Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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2: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

1. Description of Property Municipal Address 37-53 Bond Street Name (if applicable) Independent Order of Foresters (I.O.F.) Orphanage Legal Description PT LTS 15 & 16, CON 3 TRAFALGAR, SOUTH OF DUNDAS STREET , PT RDAL BTN LTS 15 & 16,

CON 3 TRAFALGAR, SOUTH OF DUNDAS STREET , PART 3 , 20R1712 , CLSD BY BL608 ; OAKVILLE/TRAFALGAR

Location of Property Located on the north side of Bond Street, between Queen Mary Drive, on the east and Kerr Street, on the west.

Ownership Public – Province of Ontario Access No access. Photographed from Bond Street, September 16th, 2015 (AB) Current Use Central West Specialized Developmental Services Existing Designation Listed on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated)

Description: “I.O.F. Orphanage= this property has potential cultural heritage value for its c. 1900 institutional buildings and stone gates”.

General Description The former I.O.F. orphanage is a provincial institution on a 12-acre site. It includes a two-and-a-half-storey main building (built 1910), stone gate posts (c.1910), several barns (early 20th century), a series of residential and institutional buildings added in the 1970s, and a semi-formal front garden with 1970s plantings. The site was first developed as an orphanage for the children of deceased I.O.F. members. It was commissioned for military use during the Second World War. Since 1972, it has been owned by the provincial government and provides residential care and community based support for people with developmental disabilities.

Priority Level Low

Figure 1: I.O.F. Orphanage Building at 37-53 Bond Street. (AB 2015)

Historic OrphanageBuilding

Kerr St.

Westwood Park

Wilson St.

GranitePiers

Granite Wall& Iron Fence

FormalGarden

GranitePiers

Large NorwayMaple

Queen Mary Dr.

Forsythe St.

Chisholm St.

Bond

St.

Head S

t.

Barns

Historic OrphanageBuilding

Kerr St.

Westwood Park

Wilson St.

GranitePiers

Granite Wall& Iron Fence

FormalGarden

GranitePiers

Large NorwayMaple

Queen Mary Dr.

Forsythe St.

Chisholm St.

Bond

St.

Head S

t.

Barns

LEGEND

IOF OrphanageCultural Heritage LandscapeInventory Map

Drawing not to scale

Corporation of theTown of Oakville1225 Trafalgar RdOakville, ONL6H 0H3

Woodlot

Watercourse

Site Structures

Vegetation

Assessment Boundary

Building

CHL Study Area

Heritage District

Heritage Trail

Parkland

Park Trail

Road

Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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2. Key Recommendations Priority = Low

Rationale for priority level:

• No known vulnerabilities; • Current listed status on the Heritage Register provides sufficient protection for built resources; and • Limitations due to provincial ownership

Recommendations for future action:

• Contact Infrastructure Ontario to confirm the custodian ministry, whether a cultural heritage evaluation report has been prepared, and whether the property has been identified as a provincial heritage property;

• Depending on the provincial government response, conduct a full evaluation to confirm and clarify the heritage value and attributes of the site, with a view to creating a full statement of significance for the heritage register listing.

3. Documentation and Inventory of Built Form List of Built Features:

• 2.5-storey main building with stucco and brick exterior (built 1910); • Several barns (built early 20th century); • Additional institutional and residential buildings (c.1970s); and • A granite wall, stone gate posts and wrought iron gate along Bond Street.

4. Documentation and Inventory of Natural Form List of Natural Features:

• A semi-formal front garden on Bond Street includes: Spruce, Burning Bush, Juniper planted c.1970's; • A "community garden" along Bond; • No foundation planting; • Little landscape maintenance; and • A beefy Norway Maple tree along Bond.

5. Design (Typology) ‘X’ all that

apply Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape

Description

Designed Landscape “…clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man.”

X Organically Evolved Landscape

“…results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed in its present form in response to its natural environment”

Relict Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past.”

X Continuing Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and which the evolutionary process is still in progress.”

Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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‘X’ all that apply

Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape

Description

Associative Cultural Landscape

“…justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic, or cultural associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent.”

6. Historical and Thematic Associations The Independent Order of Foresters (I.O.F.) is a fraternal society that provides benefits to members. It expanded from the United States into Canada in 1875, largely due to the efforts of Oronhyatekha, a prominent Canadian medical doctor and community leader of Mohawk descent. By the 1890s he had transformed Foresters into one of North America’s leading fraternal benefit societies. As well as life insurance, and admitting women as full members, Forester provided orphan benefits to children of deceased members. The first I.O.F. Orphan’s Home was built in Deseronto, Ontario in 1905.It opened in 1906 and closed 18 months later after Dr. Oronhyatekha’s death.

