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Historical label sought for former rail station

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The Brantford Heritage Committee wants the city to give the railway station on Market Street South a historical designation.

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A report supporting the designation says the former TH and B Railway Station is associated with Brantford’s early industrial history and expansion, as well as an era where railways promised to expand connectivity and acted as key catalysts to municipal, provincial and national economies.

The station was built at a time when Brantford’s population was expanding and the city looked to become a major manufacturing centre in Ontario.

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A number of large industries built plants near the line, including Waterous Engine Works, Cockshutt Plow, Goold, Shapley and Muir, and Slingsby’s. This connection allowed for products manufactured in the city to be exported to the United States and other countries around the world.

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The report says the station is a unique example of station design in Ontario, particularly the original 1896 portion. The 1906 addition generally replicated the details of the original building. The station features a mix of romanesque and Queen Anne revival elements on the walls and roof.

About 25 former TH and B stations survive in some form. The Brantford building is one of the oldest. It is also the oldest of the surviving stations to still sit on the original station property.

The station was sold in 1969 and converted into a steakhouse called the Iron Horse Restaurant. The restaurant closed permanently in 2007. The building is now vacant.

The intended designation would only include the 1896 structure and the 1906 addition to the railway station and not later modifications, said Nathan Etherington, chair of the heritage committee. The designation would be a proactive step to minimize any further damage to the exterior of building, including some flaking of the limestone at the base of the structure and some mortar work.

The designation will be discussed by councillors later this month.

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