Many interesting buildings near

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The Beach Strip
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Looking Back
by Dennis Smith
Burlington Post
October 18, 1992
About 1,100 buildings around have had their architectural heritage evaluated in Burlington, and some of the more interesting ones are located near the lakeshore.
This comes as no surprise, since much early settlement originated downtown around Brant St., and the lake.
Originally known as Wellington Square, Burlington was a port of some significance exporting large quantities of wheat and flour, and then lumber.
The area once had three piers extending into Lake Ontario - Baxter's Wharf, Torrance's Wharf and Bunton's Wharf. The piers, warehouses and factories gradually disappeared, but there are many interesting heritage buildings along Burlington's lakeshore. Many of these have been evaluated by The Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee, with members grading buildings based on several factors, like architectural or historical significance, their usability, and how they fit in with the environment.
The evaluations are not strictly binding, but Jane Irwin, who chairs LACAC says there has been a good response to saving heritage buildings. "A lot of owners are appreciative and want to preserve them," she said.
Some properties can or have been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, which makes them eligible for restoration ,grants.
Today's Looking back column will feature some highlights of a heritage inventory recently prepared by LACAC which focuses in on the Port of Wellington Square.
The inventory includes 22 buildings on or near the lakeshore, from the Beach Strip canal out to an area just east of Smith Avenue.
The buildings are all from 1920 or earlier, and include some famous local landmarks like The Lighthouse, Joseph Brant Museum and St. Luke's Church. (These I have written about previously, so I'll skip them today.)
"We're increasing public awareness or knowledge about these buildings," said Irwin.
However, the heritage inventory is a two-way street, with LACAC always interested in getting more details about buildings, where current information is sketchy.
Anyone with such information, or an interest in picking up the 30-page inventory booklet highlighted here, should contact LACAC through Linda Bowles at city hall 335-7777.
The old Estaminet building
The Water St. Cooker (formerly Sharkey's On The Water), at 2084 Lakeshore Rd., has had a few name changes, but was best-known in bygone years as the Estaminet.
Located east of Lakeshore Road, the Estaminet dining room nicely complemented the Brant Inn, formerly on the lakeshore at the west end of Spencer Smith Park.
The Brant Inn was, as you probably know, a famous nightclub featuring stars of the Big Band era. It drew crowds and stars bound for the nightclub, often went to the Estaminet for dinner.
Among those who ate there were lour prime ministers (Louis St. Laurent, Lester B. Pearson, John Diefenbaker and Pierre Trudeau), plus several famous entertainers.
The building was actually a house that evolved into a business. It was built around 1840 for Andrew Gage and bought 30 years
later by Lieut.-Col. William Kerns, grandson of Nicholas Kerns, the United Empire Loyalist who was the first settler to buy land from Joseph Brant.
Kerns was a well-known merchant who ran the general store at 2021 Lakeshore Rd. He was also a reeve of Burlington, and an MPP in the 1880s
As for the building, it's a two-storey regency style house covered with well-preserved clapboard siding.
Brant's Landing
Brant's Landing (2220-2222 Lakeshore Road) dates back' to the mid- 1800s. The property was a Crown grant to Joseph Brant's son John, and purchased in 1836 by Augustus Bates.
The first portion of the house was built in 1855 by jeweller Jesse Nickerson.
Seventeen years later, William Dalton had the house rebuilt with a new foundation, enlarging it to perhaps double its original size.
By 1878 it was sold to Amanda Baxter, widow of Thomas- Baxter, who owned Baxter's wharf, and a grain export business
Baxter was a prominent merchant in Wellington Square and served for several terms as Reeve of Nelson Township.
In 1906 the house was bought by Maxwell Smith, mayor of Burlington in 1915-16 and 1919. He owned the first car in Burlington and is said to be the inventor of the white line dividing high ways, first applied to Lakeshore Road in 1914.
The house was sold to a developer in 1978 and moved 110 feel closer to Lakeshore Road to accommodate a condominium project that was built behind it.
The building was left empty for a couple of years and suffered from vandalism, weather and Vermin. But there was a happy ending to this story.
Brant's Landing was restored in 1984 by Freure Homes, with the advice of John Williams Kadlick & Williams, and was converted into two semi-detached luxury condominium units.
This building is rated Category A (major significance) and was designated in 1991 under the Ontario Heritage Act.
The former Shaver building
2015-2017 Lakeshore Road, which was known, as the Shaver Building, was constructed in 1881 by James C. Bent. He was considered a significant builder in Burlington during the 1880s and 1890s.
The Shaver Building was once used as a bus depot. The roof was raised using the original dormer windows, which gives an interesting twist to the building.
An A.B. Coleman building
1421 Lakeshore Road is described as a first-quality Victorian summer home erected by a well-known early builder, A.B. Coleman in the 1890s.
This clapboard siding house also has trimmings, like gingerbread gable bargeboard.
Coleman is perhaps best known for building the Brant Hotel and Country Club.
That's no longer here of course, but several of his other buildings are, including The Gingerbread House at 1375 Ontario St., and Idlewyld at 1337 Ontario Street, where his brother C.F. Coleman lived.
After 1900 Coleman moved his office to Toronto and put up several buildings, including Shea's Hippodrome, the University of Toronto Convocation Hall and three Toronto Exhibition buildings.
Asti's Ristorante
The Asti's Ristorante building at 2101 Lakeshore Road was a carriage shop at one time.
It was erected in 1859, according to a date stone. That same year, it was sold by John Chrysler to Mark Cummins.
Door and window patterns were greatly altered on the façade of this red brick building, with bricking in of former windows plainly visible.
Chandelier Antiques building
The Chandelier Antiques building at 2107 Lakeshore is a 1 1/2 storey building with board and batten siding. There's a barn-shaped (gambrel) roof with a shed dormer on the east side.
The building also has awnings and shutters, plus bay windows flanking the entrance.
No recommendations were made for the building, but it was described as having "a certain picturesque character and charm."
Besides, of course, LACAC, today's column was compiled with the help of information from the


The piers at Burlington









A more recent photo with the new pier.

 
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