The property, located just outside the Mill Street Heritage Conservation District, contains the former Pause Awhile Tearoom, an historic frame building clad in clapboard, which is thought to have been constructed between 1854 and 1857. The building served as Waterdown’s first post office from 1860 until the early1900s and most recently had been a tearoom for 36 years before being sold by former owner Margaret Robertson earlier this year.

The new owner told the Review he plans to build a commercial plaza with apartments on its upper storey on the property. The new building will feature “an historical exterior elevation” in keeping with the Victorian architecture of adjacent buildings. The developer acknowledged there is sufficient room on the site to allow for the new building without significantly altering the former tearoom.

David Cuming, Hamilton’s acting manager of community planning and design, said the Pause Awhile building is covered by an Ontario Heritage Trust (OHT) easement agreement specifying conservation of its exterior historical, architectural, aesthetic and scenic elements. The easement, a restrictive covenant that is registered on the property’s title, means that the OHT must give approval for any changes to heritage elements of the building covered by the agreement.

The easement does not apply to additions made to the rear and side of the building, which could be subject to demolition.

Next Tuesday’s meeting will be attended by representatives of the OHT as well as members of the Municipal Heritage Committee (MHC), formerly known as the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC).

The developer said he intends to make the new building “something special for Waterdown.”