can't be touched.
"It's simply that there are certain characteristics that are of heritage value, that should be respected moving forward," she said.
Located at 220 Algonquin Blvd. E., city hall opened in 1938 and was designed by Sudbury architect P.J. O'Gorman. New Liskeard-based contractor Hill-Clark-Francis built it for $113,000.
"Materials and labour were sourced locally as much as possible — ensuring it was a building of which Timmins could be proud," reads the application.
"The brick-faced facade and carved stone detail around entrance reflects the art deco style which was popular at the time. The windows are a defining feature of the building and were meant to maximize natural light to the interior, reducing the need of artificial light during the day."
The heritage attributes listed in the application are the face-brick detailing on the face of the building, the symmetrical arrangements and proportion of the window openings, the original stonework at the roofline and around the building's entrance, the central entrance and staircase, the terrazzo flooring to second floor and on the central staircase, the plaques mounted to the outside of the building.
In 2021, the City of Timmins designated its first heritage property — the Mackechnie house at 438 Wilson Ave.
The log home on the north side of the street next to the Ford dealership has only had two owners. It was built in 1925 by Harry W. Darling and sold to Dr. Graeme Mackechnie in 1947.
In 2022, six municipally owned properties — including city hall — were added to the municipal heritage register list as non-designated properties.
The properties are the McIntyre Headframe, the McIntyre Community Building, the dome-shaped ore bin at the Hollinger property on Water Tower Road, city hall, the City of Timmins Engineering Building (that's also the old post office), the Timmins Transit terminal that was the old railway station, and the H.R. Bielek building that houses the Timmins Senior Recreation Centre.
A non-designated property doesn't have the same protections as a designated property.
