Heritage Properties of Ottawa & Gatineau

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Originally Posted by rocketphish

The Kanata neighbourhood that could get a new heritage designation
The neighbourhood was designed in the 1960s as a satellite city, what might be thought of today as a 15-minute city.

By Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 09, 2026 | Last updated 1 hour ago | 7 minute read

When prolific Ottawa developer Bill Teron broke ground on a new self-contained “satellite city” that would become Kanata in the 1960s, he envisioned a community from the viewpoint of a child pedalling a tricycle.

Clusters of homes with similar mid-century architectural styles were bounded by natural green space with pathways and local roads — and no through traffic — that would allow children to walk or bike to school without crossing any major streets.

He rejected the notion of Kanata as a “bedroom community” and instead designed self-contained neighbourhoods centred around schools and natural spaces that would also provide shopping, medical and civic services, recreation and even employment with an adjacent technology park.

The community of Beaverbrook was the first of Teron’s planned neighbourhoods to be constructed, with 800 homes on 5.5 hectares of “rugged romantic” land, as Teron once described it, on the western edge of the Greenbelt.

“He didn’t know it at the time, but it’s now called a 15-minute community,” said Neil Thomson, president of the Kanata Beaverbrook Community Association, one of the chief proponents behind a long-standing lobby for the community to be designated as a heritage conservation district.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/kanata-beaverbrook-heritage

The same neighbourhood the city just forced sidewalks into against the original plans instead of bringing the original connecting paths up to current accessibility standards? The city that, by doing said sidewalks, narrowed the streets. The city that now hasn't plowed said sidewalks and are leaving huge piles of snow at intersections thereby forcing folks to walk along the streets, but now they are that much narrower?
We need a ward system.

[J.OT13]

Could have sworn we had a Bronson Centre thread. Anyway, exterior renos are complete. I think it's all new stone.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa seeks to designate 5 more James Strutt buildings as heritage properties
Architect known for modernist, expressive style designed homes, churches up for designation

Cassandra Bellefeuille · CBC News
Posted: Jun 10, 2026 11:52 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago



The City of Ottawa is looking to designate five eye-catching buildings by architect James Strutt as protected heritage properties.

The churches and homes would join a list of Strutt-designed buildings that already have heritage designation.

Strutt, who was born in Pembroke, Ont., and grew up in Ottawa's Glebe neighbourhood, is known for his modernist architecture and expressive designs that can be found throughout the city, including Carleton University’s Loeb Building.

The latest properties up for heritage designation are:

• Bells Corners United Church at 3955 Old Richmond Rd.
• Trinity United Church at 1099 Maitland Ave.
• St. Teklehaimanot Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church at 915 Merivale Rd.
• A home at 211 Cunningham Ave. in Alta Vista.
• A home at 20 Qualicum St. near the Queensway Carleton Hospital.

All five property owners have been notified about the proposed designations, city staff said during Tuesday's Built Heritage Committee meeting.

Heritage and planning program manager Leslie Collins said the city considered location, geography, architectural integrity and the story each Strutt property tells when deciding which ones to consider for designation.

"The thing he's well-known for was his experimentation with shape and geometry and form, particularly around roof forms," Collins explained.

"You see that in the property at 915 Merivale with its paraboloid roof that is a concrete shell," she said, describing the church as "highly experimental, very distinctive."

All five properties are already on the city’s heritage register, which lists non-designated properties of cultural heritage value.

Changes to the Ontario Heritage Act through bills 23 and 200 give the city less time to sort out which of those properties it intends to designate. Properties that miss the deadline can't be reconsidered for five years.

The deadline for the Strutt properties is Jan. 1, 2027.

Three of the five proposed heritage properties are in College Coun. Laine Johnson's ward. She told the committee that the congregation at Trinity United Church on Maitland Avenue has expressed concerns about the potential designation.

"They described their place right now as being a place of transition where they are working to create more stability within the congregation and its finances," Johnson said.

"They are concerned right now ... that a heritage designation may impose future costs or restrictions or obligations that might limit their ability to carry out this work."

Collins said the city tends to work with contenders to "adjust" some aspects of the designation, and can offer grants and financial incentives for upkeep.

"In the instance of the Maitland church, the interior is excluded, the large parking lot is excluded," she said.

Collins said these adjustments are meant to provide property owners with some degree of flexibility.

The committee carried the motions to designate all five Strutt properties. City council will vote on the matter June 24.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ot...ildings-as-heritage-properties-9.7229200