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“It’s considered to good practice to clearly differentiate what is new and what is historic. There have been periods in the past where that wasn’t the case, but those are guidelines that have been adopted by virtually every level of government who deal with this kind of project. It’s a difficult one, I think, for people to understand, but it is really important for future generations to be able to clearly see what the historic building is and what the addition was.”

The guidelines often cited are Parks Canada’s Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places, which call for additions to heritage buildings to be compatible but distinguishable.

“We feel the addition should differentiate itself as a contemporary building, a modern building with a historic building adjacent to it so there’s no confusion about which is the original building and what’s the new addition,” Leinster said, adding that the urban design review panel sees nods to the original hotel in the design of the addition.

“We’ve also talked about the rhythm of the punched window expression in the château building reflected in the cadence of these mullions in the addition. You can see that relationship between the two,” he said.

City council’s planning committee will vote on the hotel’s site-plan application on June 13. The committee must decide if the latest design for the hotel addition responds to a council direction to make the expansion compatible with the heritage hotel.