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St. Marys offers rare opportunity to purchase or lease heritage properties
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UPDATE: The deadline for Expressions of Interest in these two properties was August 2, 2019. Subscribe to future media releases from the Town of St. Marys at www.townofstmarys.com/subscribe in case these properties or any other heritage properties in St. Marys become available again.
The "Stonetown" is an apt moniker for St. Marys, Ontario, as the town is filled with heritage properties featuring unique architecture often made with locally-quarried limestone. On rare occasions, the Town will request Expressions of Interest (EOI) from qualified firms or individuals interested in purchasing or leasing one of these very special properties.
“It is a rare opportunity to be able to buy or lease one of our Town’s heritage properties. Both Junction Station and McDonald House are historically significant parts of our Town’s past and now – for the right firm or individual with the right idea – they can also be a part of our future,” Brent Kittmer, Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk, Town of St. Marys, says.
The Junction Station at 480 Glass Street was constructed in 1858, under the supervision of the famous Canadian contractor Sir Casmir Gzowski, as a major station on the Toronto to Sarnia Branch of the Grand Trunk Railway. This station is believed to be the only remaining structure in Canada in which the famous inventor Thomas Edison worked while employed with the Grand Trunk. In 1933, the desk which Edison is purported to have worked at was removed from the Station and relocated to the Edison Institute in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1973, the Junction Station was declared to be of national historic and architectural significance by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board.
McDonald House at 481 Water Street South was constructed in the early 1850s by St. Marys stonemason Alexander McDonald - who also built Junction Station - and has many features that are recurring marks of his trade and style. The façade of the house has a projecting architrave that is echoed by a projecting base course. The front door has four fielded panels, a large transom (with six lights) and sidelights. The base and stairs of the porch are limestone. The regular, ten-inched coursing of the façade consists of smooth-faced stones with the exception of intermittent rock-faced stones, a characteristic of McDonald’s work that can be seen in the Junction Station.
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Inquiries regarding EOIs can be directed to:
Brent Kittmer, P.Eng., MPA
Chief Administrative Officer/Clerk
Town of St. Marys
(519) 284-2340 ext. 216
bkittmer@town.stmarys.on.ca
