227 King St S (Sun Life Building)

[Markster]

I think that SunLife also currently leases both the old Granite Club parking lot and the old Uniroyal/Dominion Tire parking lot on Park St next to the train tracks (I think Grand River Hospital may share the space too).  It will be interesting to see how SunLife parking demand shifts as the transit alternatives improve nearby.

Yet another reason why GRT should be aligning the iXpress 200 stops with ION now, instead of letting those station areas languish.

[Spokes]

There is also a parking lot on John St beside the Iron Horse Trail.   Also another parking area at the corner of King and John St.     The parking garage on John and Caroline is also part of the property.   

To make things more complicated for any future development is the fact that the land and buildings are in both cities.   The boundary lines cross through the area.   
  

I think that SunLife also currently leases both the old Granite Club parking lot and the old Uniroyal/Dominion Tire parking lot on Park St next to the train tracks (I think Grand River Hospital may share the space too).  It will be interesting to see how SunLife parking demand shifts as the transit alternatives improve nearby.

I heard something to that effect as well.  I can't be sure of exact lot locations off the top of my head though.

[Pheidippides]

217 and 215 King St S, the two houses to the north of the main Sunlife building near the corner of John and King, are both boarded up. More Sunlife parking coming? Apartments and houses in between King and Caroline still seem occupied. I think all, but the house on the corner of John/Caroline are owned by Sunlife or did they get sold with the main building too?

[BuildingScout]

217 and 215 King St S, the two houses to the north of the main Sunlife building near the corner of John and King, are both boarded up.

One of those houses seems to have been built with very expensive finishing touches. It must have belonged to a wealthy owner.

[eizenstriet]

One of those houses seems to have been built with very expensive finishing touches. It must have belonged to a wealthy owner.

That may be, but I think we can be pretty sure it will be found to have “no significant architectural or heritage value”. TM

Perhaps anyone who thought differently could move and bury the house, as was done with the Old Kitchener City Hall. Only the old clock tower is now taking up valuable surface space. I have not yet taken the tour of the subterranean City Hall portion, but I’ll bet that’s a cool experience.

(Would have inserted picture, but not too good at this in new forum).

[BuildingScout]

That may be, but I think we can be pretty sure it will be found to have “no significant architectural or heritage value”. TM

Well, I'm usually on the side of "Mr. Jaworsky, tear down this house", but I have no problem pointing out when a building deserves to be rescued.

I also believe that the pro-heritage community damages its own case for at times seeming to clamor for the preservation of any building > 50 years old and the rather mediocre dollar store in Downtown Kitchener.

The old City Hall was obviously worth preserving, which is why it had to go to a referendum. The replacement is hideous, yet when I called for it to be torn down and replaced by a better building and a public space people came to its defense. 

[panamaniac]

Hey!  I like the old Woolworths building and believe it has far more going for it than anything that would be likely to replace it.  Sue me.

On the other hand, I'd have no problem with the demolition of these two houses, although I'd hope for some development of the site rather than more surface parking.

[BuildingScout]

Hey!  I like the old Woolworths building and believe it has far more going for it than anything that would be likely to replace it.  Sue me.

Let's have a look at recent projects in downtown Kitchener: School of Pharmacy, One Victoria, City Centre, Kitchener City Hall, The Museum, the Tannery, the Kaufman lofts, the Arrow lofts, the new Court house, the Charles St Parking Garage. All of those are rather nice.

While I agree there is no guarantee that the new structure will be better in general, in this particular case I feel relatively confident of it because (1) the building is rather mediocre to begin with and (2) downtown seems to be on a winning architectural streak of late as described above.

[Pheidippides]

A little bit of history on one of the homes:
http://www.wpl.ca/walkingtour/MaryAllen/...KingS.html

[BuildingScout]

A little bit of history on one of the homes:
http://www.wpl.ca/walkingtour/MaryAllen/...KingS.html

Thanks for the link and the tidbit of history. I think it would be great if this house could be moved and/or renovated. It seems in pretty bad state of disrepair, something that is often done on purpose in cases like this to remove opposition to demolition. I understand the Waterloo office is the head of its Canadian operations and as such has seen steady growth over the last decade.

[eizenstriet]

Trying out picture skills, using tips graciously provided by Building Scout...


Here is the "tip of the iceberg", being the above-ground portion of Old City Hall:

   

If I can gain access to the buried portion, I will post a picture of that as well.


Kitchener's creativity has managed to reference this iconic image from the original "Planet of the Apes":

   

[BuildingScout]

Spot the difference...

[Drake]

The war memorial in that picture; has it been relocated to the corner of Frederick & Duke? What had been at that intersection previously?

[panamaniac]

Yes, the Cenotaph was moved to the corner of Frederick and Duke from the City Hall Square in 1973. I remember attending the ceremony that year when the Queen rededicated it. Before being moved to City Hall Square, the Cenotaph stood in the middle of Frederick St, between King and Duke Sts. I can't remember whether there was anything at the corner of Frederick and Duke prior to 1973 - I'm thinking it may have been open space since the construction of the Federal Building in the late 1930s.

[BuildingScout]

Yes, the Cenotaph was moved to the corner of Frederick and Duke from the City Hall Square in 1973.  I remember attending the ceremony that year when the Queen rededicated it.  Before being moved to City Hall Square, the Cenotaph stood in the middle of Frederick St, between King and Duke Sts.  I can't remember whether there was anything at the corner of Frederick and Duke prior to 1973 - I'm thinking it may have been open space since the construction of the Federal Building in the late 1930s.

There is an old watercolor that shows a church in that general direction. Don't know how accurate it is: