The Municipality of Russell Township is experiencing much new growth as a bedroom community just 45 minutes east of Ottawa. In order to manage this growth, the Municipality has been exploring a range of initiatives, to understand its history and better protect potential built and natural heritage assets.
To this end, the Township has been working with TRACE architectures over a number of years to evaluate properties for potential designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.
This long-term relationship and past working experience provided the team with an enhanced understanding of the place, an important consideration for the next phase of preparing HCD Plan and Guidelines, that promote the protection of what makes Russell, Russell, while managing change and accommodating growth.
Individual Properties
TRACE’s initial work included reviewing individual properties in both the Village of Russell and the Village of Embrun for Part IV designation candidacy. TRACE also undertook a detailed feasibility study of repair or replacement materials for the proposed accessibility retrofit for the Keith Boyd Museum.
Heritage Conservation District Study
Upon finding a high density of heritage resources in the historic core of the Village of Russell, TRACE undertook a detailed Heritage Conservation District (HCD) Study, including three rounds of community consultation. The “village ambiance” that many wished to protect, comes from a collection of older buildings constructed of unique regional materials, combined with an impressive tree canopy and community spirit.
Heritage Conservation District Plan and Guidelines
The second phase of the HCDP & G consisted of preparing an overall plan to protect the heritage character of the village, including detailed guidelines to assist the Municipality and property owners, manage change within the proposed district.
