The Town of Innisfil is planning to move ahead with the designation of two buildings within the historic village of Churchill.
The first is the Lucas Store, 6272 Yonge St. Originally built in 1869, the store was refaced with red and buff brick in the 1880s, creating the distinctive facade at the northwest corner of Yonge and Line 4 of Innisfil.
Also being designated is the Halfway House – the former stagecoach stop at 6273 Yonge, just across the road from the Lucas Store.
The one-and-a-half storey frame building also dates from the 1860s and is one of only a handful of halfway houses remaining from the days of stage travel.
Both buildings have been on the Heritage Registry for a number of years, but it’s only recently that Innisfil’s Heritage Committee has recommended designation under Ontario’s Heritage Act – and only after working with the property owner of the Lucas Store.
Innisfil is also planning to repair an omission, by adding the old Waterloo Inn at 6276 Yonge St. to the Heritage Registry. Listing on the registry is not designation, but does provide some protection from sudden demolition for listed buildings.
The Inn, known as Wycliff Hall and more recently as the ‘Canning Apartments,’ was built in the 1860s abutting the Lucas store, on the west side of Yonge. It was also refaced with red and buff bricks in the 1880s, and is often mistaken as part of the Lucas store.
The addition of the Waterloo Inn to the Registry will be considered in the March 11 meeting of Innisfil Council.