“A property may be designated under section 29 of the Act if it meets one or more of the following criteria for determining whether it is of cultural heritage value or interest:

1. The property has design value or physical value because it,

i. is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material or construction method,

ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or

iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement.

2. The property has historical value or associative value because it,

i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community,

ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or

iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community.

3. The property has contextual value because it,

i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area,

ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or iii. is a landmark.”

iii. is a landmark.”

The Walker Power Building meets more than one of the criteria for designation listed above.

Designation requires consideration from Council in two steps: The Notice of Intention to Designate (current step), which provides direction for the City Clerk to give notice to the owner, a newspaper and others, of Council’s intent to initiate the heritage designation. After thirty days, and if there is no objection, Council may pass a by-law to designate the property in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act.

However, should a person serve a notice of objection to the proposed designation with the reason of objection and all relevant facts to the Clerk of the municipality within the objection period (30 days after the publication of the notice of intention to designate), then the item will be referred to the Review Board for a hearing and report. Council would then make a final decision after considering the recommendations of the Review Board as to whether or not the property should be designated.