Kawartha Lakes Heritage Conservation District Studies and Plans

The City of Kawartha Lakes is an amalgamation of several small communities in a rural area northeast of Toronto. The new municipality was beginning to prepare policies for the conservation of cultural heritage resources as part of their objective of promoting downtown revitalization and community economic development. A consulting team led by Bray Heritage won the contract to prepare studies and plans for the first heritage conservation districts in the Kawartha Lakes. Much of the work involved working with the local business community as well as with volunteer heritage groups. They reached a consensus as to what was of heritage significance in the municipality’s two main settlements: the town of Lindsay and the village of Fenelon Falls. Each place has a unique history and character that had not been evaluated or promoted. After an extensive public consultation process led by the consultants, Council approved the studies and requested my team to prepare Heritage Conservation District Plans. These Plans, one focused on the main street of Lindsay and the other on the Oak Street neighborhood in Fenelon Falls, were adopted by Council. There were no appeals and both Plans are now in place.