Notice of Designation 2 King Street West Village of Omemee

Take Notice that the Council of the City of Kawartha Lakes, on January 28, 2025, passed By-law 2025-003 to designate the following property under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.18, as a property of cultural heritage value or interest:

2 King Street West, Village of Omemee
LT 1 S/S KING ST AND W/S STURGEON ST PL 109 & PT LT 2 S/S KING ST AND W/S STURGEON ST PL 109 BEING PART 1 PL 57R10537

Statement of Reasons for Designation

Design and Physical Value
2 King Street West has design and physical value as a unique, early and large, example of an Arts and Crafts style house in Omemee. Constructed in 1910, the property displays key characteristics of this popular early twentieth century architectural style. These characteristics include its asymmetrical massing, simplified design elements and plentiful windows which were typical of this style which sought a more naturalistic and less ornate style of architecture compared to its Victorian predecessors. It is the largest and most prominent examples of this architectural style in Omemee, where the Arts and Crafts style was primarily used in smaller, more modest Craftsman bungalows throughout the 1910s and 1920s. The house was originally constructed as a parsonage for the adjacent Methodist, now United, church and is known locally as the John McCrea Memorial Parsonage, having been built in memory of John McCrea, a prominent Methodist lay leader and Omemee businessman.

Historical and Associative Value
2 King Street West has historical and associative value as the former parsonage for the Omemee Methodist Church, now Trinity United Church, and in its association with local businessman and Methodist lay leader John McCrea and his daughter Flora McCrea Eaton, later known as Lady Eaton. Flora Eaton had this house built in 1910 in memory of her father, a prominent lay leader in the Methodist Church in Omemee and a respected local citizen and businessman who had died the previous year in 1909. The property yields information regarding McCrea’s role in late nineteenth century Omemee as well as the role of the Methodist church in the community at this time when it was a prominent and important local institution.

Contextual Value
2 King Street West has contextual value as a local landmark and as a contributing feature to the historic landscape of the village of Omemee. The property is prominent located in the village at the southwest corner of Omemee’s primary intersection and is a well-known local landmark for its distinctive Arts and Crafts architecture and for its former role as the Methodist, later United, Church parsonage. It supports the broader character of King Street which includes a variety of commercial, institutional and residential buildings which speak to the village’s historic development throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It has direct historical, visual and functional relationship to adjacent Trinity United Church, constructed in 1876 as the Omemee Methodist Church, as the former parsonage for the church, as well as to Coronation Hall across the road through the connection of both structures to the Eatons.

Further information respecting the designation is available at the City’s Economic Development Department. Interested parties may object to the designating by-law to the Ontario Land Tribunal. Any objection to this designation must be filed within 30 days of February 3, 2025 and include the reasons for objection to the designating by-law and the fee charged by the Tribunal. Objections should be directed to: Cathie Richie, Clerk, City of Kawartha Lakes, P.O. Box 9000, 26 Francis Street, Lindsay, ON K9V 5R8.

The by-law will come into effect on the day following the last day of the notice period.

For more information regarding the property, please refer to its Heritage Evaluation Report.

Any inquiries may be directed to:

Economic Development Officer- Heritage Planning
City of Kawartha Lakes,
180 Kent Street West, Lindsay, ON  K9V 2Y6
(705) 324-9411 ext.1366
eturner@kawarthalakes.ca