Lowertown buildings removed from the Heritage Register could be protected by a new HeritageConservation District

By Allen Brown

Changes made by the provincial government’s Bill 23, or the More Homes Built Faster Act of 2022, originally gave Ottawa until the end of 2024 to remove the 4,600 properties on its Heritage Register, or formally designate them as protected structures under Part IV of the Ontario

Heritage Act (OHA). In doing so, Bill 23 aimed to facilitate demolition of older buildings to encourage construction of higher-density new buildings. Fortunately, many Lowertown heritage properties are protected by being located within the

ByWard Market and Lowertown West Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs). The Register provides some protection for the properties listed on it by requiring owners to give the city with 60 days’ notice if they plan to demolish it. This would give the city time to enter into negotiations with the owners and consider whether further protection is warranted by designation under Part IV. Being designated under Part IV – which involves lengthy research and consultation – affords similar protection against demolition without review by the city. It also requires a special permit for any exterior alterations that could affect the property’s cultural heritage value.

Under the new provincial rules, a property can only be listed on the Heritage Register for two years. If not designated under Part IV within that period, the property must be removed and cannot be re-listed for five years. Some months ago, the deadline for removal was extended until January 1, 2027. By then, the City intends to remove all properties from the Heritage Register and instead create a public online inventory to monitor and track these properties.

So far, city staff have removed approximately 1,600 properties from the Register and identified 833 properties as candidates for Part IV designation. About another 900 properties are within future HCD study areas or HCD feasibility areas.

A new HCD?
In Lowertown, the city is currently undertaking an HCD Feasibility Study of the area north of MacDonald Gardens that will be considered by the city’s Built Heritage Committee in June. Originally, almost 50 properties on the Heritage Register were located in this area. Currently, only eight remain.

Heritage Register properties – north of MacDonald Gardens Park. First photo is from April 2024 and the second is from April 2026.

The Lowertown Community Association’s Heritage Committee strongly believes that this area warrants protection as an area that is uniquely different from other Lowertown areas, visually cohesive and remarkably untouched by the devastation of urban renewal elsewhere in Lowertown East. The area was once considered to be prime real estate, particularly after MacDonald Gardens Park was built by noted landscape architect, Frederick G. Todd, and features buildings by well-known Ottawa architects such as Noffke, Sullivan, Richards, and Abra. As well, the area is historically significant as the home of prominent judges, parliamentary speakers, notable lawyers, doctors, and Sports Hall of Fame figures. The designation of a new HCD here would restore the protection of these buildings and streetscapes, which would otherwise have been lost with their removal from the Heritage Register.