The Mill Street Heritage District is part of the greater Hamilton Heritage System. Click Here to access an Interactive map of Hamilton Cultural Resources.
Things You Should Know as a Heritage Property Owner
The city of Hamilton has seven (7) Heritage Conservation Districts;
The Mill Street Heritage Conservation District in the Waterdown village core, is the largest of the seven and contains some 130 properties. There are 37 other designated properties, outside of the district, in the old town of Flamborough. The city has published a list of all the Heritage Designated Properties (both Privately and Publicly owned) within the city limits; see pages 33 through 36 of this PDF (click here) for the complete listing of all Waterdown properties.
If your property is listed as a Designated Heritage Property (and you wish to go about renovating, upgrading, or repairing your home) you may find it very useful to seek our committee's advice before proceeding with the work. All major renovations to a building will require a Building Permit, but if your property is designated as a Heritage Property, you may be affected by further regulation regarding the street-facing facade of your building.
For your reference, here's a link to the Ontario Government website which lays out "The criteria for determining the cultural heritage or significance" of a building. As you will see, the criteria is rather broad - and open to interpretation. The Ontario Government places much of the work of interpreting and enforcing by-laws and building codes in the hands of local municipalities. So, we here in our part of the Provence, will decide for ourselves when a building or neighborhood has historical value worth preserving for future generations to see - and to live in.
Hamilton Heritage Conservation GRANT PROGRAM
The Hamilton Heritage Property Grant Program (HHPGP) is intended to provide financial assistance in the form of a grant for structural/stability work required to conserve and restore heritage features of properties and for heritage studies; reports; assessments for properties that are designated under Part IV or V of the Ontario Heritage Act.
