Heritage Awards

2022 Awards

217 Second St. W.

HPC chair Debbie Ledoux presented the plaque to Doug Carpenter and wife Marcia, former owners of Strathcona Apartments.

Built by W.H. Freel in 1937. He resided in Ottawa but had been the manager of a department store in Cornwall. When he was working here, he realized that Cornwall needed rental apartments for families that needed housing, who worked here but not necessarily were staying indefinitely. He wanted to rent a suitable place for his wife and family.

W.C. Beattie an architect from Ottawa, was asked to design the building. He had designed the Cornwallis Hotel and the addition to the Cornwall Public School as well as several private residences.

It was designed in a Colonial Style and was three stories, with bachelor apartments on the ground floor with one bedroom and two, two-bedroom apartments on each of the floors.

At the time it was built and decorated the apartments boasted a spacious design layout, with a large living room and dining room. The floors were hardwood and connecting the rooms were wide doorways with arches Each of the bedrooms were large enough to fit two twin beds easily. The kitchen was state of the art with high end electric appliances and double sinks with lots of prep space and cupboards.

The bathrooms were equipped with a built-in porcelain tub with shower and sink with a venetian mirror that opened to reveal a medicine cabinet. Each apartment had its own water heater and hot water radiator heating. There was chute on each floor that took garbage to the basement. When the Strathcona Apartments were officially open for tenancy a representative of Mr, Freel was installed in one of the apartments to make sure tenants were taken care of, for any maintenance issues.

The Strathcona Apartments have stood the test of time and still has the charm and heritage features, when it was built in 1937. The building has been preserved and maintained through the years by previous owners.

HPC has awarded Doug Carpenter, who owned the property from 1989-2006, with the 2022 Heritage Award. He took care of the building and its’ tenants, making sure tenants needs were met, and had affordable rents. He painstakingly re-finished the beautiful hardwood floors and was often seen outside the building making sure the gardens were maintained. He was proud of the stately building and what it represented to the history of our community.

2021 Awards

321 Amelia St. - Gerald & Shirley Wood

The Beth-El Synagogue has been transformed by owners Gerald and Shirley Wood. The Synagogue opened in 1926 and was used by Cornwall’s Jewish community until 2006. The property had been vacant for three years when the Woods acquired it. Shirley an interior designer saw the potential right away. The building was gutted, and the renovations took 2 ½ years to finish.

The church space is now an open concept, formal living room and dining room with high ceilings. The bedrooms and kitchen occupy the back of the home, with a total of 3000 square ft of living space.

110 Sydney St. - Dr. Paul Mikhail

The second award went to Dr. Paul Mikhail, a local dentist, who purchased his new office space in 2020. The circa 1880 red brick home had been used as a manse for Knox Presbyterian (later United) Church from 1905 to 1966. In the following years, it was a home and then office space.

The heritage home now co-exists with modern office space but in the interior has kept the general layout and staircases remained the same as well as the second and third floors.

6 Second St. East - Pommier Jewellers

That particular corner of Pitt and Second Street has seen a lot of different structures over time. From a general store, banks and grocers, and restaurants, until 2010, when Truffles Burger Bar burnt and the vacant space became the Pommier Courtyard.

Pommier Jewellers started in 1877 in Ottawa and relocated to Cornwall in 1937. In 1986 the family-owned business moved its present location in the heart of downtown. The property went through extensive renovations in 2013, conscious of maintaining its heritage character. The expansion redefined the shopping space.

The beautiful Pommier Square, with its outdoor chiming clock, has become a hub for many community gatherings, most recently providing musical entertainment for the art walks.

121-125 Adolphus St. - Bruce Russell

121 Adolphus Street perspective, angle wire.jpg

The crown patent for the land was issued in the early 1800s to Simon Fraser. Material from St. John’s Presbyterian Church was used in the building back in 1860. The most intriguing portion of the building is undoubtedly the tower that rises from the central entrance hall and ascends to a bell-cast roof and spire. The property is now divided into three apartments, and care has been taken to preserve and maintain the original features. The house and property are well-maintained, and the interior had kept its historical character.

2020 Awards

2019 Winners

Former Cline House 208 Second St. East

Heritage Award was presented to Melanie Baker-Brown for the beautiful design and refurbishment of the Cline House Gallery on Second St The Cline House is a designated heritage property built in the late 1850s for Samuel Cline, a prominent merchant, and businessman. It remained in the Cline family until 1955 when the Cornwall Public Library Board purchased the building and land and served as a library until the new library moved to its’ present location. The building has undergone changes and alterations but the solidly built red brick façade and some interior architectural features of the era remain.

