Interventions to Protect

McGibbon Hotel

BRANCH:
Not part of an ACO Branch
ADDRESS:
79 Main Street
Georgetown ON
L7G 3G2
UPDATED:
August 10, 2021

Built by Robert Jones for Thomas Clark, 1860s. Third storey added after a fire in the 1880s. Leased to John and Sam McGibbon, 1895. ACO Halton Hills opposes a project that would top the hotel with 125 unit “Residences of the Hotel McGibbon” that would add seven storeys to the hotel’s present three.

Project will require demolition of four listed buildings and replacement of the McGibbon with a“reimagined replica” based on an archival picture of a different building. Remaining three buildings will be completely modern with window walls. Number of storeys proposed has increased so they are above not behind the new storefronts. The Branch favours instead: “Exploring intensification options that will not require destruction of four listed 19th century buildings and construction, above a re-creation of the McGibbon, in new materials, an oversized and unsympathetic, glass condo.”

July 22, 2016 ACO Halton Hills Chair Pat Farley reported: “McGibbon condo development is stalled by the developer’s failure to meet the requirements of the OMB and withdrawal of financial backing. The four buildings involved have yet to be de-listed from the heritage register.” In response to suggestion by ACO Halton Hills, the McGibbon controversy triggered development of a Secondary Plan with a Heritage Conservation District for Downtown Georgetown that would focus on preserving the historic streetscape and controlling height and appearance of future development.

2017: project reviewed by Ontario Municipal Board.

December 2018: Project cancelled for “unspecified financial reasons.”

September 2020: ACO concerns regarding the project remain following its transfer from the Silver Creek Group in Georgetown to Amico Properties, which is “seeking to amend the [2017 OMB] approval [by increasing the number of residential units] while respecting many of the previous elements that had been included.” Future of the McGibbon remains to be determined.

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