The Oakville orphanage was opened by the I.O.F. in 1910. "The Oakville Home", as it was also known, was built on a large property just outside Oakville's downtown, and included a working fruit farm with green houses. The Superintendent of the Oakville Home was J.C. Morgan, a prominent Oakville citizen who also served as a member of the Board of Education, and President of the Oakville Boy Scouts' Council.

During the Second World War, the former orphanage was commissioned by the Department of National Defence and became the Ortona Army Barracks, serving a re-training facility and regional army command headquarters. From 1944 to 1946 it was the Women’s Service Health Centre and operated as a hospital.

In 1972 the provincial government purchased the 12-acre property to serve as Oaklands Regional Centre, adding a series of residential and institutional buildings. Oaklands began operating in 1975, providing residential care and support for people with developmental disabilities in Halton, Dufferin and Peel Regions. In 2007 it changed its name to Central West Specialized Development Services to reflect an increasing focus on community-based services.

7. Contextual Associations The property is located in a mix use neighbourhood. A public park is located directly south, commercial hubs are found to the north and west and residential neighbourhood to the east.

8. Evaluation (O. Reg 9/06)

O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Potentially Met (Y/N)

Potential Justification

1. The property has design value or physical value because it,

i. is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material, or construction method,

Y

The former IOF orphanage may represent an example of a design type, such as an early-20th-century hospital or orphanage.

ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or

N Not shown.

Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Potentially Met (Y/N)

Potential Justification

iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement.

N Not shown.

2. The property has historical value or associative value because it,

i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community,

Y

The former orphanage is directly associated with the Independent Order of Foresters and the organization’s system of financial support for the children of its deceased members.

It is associated with local military training and operations during the Second World War.

It is directly associated with the theme of health care, from its operation as a Women’s Service Health Centre and hospital (1944-1946), to its current role as the Oaklands Regional Centre, and later Central West Specialized Development Services.

ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or

Y

Although much of the property has been recently and dramatically disturbed as a result of expansion to the centre in the 1970s and early 2000s, there may be some undeveloped portions of the property with the potential to yield information in the form of archaeological resources.

iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community.

N Not known.

3. The property has contextual value because it,

i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area,

N Not shown.

ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or

N Not shown.

iii. is a landmark. Y The property may be landmark because of its size, design and function.

Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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9. Photographic Documentation

Figure 3: Aerial image of the property. (Google Earth Pro 2015)

Figure 4: Central Command, Aerial view of the property showing numerous temporary buildings c.1943-44 (Town of Oakville)

Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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Figure 5: IOF Orphanage, front elevation showing stone wall and gate, date unknown [ca.1920s] (Town of Oakville)

Figure 6: Stone wall and gate along Bond Street (AB 2015)

Inventory Report: 37-53 Bond Street, I.O.F Orphanage

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10. Analysis & Recommendations Potential Heritage Value:

The property is an example of an evolved cultural heritage landscape, with components (buildings, structures and natural plantings) from the three known phases of use: as orphanage, as Second World War headquarters and hospital, and as late-20th and early 21st century provincial institution. Components of the landscape such as the 1910 orphanage building, and the rows of trees may have design value. The property as a whole, or parts of it, may have historical or associative value, and the cultural heritage landscape as a whole may be regarded as a landmark.

Actions:

This property is owned by the Province of Ontario and is listed on the municipal heritage register. The OHA provides that Part IV (individual property designation by municipalities) and Part V (heritage conservation district designation) do not apply to property that is owned by the provincial government or by a prescribed public body. However, municipalities may include provincially owned properties on the municipal register of non-designated properties. Heritage properties owned or occupied by the provincial government or a prescribed public body are subject to the Standards & Guidelines for Conservation of Provincial Heritage Properties (“provincial S&Gs”), a set of guidelines issued by the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport in 2010. The provincial S&Gs require provincial ministries and agencies to establish and maintain a cultural heritage conservation policy and procedures to identify, manage and conserve provincial heritage properties.

The Town may want to conduct a full evaluation of the property in order to confirm and clarify the heritage values and heritage attributes of the site, with a view to updating the listing on the heritage register. The Town might want to begin by contacting Infrastructure Ontario to confirm:

• Who is the custodian ministry for the site (likely Infrastructure Ontario); • Whether a cultural heritage evaluation report has been prepared by the custodian ministry; • Whether the property has been identified as a heritage property by the custodian ministry.

A ‘low’ priority level is recommended for the following reasons:

• No known vulnerabilities; • Current listed status on the Heritage Register provides sufficient protection for built resources; and • Limitations due to provincial ownership.

11. Sources Central West Specialized Development Services, "About", at http://www.cwsds.ca/page2.html . Accessed October 2015.

Deseronto Archives, "Captain John's Island," at https://deserontoarchives.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/foresters_island.jpg . Accessed October 2015.

Foresters, “Historical Mosaic,” http://www.foresters.com/historical-mosaic/#.VjfTB7erTIU . Accessed October, 2015.

Griffin, George A., Oakville: past and present, (Toronto: Griffin & Griffin, 1912.