Post your pictures of Waterloo Region!

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The City has a few "weird reasons":

The building at 48 Ontario Street North is the only heritage-listed building currently
owned by the City. It has been vacant since 2001, but is secure, regularly inspected and
maintained. There is strong community interest in bringing the building into full use and
vitality. In part, this is due to concerns related to other City assets of heritage interest,
which are heightened by the demolition of the Forsyth (1908-2006) and Mayfair (1905-
2015) buildings.

This Classical Revival style building was built circa 1914 by Bell Telephone Co., with
attractive decorative features executed in brownstone, a relatively rare building material
in Berlin/Kitchener. Notable interior features include the front staircase with slate treads
and metal risers, wood handrail and metal balustrade and newel posts (Report DTS-05-
199 and Heritage Report, 2006). The property is currently listed on the Municipal
Heritage Register and slated for designation under Part IV of the Heritage Act.

Used by Bell Telephone from 1914 to 1941, the building was subsequently occupied by
the Unemployment Insurance Commission from 1942 until 1944, and then by the
Employment and Selective Service Office from 1945 to 1946. Following the Second
World War, the building became home to a local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
The building was vacated by the Royal Canadian Legion in 2001 and has remained
vacant since. “The Legion” was well known in the latter decades of the twentieth century
for live performances; inspiring a vibrant local music scene.