SAVE AVON CREST! – wants to save Stratford’s first public hospital, Avon Crest (1891), located at 86 & 90 John Street South.
City council recently ignored a Heritage Stratford proposal to designate the building. They also disregarded their own staff, who recommended that Council:
1-Consider the request from Heritage Stratford, an appointed committee whose mandate it is to advise city council on heritage matters, to designate Avon Crest;
2-Acknowledge that Heritage Stratford adequately demonstrated the heritage attributes of the site;
3-Issue an intent to designate Avon Crest under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.
Instead, Council voted to take NO action, siding with the building’s owner, Huron Perth Health Alliance (HPHA), who intend to demolish the building, as early as Spring 2023. HPHA has no plans for the site.
Avon Crest belongs to the people of Stratford
Avon Crest is a repository of personal memory and collective social meaning.
Avon Crest is among Stratford’s most important architectural landmarks. Its architect, George F. Durand (1850-1889), also designed: the old Pumphouse (1883, now Gallery Stratford); the Perth County Court House (1886); the Perth County Jail (1886).
Avon Crest commemorates the contributions of health professionals over the past 130 years.
Avon Crest is one of a handful of surviving 19th-century hospital buildings. It is a significant historic landmark, locally, provincially and nationally.
Demolishing a building that might instead be re-purposed and re-developed is irresponsible, both economically and environmentally.
SAVE AVON CREST! wants responsible and creative renovation. Stratford already has exciting local examples of what can been done:
–The Bradshaw Lofts (1903), 245 Downie Street (Heritage Stratford, James Anderson Award, 2019)
–Edison’s (1845), 48 Ontario Street
–Perth County Inn (1868), 4 Huron Street (Heritage Stratford, James Anderson Award 2022)
–Gallery Stratford (formerly the old Pumphouse, 1883), 54 Romeo Street
In London, the old Victoria Hospital (1875) is being transformed, at this very moment, into much needed housing, including 30-50% affordable units.
SAVE AVON CREST! wants Stratford and district residents to take action against this threat to our heritage and environment.
For further information and images of Avon Crest, and to find out how you can help, go to the following:
SAVE AVON CREST! website at: https://saveavoncrest.ca/
Contact SAVE AVON CREST! at saveavoncrest@gmail.com