Dear editor:

While I appreciate Garth Turner’s comment in June 5’s Lake Report (“The Turner Report: Open the floodgates? Then expect the flood“) that the proposed hotel at 222 Gate St. is “gorgeous,” as the architect, I take issue with him using the term “fake.”

This building actually reflects a period when large, elegant homes were being built in Niagara-on-the-Lake in the late 19th century, similar to most of the buildings in every community, which are reinterpretations of earlier styles.

For example, at the Harbour House Hotel, I adapted the shingle style that was popular on the American East Coast from the period between 1880 and 1910. At Queen’s Landing, I  borrowed design elements from the Green Briar Hotel in West Virginia.

With the Shaw Club Hotel, I added vernacular elements from the mid-1800s, such as the verandahs. At the Pillar and Post, we used the simple shapes of workers’ houses as they were more compatible with the old canning factory.

All of the hotels our firm designed in the Old Town connect visually to a previous historic period and therefore appear to always have been part of the community. This philosophy of design is called contextualism, and it shows how most towns were built slowly over time, reflecting the changes in tastes and styles that occur every generation or so.

As to land use, Mr. Turner agrees that, with garbage bins, a restaurant, a hotel and a grocery store adjacent to this property, it is no longer suitable for a house. Traditionally, when a vacant property has commercial zoning on two sides, from a planning point of view, it can be considered an area in transition and its use changes to the use of the adjacent properties.

David Jones, the owner, concluded that a hotel would be the most appropriate use of the land. As architects, we designed it so it looked like it might have been there since the early 1900s.

We also eliminated any driveways, so there’s no additional vehicular traffic on Gate Street. There’s no pedestrian entrance on Gate Street either, so there are fewer people on the sidewalks than there would have been even if it was a single-family residence.

Finally, unlike the many hotels that have already been approved for the Old Town, this design complies with the height bylaws, the setback bylaws and the parking bylaws of the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

In conclusion, we can lament the fact that the properties close to Queen Street are no longer suitable for single-family houses, but the community has to decide what the best alternative use is.

We’re suggesting that a building that is attractive and looks like a house, doesn’t add traffic to the street, has no restaurants (with their associated noise and odours) and complies with the Town’s bylaws is an excellent use and probably the best alternative.

Wayne Murray
NOTL