Reasons for Designation
ONTARIO REGULATION 9/06 made under the ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT on
December 7, 2005 provides CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING CULTURAL
HERITAGE VALUE OR INTEREST:
Criteria
1. (2) A property may be designated under section 29 of the Act if it meets
one or more of the following criteria for determining whether it is of cultural
heritage value or interest:
2. The property has historical value or associative value
because it,
i.
has direct associations with a theme, event, belief,
person, activity, organization or institution that is
significant to a community,
3. The property has contextual value because it,
i.
is important in defining, maintaining or supporting
the character of an area,
ii.
is physically, functionally, visually or historically
linked to its surroundings, or
iii.
is a landmark.
ONTARIO REGULATION 10/06 made under the ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT on
December 7, 2005 provides CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING CULTURAL
HERITAGE VALUE OR INTEREST OF PROVINCIAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Criteria
1. 1. (2) A property may be designated under section 34.5 of the Act if it
meets one or more of the following criteria for determining whether it is of
cultural heritage value or interest of provincial significance:
2. The property yields, or has the potential to yield, information
that contributes to an understanding of Ontario’s history.
3. The property demonstrates an uncommon, rare or unique
aspect of Ontario’s cultural heritage.
4. The property is of aesthetic, visual or contextual importance
to the province.
6. The property has a strong or special association with the
entire province or with a community that is found in more than one
part of the province. The association exists for historic, social,
or cultural reasons or because of traditional use.
It is recommended here that, as per:
a) Ontario Regulations 9/06 and 10/06 made under the Ontario
Heritage Act;
b) The area identified for preservation and restoration in the federal
government’s 1964-5 Battlefield Park National Shrine Plan;
c) The information provided to Niagara Falls City Council by Canadian
military heritage expert and author Donald E. Graves in his April 20,
2012 letter and his January 22, 2013 presentation that the area in
which “the most intense fighting” took place being that bounded by
Barker, Drummond, Lundy’s Lane and Main; and
d) The direction in Part 5 Appendix VI – Future Cultural Heritage
Study Areas in the City of Niagara Falls’ Official Plan, whereby
“Lundy’s Lane Battlefield (municipally owned sites plus related
publicly owned properties)”; that
1) All the properties which meet the definitions in items b), c) and d) above
should be designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act.
2) To provide effective protection for their cultural heritage values in the
interim, the three largest of the properties which meet the definitions in
items b), c) and d) above be individually designated IMMEDIATELY under
sections 29 and/or 34.5 of Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.
These three properties all hold an extremely strong historical association with an
internationally well-known international event that was also a formative aspect of
the birth of the Canadian identity, and was the climactic battle in a two-year War
that had affected a substantial population and geographic area.
3) The property municipally known as 6015 Barker Street in particular
should be designated IMMEDIATELY in its entirety under both sections 29
and 34.5 of Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act because it holds a strong
historical association with an internationally well-known international event
that was also a formative aspect of the birth of the Canadian identity; was
the “killing ground” in the climactic battle in a two-year War which had
affected a substantial population and geographic area; yields, or has the
potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of
Ontario’s history; is a unique aspect of Ontario’s cultural heritage; and is
of aesthetic, visual or contextual importance to the province.
It is suggested that the Historical and Context reasons may be as outlined on the
two pages below:
HISTORICAL
The property municipally known as 6015 Barker Street, Niagara Falls has a
strong direct historical association with the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, an
internationally well-known event involving British, U.S., and Native foes and
Canadian militia units.
The property municipally known as 6015 Barker Street was central to the U.S.
position at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane. The importance of this particular property
is addressed at page 120 of Donald E. Graves’ book, Where Right and Glory
Lead! The Battle of Lundy’s Lane 1814:
Drummond saw at a glance that the ground would make a good
defensive position. The gentle southern slope of the hill would
allow his artillery to transform the cleared fields in front into what a
later generation of soldiers would call a “killing ground.”
The property municipally known as 6015 Barker Street is that central to that
“killing ground” and essential to our understanding of the military tactics on both
sides which allowed the British forces, their Native allies, and Canadian militia
units to successfully defend their position in Phase I of the Battle, and which
later, in Phase II, allowed the U.S. forces to seize the British guns on the high
ground, turning the tide that fateful evening.
This event was also a formative aspect of a historical activity or trend: The birth
of the Canadian identity. This is evidenced in our former unofficial national
anthem, Alexander Muir’s “The Maple Leaf Forever,” composed in 1867 in
celebration of Confederation, in which Muir makes specific reference to this site.
The loyalties of the residents of Upper Canada, now the Province of Ontario, had
been challenged and shaped by the War of 1812. Were it not for the American
forces’ ultimate inability to dislodge Drummond from his position at Lundy’s Lane,
Upper Canada may have fallen to the invaders.
The Province of Ontario’s motto, Ut incepit Fidelis sic permanet, Latin for Loyal
she began, loyal she remains, references the Loyalist refugees whom had
originally settled this province following the American Revolution and whom
formed the backbone of the civilian resistance to the 1812-1814 invasion.
Furthermore, the two-year War of 1812, in which this event was the climactic
battle, affected a substantial population and geographic area in the Canadian
colonies and the young republic known as the United States of America.
CONTEXTUAL
The property municipally known as 6015 Barker Street is important in defining,
maintaining and supporting the character of an area, and is physically,
functionally, visually and historically linked to its surroundings.
The property municipally known as 6015 Barker Street, comprising the central
“killing ground” and being essential to our understanding of the military tactics
employed at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, provides vitally important context for
understanding this well-known event.
This property is key to providing views and buffer zones for the other municipally
owned sites within the area of the most intense fighting. It is essential to our
ability to understand what “Drummond saw at a glance” and why he chose the
South-East side of the crest of the hill as his defensive position.
This property is key to providing the views required to convey a sense of historic
place, particularly from within the adjacent municipally owned sites to its West.
This property has a vitally important relationship with these adjacent municipally
owned sites.