North King’s Town Secondary Plan

The city of Kingston is growing, and its downtown core has been the focus of much of that growth. Immediately north of the downtown is a former industrial area that includes several well-established neighborhoods as well as an extensive shoreline that has significance for Indigenous groups as well as for its existing industrial and recreational activities: it also abuts the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site. Long known as a part of the city with a distinct working-class character, it is now evolving with new community-based events and businesses. These changes plus a growing need to address deficiencies in local social services, public infrastructure and private sector investment led the City to undertake a Secondary Plan to comprehensively assess current conditions and plan for improvements as well as for the orderly development of the area. The City hired a consulting team that included Bray Heritage as the firm responsible for preparing a Cultural Heritage Study. No study of this kind had been undertaken before and Carl Bray worked closely with City heritage staff and the consulting team to develop a study framework. As work progressed, the Study involved a chronology of the area’s history and evolution as well as an inventory and evaluation of existing and potential cultural heritage resources. Based on this information, the Bray Heritage team provided conservation planning tools, updated archaeological information, a preliminary interpretation strategy, and detailed conservation and development recommendations for each of the eight sub-areas the team had identified within the Secondary Plan area. Although delayed by the pandemic, the Study involved extensive public consultation as well as ongoing site visits. The Secondary Plan is scheduled for completion in 2025.