Notice of intention to designate

614 Yonge Street

Take notice that Toronto City Council intends to designate the lands and buildings known municipally as 614 Yonge Street under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Reasons for Designation

Description
The property at 614 Yonge Street is worthy of inclusion on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties and designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value. The property meets the criteria for municipal designation prescribed by the Province of Ontario under the categories of contextual and design value. The 2½-storey commercial building (1885) was commissioned by John Wickson, who also owned the neighbouring properties at 616 and 618 Yonge Street, and was first occupied by William Doherty, a painter and wall paper hanger.

Statement of Significance
With its location on Yonge Street, the William Doherty Building contributes to the character of the street as it evolved from its origins as a military road to become Toronto's most famous commercial thoroughfare. The commercial building is placed on the west side of the street between Wellesley and Bloor, which is one of the remaining areas of Yonge Street that retains its late 19th and early 20th century character as the setting of low-rise commercial structures. Located south of St. Joseph Street, the property at 614 Yonge Street was part of the lands developed in the mid 1800s by John Elmsley Jr. (1801-1863), a prominent provincial politician who established a country estate on a park lot southwest of Yonge and Bloor streets. As a convert to Roman Catholicism, when Elmsley laid out a subdivision with residential, commercial and institutional uses, he named the streets after saints including St. Alban (now Wellesley Street) and St. Joseph. The William Doherty Building was developed by the mid 1880s as part of the collection of two- to three-storey commercial buildings with decorative brickwork and varied roof styles that reflect the historical character of Yonge Street from Wellesley to Bloor streets.

The William Doherty Building is a representative example of a late 19th century commercial structure with architectural features drawn from the predominant styles of the era. Above the first-floor storefront, the upper storey displays the segmental-arched window openings and elaborate brick detailing inspired by the Italianate style. With the neighbouring properties to the north and south at 606 to 618 Yonge Street, the William Doherty Building contributes to the continuous street wall of commercial buildings that share a similar scale, materials and detailing.

Heritage Attributes
The heritage attributes of the William Doherty Building are:

• The scale, form and massing
• The materials, with brick cladding and brick, stone, wood and glass detailing
• The 2½-storey plan on a stone foundation, where the east façade is organized into two bays above the first-floor storefront (the original storefront has been altered)
• The gable roof with a gabled dormer on the east slope (the east slope of the roof with the dormer is included in the Reasons for Designation)
• The fenestration in the second floor, where a pair of segmental-arched window openings have brick hood moulds with keystones and stone sills
• The detailing beneath the eaves, with brick panels and brackets
• The location of the property adjoining the complementary commercial buildings directly north and south, which share its setback, alignment of floors, and brick cladding

Notice of an objection to the proposed designation may be served on the City Clerk, Attention: Rosalind Dyers, Administrator, Toronto and East York Community Council, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, 2nd floor, Toronto, ON M5H 2N2, within thirty days of the 2nd day of February, 2010, which is March 4, 2010. The notice must set out the reason(s) for the objection, and all relevant facts.

Dated at Toronto this 2nd day of February, 2010.

Ulli S. Watkiss
City Clerk