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Frontenac Heritage Foundation

Frontenac Heritage Foundation
Does growing a city mean sacrificing its heritage? In Kingston, Ontario—one of North America’s finest 19th-century limestone streetscapes—urban intensification is colliding directly with historic preservation. Can we achieve real urban density without out-of-scale high-rise towers? In this documentary feature (now updated with an exclusive previously deleted segment), urban planners, heritage advocates, and architects explore how mid-rise, human-scale development can bring vibrancy, housing, and economic vitality without compromising the sky, light, and historic character that define downtown Kingston. Key Topics Covered in This Video: • Why human-scale urban design (4–6 stories) creates world-class, walkable downtowns. • The impact of proposed 20-story towers on historic skylines and view corridors. • Sustainable intensification: how mid-rise courtyard models deliver density responsibly. • The role of public policy, heritage conservation, and community advocacy. • Exclusive deleted segment exploring alternative design solutions. 🏛️ About the Frontenac Heritage Foundation The Frontenac Heritage Foundation is dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and protection of built cultural heritage and cultural heritage landscapes throughout Kingston and the Frontenac region. 🔗 Learn more & support our work: Website: https://frontenacheritage.ca/ Subscribe for more discussions on urban planning, architecture, and heritage preservation: @FrontenacHeritageFoundation
Kingston: Where History and Intensification Meet (Includes Deleted Segment)
With sincere thanks to the creator of this video, David McCallum, the Frontenac Heritage Foundation is honoured to include this interview of George Muirhead, chief planner for the City of Kingston on our YouTube channel. At the time of the interview George was close to his 100th birthday. Below are comments made by Dr. David Gordon at an event honouring George's birthday. Remarks by David Gordon on May 9, 2016 At the 100th birthday celebration for George Muirhead It is a privilege say a few words about George Muirhead’s impact as an urban planner. I have known Mr. Muirhead for over 40 years first as a student, then as a young urban planner and most recently as a professor and researcher. He recruited me as a student volunteer with group preparing the inventory of historic buildings in Kingston in the mid-1970s. Under George’s leadership, this seemed like a normal part of good planning but it was one of Canada’s first municipal heritage planning programmes, as we have heard. George trained as a social worker and urban planner at the University of Toronto as a returning veteran. He was appointed as Kingston’s only planner in 1955, working on improving housing conditions in Kingston’s most distressed neighbourhoods in the North End. As director of the city’s urban renewal programme, he opted for careful reconstruction and rehabilitation of neighbourhoods, rather than the destruction of entire communities seen in other North American cities in the 1950s and 1960s. Mr. Muirhead co-authored A Planning Study of Kingston in 1960 with Professor Gordon Stephenson, which is illustrated in the panels around us, from a recent exhibition. My School has also made a digital copy of the plan and placed it on our web site for access by all. The plan recommended rehabilitation of the downtown and conservation of most of Sydenham Ward, which was then in decline, with most of its historic homes converted into as low-end student rooming houses. (We will forgive him for recommending that my house be demolished….) One of the most powerful ideas in the plan was that Kingston’s historic City Hall should be preserved and become the centrepiece of a redeveloped downtown and waterfront. It seems difficult to believe today, but Kingston City Hall, one of Canada’s most important examples of classical architecture, was in danger of demolition during the 1950s. Its front portico had already been removed and crushed into gravel. Muirhead and Stephenson recommended that the municipal building be restored, the adjacent railway yard be replaced with a park, the abandoned waterfront become a marina and the parking lot be transformed into a permanent Market Square. The first three projects were finished for the 1967 Centennial year, the beautiful market square opened in 2004 and the Old Sydenham Ward Heritage Conservation District was established last year. Few Kingstonians are aware of George Muirhead’s pivotal role in creating these amenities to improve the quality of life in this city. So we members of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation and Kingston Historical Society might well suggest some sort of monument or plaque to commemorate his contributions to our city, but I’m not certain that we have to. As was said about Christopher Wren (and apologies for my rusty Latin): si monumentum requiris, circumspice sē-ˌmȯnu̇mentu̇m re-kwē-ris, kir-ˈku̇m-spi-ke Which translates as: If you seek his monument, look around you Ladies and Gentlemen, we should thank George Muirhead for all that he has done for our community as its chief planner.
George Muirhead Nov 2016 Nearing His 100th Birthday
Chris Wiebe presents 'Heritage Now - Climate Action, Social Resilience and Economic Transformation'. An excellent summary of the history of the National Trust, and how it relates to the federation of heritage organizations across Canada, and then followed by striking examples of buildings and places from the west coast to the east coast. So much packed into a short talk. Chris holds Masters of Arts degrees from Carleton University and the U. of Alberta, and has written extensively on heritage and culture issues. Since joining the Trust in 2006, Chris has organized their annual conference. He also assists with the Trust's government relations, advocacy work on heritage policies, and assists with the international Climate Heritage Network.
Heritage Now Talk by Chris Wiebe
New website launch video, describing the new features
Frontenac Heritage Foundation's new website
In 2022, the Frontenac Heritage Foundation was successful in obtaining a grant from the City of Kingston Heritage Fund to assist Dr. Robert Banks in publishing his book 'Warriors and Warships: Conflict on the Great Lakes and the Legacy of Point Frederick'. That fall, with the permission of the Royal Military College, Bob conducted a well-attended walking tour of the Point. Then in the fall of 2023, Sue Bazely and Bob Banks were granted permission by the College to be interviewed by David McCallum of Lightstruck Film and Media to film a walking tour of the Point. This short film combines those interviews with historical images, along with drone imagery by Darren Keuhl of Razor Aerial Productions to give you a look back in time to life on Point Frederick before the RMC was established.
Remarkable Point Fredrick: A Walk Through Canadian History
From @frontenacheritagefoundatio3277 this video is a talk by Dr. Randy Bagg, a representative of the Ontario Barn Preservation Group. He has recently moved to the Kingston area. He has a strong background in agriculture having worked as a large animal veterinarian during his career. Now in his retirement, he supports the OBP in their efforts to document and protect barns across the Province.
Saving Eastern Ontario Barns
Spend time with an experienced stonemason who has worked on the West Block, the construction of the new Visitor's Welcome Centre, and the Centre Block; he has been close up and personal with these buildings in a way that is afforded to few!
Ottawa Stonemason, James Taite, part of the FHF's Heritage Conservation Speaker & Tour Series
Guest speaker MARIANNE MCKENNA, Partner at KPMB Architects, joins the FHF members for a lecture on Massey Hall.
Massey Hall: Sustaining the Magic
The FHF grants a total of 30 Awards on December 21, 2021.
The FHF Honours Nine Projects and the Margaret Angus Award (Dec 2021)
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