Posted Mar 9, 2026, 7:33 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Ottawa
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From the Ottawa Citizen on February 14th.
Quote:
Ottawa Public School Board administration building — 330 Gilmour St.
The sprawling heritage building at 330 Gilmour St. — taking up most of a city block in Centretown between Metcalfe and O’Connor streets — was once home to administrative offices for the former Ottawa Public School Board.
Built in 1922, the building has been vacant since the land was purchased in 2001 by Ashcroft Homes, which received permission to construct a retirement home in 2008 following a lengthy approvals process.
Ashcroft Homes Group was forced into receivership in 2025, with its extensive local real-estate portfolio under the control of Toronto-base receiver KSV Restructuring Ltd.
Some of the former Ashcroft holdings have since been sold to other buyers, though the Gilmour Street property was not among those listed for sale.
The city has, meanwhile, issued several orders related to a building condition assessment. Collins told the built heritage committee that city staff were in the process of contracting out the building condition assessment last fall when the owner stepped in and agreed to complete the report.
Staff provided “guidance” to the engineer hired to complete the assessment and the draft report was submitted earlier in January, Collins said.
“It has identified some urgent issues that require pedestrian protection along Lewis Street from fall hazards related to some of the masonry work on the building,” Collins said, but that repair work cannot be completed until the spring.
The city demanded protective fencing be installed along Lewis Street as an immediate measure to prevent debris from falling onto the sidewalk.
“There is masonry work that needs to be completed in order to prevent the pedestrian hazard of falling bricks and stones, and that cannot be completed until the weather is permitting,” Collins said. “If the repairs are not completed by the owner in the spring, the city will be taking action to undertake this work on their behalf.”
While the fencing is the most immediate need, the building condition report also identified “a wide variety of other issues,” Collins said. Staff are working to determine whether any other orders will be issued to conserve the property.
“That building has been basically left to rot for the last 20 years by the developer, and there was urgent work that needs to be done and the developer is currently in receivership,” Troster said. “The city reached the point where some of those repairs needed to urgently be done so that they didn’t cause any safety hazards, so the city is making those repairs and charging the developer.
“It’s one of the only tools we have if a property has fallen into such disrepair that it’s posing a threat to the health and safety of the community. I think we can and should do much better than that,” she said.
“It’s terrible that 330 Gilmour essentially takes up a whole block in Centretown and it’s become a blight. It’s a space that could be used so much better, but this (measure) is the bare minimum, and it’s also one of the only tools we have as any sort of penalty for these kinds of abandoned properties.”
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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/ottaw...tage-buildings
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