Valley Garden Retirement 1320 Lisieux St.

Heritage Award presented to the Normand Peladeau Family and Alain Lanthier.

The Peladeau Family purchased the former St. Lisieux School repurposing the building and renovated the interior to turn it into a premier retirement facility for the seniors in our community, calling it Valley Garden Cornwall. Repurposing heritage buildings, for example, Churches and schools that have closed for various reasons are much more economical and environmentally sustainable and the buildings can be used for generations to come.

Riverfront Retirement Home 1810 Montreal Rd.

Normand Peladeau and Alain Lanthier also purchased the former East Front School overlooking the St Lawrence River. They are renovating and refurbishing the interior, naming it the Riverfront Retirement Centre. The “The Little Red School House” as it was known, was built in 1934 and housed public school children in the eastern portions of the city. It was added onto in the 1980s and ’90s. Mr. Peladeau and Mr. Lanthier have preserved the façade of the 1934 building, reconfigured the windows, but it has remained a part of the new development.

2018 Winners

Sean Adams Lawyers Office 305 Second St. E.

Sean Adams and his father before him have always maintained the building repointing the brickwork and replacing crumbling window surrounds, seeking out original materials.

He has done some Interior renovation and maintenance, refinishing the original floors, woodwork and adding heritage fixtures and hardware reminiscent of the era the residence was built.

He keeps the gardens and grounds of the property immaculate and well groomed. The house was built in1874 in the Italianate style by WilliamMattice,a prominent figure in Cornwall’s history.

Bernadette and Richard McRae 434 Sydney St.

The frame house was built in1886 by Duncan Munroe who constructed a number of homes on the west side of Sydney Stand south of Fifth St. He rented them to employees. They were featured in the Cornwall Old Boys Reunion of 1906 as the “Munroe Cottages.” After Duncan Munroe’s death, the people living in the houses could buy them for $9000.

2017 Winners

Chesley'Inn 40 First St. W. Robert Prowse

Built in 1814 and heritage designated in 1987, Chesley’s Inn, Cornwall’s first Inn has been brought back to life as its original purpose thanks to Mr. Robert Prowse who has worked relentlessly to rehabilitate it into a Bed and Breakfast. Cornwall’s first Inn was owned by the Chesley family. The family was prominent in Cornwall during the nineteenth century, producing shopkeepers, innkeepers, and even a former mayor of Cornwall. The structure is a wonderful example of Georgian architecture.

Boys & Girls Club Cornwall 506 First St. E.

The second award was presented to the board of the Boys and Girls Club who bought and refurbished the historic Church of the Good Shepherd, an Anglican parish, in 2008. The church is believed to be “Gothic Revival” with other styles apparent. It has an attached wooden parish hall, which was the original Church built by Rev. Cannon J.J. Mountain in 1886. The Church of the Good Shepherd had its’ last service on July 4, 2004 after 118 years. The church was the spiritual foundation for generations of families.

Central Public School - 200 Amelia St.

In 2005 the old school was demolished but the new school was built on the same historical site in the centre of the town and designed by Kingston’s Colbourne and Kembel. Rhonda Horne-McQuay was the principal architect on the project and charged with the task of designing a new school that incorporated the historical façade. The school is heritage designated for the surviving structural elements from the 1931 addition to the front façade of the building which complements aspects of the 1883 design. The portion that was saved is shown above. It is now part of the internal entrance and exit to the school library, also shown above.

229 Sydney St. - James and Timo Edney-Lepage

In 1896, a Pitt St businessman named Gordon Phillips purchased property on the adjacent street in Cornwall for the sum of $700. Mr. Phillips ad his beautiful home at 229 Sydney St constructed that same year by Ross Construction Company. Mr Phillips owned a business that dealt with home furnishings, with newspaper adds boasting that he “sold the best lines of stoves and is known for varieties of kitchen and cooking utensils” He also was a tinsmith and did plumbing work on the side., having installed many furnaces in churches, public buildings and private homes in Cornwall.

Today the “Phillips House” is one of Sydney Streets most glamorous homes, possessing nearly all of its’ original features. The house has since been painted an eye-catching shade of blue, giving it one more reason to stand out on the street.