Intention to Designate 104 King St W, Dundas (former Dundas Post Office)

Description of Property

The 0.113-hectare property municipally addressed as 104 King Street West, Dundas, formerly known as the Dundas Post Office, is comprised of a two-and-one-half-storey brick and stone structure with a six-storey clock tower, constructed between 1911 and 1912. The property is located on the south side of King Street West, between McMurray Street and Foundry Street, in Downtown Dundas in the City of Hamilton.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

The property at 104 King Street West, Dundas, has design and physical value as a representative example of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture with Classical Revival influences, as demonstrated by its Mansard roof with octagonal shingles, square clock tower with pyramidal roof and copper finial, cut stone quoins, belt courses, two-storey portico, and cut-stone pilasters with Tuscan capitals. The property is also a rare example of an early post office building with a central clock tower, being one of only two surviving examples in Ontario. The property displays a high degree of craftsmanship in the form of its octagonal roof shingles, copper flashings, fascia, dormers, eaves troughs, and downspouts, and the English-made clock dials and clock and bell mechanism.

The historical value of the property lies in its association with early-twentieth century federal government infrastructure initiatives, including the development of a national mail delivery system, now Canada Post, and the construction of post offices, customs houses, court houses, and other public buildings in communities across Canada. The property is also associated with the Chief Architects Branch of the Department of Public Works, and with David Ewart (1841-1921), who served as Chief Dominion Architect at the Department of Public Works between 1896 and 1914. In his role as Chief Dominion Architect, Ewart was responsible for overseeing the design and construction of over 340 public buildings constructed during his tenure, and personally designed a number of prominent Canadian landmarks, including the Connaught Building, the Royal Mint, and the Victoria Memorial Museum (now the Canadian Museum of Nature). Additionally, the property is also associated with Alfred Wavell Peene (1869-1940), a prominent Hamilton architect who, in 1912, was hired to supervise supplementary work to the building. Peene’s most well-known works include the Royal Connaught Hotel and the former Hamilton Public Library, now the Ontario Court of Justice.

Contextually, the property is important in defining the character of the area. The setting of the property helps define the historic and distinctive character of King Street West in Downtown Dundas, standing out from the surrounding two and two-and-one-half storey mixed use early to late twentieth century streetscape. The property is physically, visually, and historically linked to its surroundings as part of the surviving mid-nineteenth to early-twentieth century commercial King Street West streetscape. The surrounding commercial and residential area at one time relied on the services and employment opportunities provided within the building. Due to its prominent location on King Street West, moderate set-back, and distinctive clock tower, the property is considered to be a local landmark.

• All elevations and the roofline of the two-and-one-half storey brick and stone building, including its:
  • U-shaped footprint;
  • Mansard roof with its:
    • Octagonal shingles;
    • Copper detailing, including the fascia, eavestroughs, downspouts; and,
    • Copper-clad segmentally arched dormer windows;
  • Buff brick façades with rusticated cut-stone detailing including corner quoining and belt courses;
  • Arched window and door openings with carved stone keystones, and rusticated cut-stone voussoirs, surrounds, quoining and sills;
  • Flat-headed window openings with rusticated cut-stone lintels, surrounds, quoining and sills;
  • Three-storey frontispiece with its flat roof with stone balustrade;
  • Central portico with its:
    • Arched entryway with carved stone keystone, cut-stone voussoir and surround with quoining;
    • Flanking cut-stone pilasters with Tuscan capitals; and,
    • Stone front entrance steps with flanking stone knee-walls and cap stones;
  • Six-storey clock tower with its:
    • Pyramidal roof with octagonal shingles and copper fascia and finial;
    • Cut-stone clock dial surround;
    • Clock face, bell, and all related mechanisms on the interior and exterior;
    • Stone inscribed with “POST OFFICE” between the fourth and fifth storeys;
  • Broken-course rusticated cut-stone foundation with its smooth stone plinth.

The contemporary side and rear additions, accessible ramp on the northeast corner and replacement windows and doors throughout the building are not considered to have heritage value or interest.

Key attributes that embody the contextual value of the property as a defining feature of the historical character of King Street West, being physically, visually, and historically linked to its surroundings, and its status as a local landmark include its:

• Location fronting onto King Street West; and,
• Moderate setbacks from the public right-of-ways on King Street West, McMurray Street and Foundry Street.