“In 2025, we have borne witness to a series of assaults on the tapestry of Niagara-on-the-Lake,” writes Brian Marshall, writing about the Crysler-Burroughs property, Glencairn Hall, the Royal George Theatre and more.
“The basic precepts of good urban development planning place the onus on the local government to proactively identify low, medium and high-density locations,” writes Brian Marshall.
“Here in Niagara-on-the-Lake, apparently aided and abetted by several of our elected ‘representatives,’ this narrative has been successfully played out again and again over the term of the current council,” writes Brian Marshall.
“If one gives away a million dollars here and there … where does the money come from to make up those losses in order to fulfil the region’s legislated responsibilities?” writes Brian Marshall.
“The proposed size, massing and form of the building, considered within the context of the surrounding buildings, completely dwarfs everything else in the heritage district,” writes Brian Marshall.
“On every Nov. 11 since that day, I have shared the evening with a bottle of whisky, those memories and the words that were written down that evening,” writes Brian Marshall.
“It is extraordinarily disingenuous for an individual or corporation to suggest that the ‘progress’ they seek — or achieve — automatically confers benefits upon the society or community they operate within,” writes Brian Marshall.
“Growth and change in any town may be inevitable. However, those forces must be thoughtfully and consistently managed in order to preserve its unique character and cultural landscapes while evolving into a greater version of itself,” writes Brian Marshall.
“It’s telling that MacKay-Lyons, whose main body of work is unabashedly contemporary, adheres strictly to this sense of place as derived from understanding its existing (or historic) vernacular materials, building culture and forms,” writes Brian Marshall.
“These core principles are neglected, ignored or improperly applied by far too many practicing architects and results in poor designs which, if constructed, assault the public’s senses with inferior built architecture,” writes Brian Marshall.
“We are being asked to accept the partial destruction of the Queen-Picton heritage district’s place identity on the very questionable altar of a cultural institution’s ask,” writes Brian Marshall.
“Properly executed, the restoration of this vital and unique piece of heritage will stand as a lasting legacy bequeathed to all Canadians,” writes Brian Marshall of the restoration of the David Secord House.
“As citizens, we have only two formal venues through which we can express our opinion. The first is our vote, once every four years. The second is through our voice,” writes Brian Marshall.
“Bluntly, the solutions here are many and varied — all a matter of sympathetic architectural design with delicate treatment of form, massing, scale and materiality, focused on blending in versus standing out,” writes Brian Marshall.
“Far too often a ghost facade prioritizes a superficial appearance over functional reality,” writes Brian Marshall of the new proposal for the Royal George Theatre.
“Sometimes the negative ‘press of events’ can lead us to believe that there are no ‘wins’ to celebrate. But, au contraire, there are,” writes Brian Marshall.
“There is an extremely disturbing trend in this province directed at marginalizing, diminishing or outright destruction of our shared history, built heritage and cultural landscapes,” writes Brian Marshall.
“The more public input that is provided at this juncture, the more likely it is that staff — principally Fiona Main, senior policy planner — will be able to meet their published timeline,” writes Brian Marshall, in the first of a series of columns analyzing the town’s latest official plan draft.
“In the event this report has not been completed — which would be odd given that we’re eight months into 2025 — the question then becomes why would staff be proceeding with this application in the absence of any form of validation of the applicant’s claims?” writes Brian Marshall.
in many jurisdictions, the sheer volume of important heritage assets which potentially stood to be lost was such that only a small fraction could be protected via Part IV designation.
“For the sake of the heritage district, town residents and the Shaw, I hope they succeed in tabling a design that will work,” writes Brian Marshall of the upcoming Royal George Theatre renovation.
“Change within the heritage district is one thing, but the wholesale flouting of the heritage district guidelines — specifically designed to preserve its ‘special character’ — is a horse of a different colour,” writes Brian Marshall.
The proponents of the Royal George Theatre redesign “are slavishly following the flawed protocols of the Venice Charter to produce a design which, in the view of several architects of my acquaintance, is utterly inappropriate within the context of the Queen–Picton historic district,” writes Brian Marshall.
“This application risks undermining the district’s founding principles by demolishing three 19th-century buildings and significantly altering the streetscapes of both Queen and Victoria streets,” writes Brian Marshall.
“Building more of the same type of homes faster will do nothing but add to the current glut on the market of properties that a significant segment of our society simply cannot afford or, in other cases, do not want,” writes Brian Marshall.
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