Steps taken to help preserve a Burlington landmark
Published March 14, 2024 at 10:19 am
Burlington has taken the next step in providing heritage protection for one of the city’s most iconic buildings.
Notice has been officially given to designate 400 Brant Street under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Up until recently the building was known as the Queen’s Head Pub but will reopen soon as a new restaurant, 400 Brant Kitchen & Bar.
Located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Brant Street and Elgin Street, the heritage designation will give a certain level of protection to the building. The designation will mean the property owners must apply to the City if there are plans to demolish or significantly alter the building. However, the designation and any ruling by the City can be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).
In sending out its notice, the City is recommending 400 Brant Street for designation because of its design and physical value as a representative example of a 19th-century hotel, and its contextual value as a landmark building on a prominent corner. The building is also connected to its original owners, the Zimmerman’s, a prominent family that helped establish the surrounding community.
The three-and-a-half-storey brick veneer building was constructed as a hotel in 1860 and called the Zimmerman House and later renamed the Queen’s Hotel then the Sherwood Hotel before becoming a full-time pub (the Queen’s Head) in 2003.
There had been some concerns raised in the community that the property would be redeveloped when the Queen’s Head closed but that is not in the plans for the site. Still, the potential for change prompted the City to begin the designation process.
Anyone interested in opposing the designation has until the beginning of April to do so.
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