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General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours
(05-23-2019, 09:49 PM)BruceAshe Wrote: I was reading the agenda for the June 4th Heritage Committee meeting and in it there is a heritage impact assessment study for 45 Duke St W (currently Jack Burger). The study was done to see if there would be any impact on 48 Ontario St as the result of a 19 story building being built at 45 Duke W. https://lf.kitchener.ca/WebLinkExt/0/doc...Page1.aspx (Start at page 35 to see the report and renderings).

Looks like an appropriate building and scale for the area...
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What a shame it will be if 48 Ontario is built out as proposed and a new tower built at 45 Duke, without either project incorporating 60/62 Ontario, the shabby former drycleaners building on the corner.  A mixed-use extension of the podium of the proposed tower would do the job quite nicely, istm.
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(05-24-2019, 10:56 AM)panamaniac Wrote: What a shame it will be if 48 Ontario is built out as proposed and a new tower built at 45 Duke, without either project incorporating 60/62 Ontario, the shabby former drycleaners building on the corner.  A mixed-use extension of the podium of the proposed tower would do the job quite nicely, istm.

That could be built independently, too.

As always, incorporating an adjoining property isn't always easy. It may not fit the concept, it may not fit in the budget -- or the owner may not be willing to sell.
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Photo 
Screenshot of the proposed building


Attached Files Image(s)
   
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Great find, looks like another solid project for Downtown.
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It looks like 50Q is going to have lights on the roof that will be visible from Weber and Queen Streets.  Today, workers were pushing the structure that holds the lights slightly over the edge of the building so they will be visible from below.  I think it will look quite sharp when it's finished.  I always thought that 50 Queen was a rather boring building but Europro seems to be jazzing it up quite a bit.  Up to now, KW really hasn't discovered the use of outdoor lighting on tall buildings.  If this turns out to be as cool as I think it will others will follow.  

   
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Article in the Record about 45 Duke:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/940...-building/

Essentially, "scary big building being built close to old building, run for your lives!"
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(05-31-2019, 10:40 AM)kalis0490 Wrote: Article in the Record about 45 Duke:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/940...-building/

Essentially, "scary big building being built close to old building, run for your lives!"

Yes, for the most part is it ridiculous. The "Heritage House" isnt anything like the original anymore.  They hacked it up back in the day for "One Eyed Jacks"  There may be some validity to the set back for the legion building though..
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(05-31-2019, 10:50 AM)Rainrider22 Wrote:
(05-31-2019, 10:40 AM)kalis0490 Wrote: Article in the Record about 45 Duke:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/940...-building/

Essentially, "scary big building being built close to old building, run for your lives!"

Yes, for the most part is it ridiculous. The "Heritage House" isnt anything like the original anymore.  They hacked it up back in the day for "One Eyed Jacks"  There may be some validity to the set back for the legion building though..

The heritage building the article refers to is the legion building. They don't apply that label (at least in the article) to the Jack Burger house.
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I don't see the negative heritage impact of the proposal, but the idea of a new build less than three feet from the Legions ground floor back windows does surprise me.
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The distance from the former Legion building is close, although nothing you don't see in larger cities. I can see them perhaps setting the building back a little more (some solidarity for the architects who will have to redraw it all in CAD if so, please). Normally I would argue against Voisin with his statement that "I support intensification except when it impacts me" but that is very close indeed. Some compromise can be found here, perhaps with the parking as mentioned. The heritage house, however, is nothing short of being unspectacular. There are a lot of these homes dotted around the city.

Heritage committees are like NIMBYs with a slightly louder voice. I once had a job in my younger years working with someone on the heritage committee in Waterloo region and he was what you'd expect - an older, white male who never wanted to see anything built.
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Can we just not call it a heritage house?? Haha
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(05-31-2019, 10:40 AM)kalis0490 Wrote: Article in the Record about 45 Duke:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/940...-building/

Essentially, "scary big building being built close to old building, run for your lives!"

'Save the clock tower! SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER!!!'
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(06-01-2019, 11:49 PM)jeffster Wrote:
(05-31-2019, 10:40 AM)kalis0490 Wrote: Article in the Record about 45 Duke:

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/940...-building/

Essentially, "scary big building being built close to old building, run for your lives!"

'Save the clock tower! SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER!!!'

The mocking tone suggests to me that some would like the Clocktower of the Old City Hall building removed from Victoria Park.  I don't.  Old building have intrinsic value.  All one has to do is look at the amazing repurposing of the ugly, old warehouses along the railway tracks.  If those old buildings were torn down we may not have Google, D2L, or any of the start-ups that now populate those 'ugly' buildings.   I'm all for new development but not if the past has to be erased.
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(06-02-2019, 08:24 AM)jgsz Wrote:
(06-01-2019, 11:49 PM)jeffster Wrote: 'Save the clock tower! SAVE THE CLOCK TOWER!!!'

The mocking tone suggests to me that some would like the Clocktower of the Old City Hall building removed from Victoria Park.  I don't.  Old building have intrinsic value.  All one has to do is look at the amazing repurposing of the ugly, old warehouses along the railway tracks.  If those old buildings were torn down we may not have Google, D2L, or any of the start-ups that now populate those 'ugly' buildings.   I'm all for new development but not if the past has to be erased.

The only intrinsic value of an old building is that it is a building. The problem is that many people seem to feel that being old means it intrinsically had heritage value, which I disagree with. Some old things are worth keeping for historical value, and some aren't.
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