Going north on King, take a right turn on to William Street for a brief detour to Regina Street that will take you by four notable buildings.

Waterloo City Centre has been Waterloo's city hall since 1988. Waterloo used to have an impressive town hall at the north-west corner of Albert and Erb, but it was torn down in 1969. The City of Waterloo had moved into Waterloo Square (now Waterloo Town Square) in 1961, and then went to the Marsland Centre in 1971 before moving here.

In 1996, the City, which had been leasing the building from CN for $1 million a year, agreed to purchase it for $7.2 million (to be paid over a 15-year period).

In addition to Council chambers, the mayor's office and other offices for various City, the building is also home to actuarial consulting firm Wright Mogg & Associates, and the Cafe Bon Choix restaurant.

Across the street from the City Centre is a large office building for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (99 Regina Street South). It was built in 1994 and is primarily used by the community health and social services departments.

Walk up the west side of Regina Street, and just past the award-winning Uptown Parkade parking garage, you come to the Waterloo Community Arts Centre, better known as the Old Button Factory (pictured, at far right; the Parkade is on the left, with sculpture at the City Centre in the foreground). It was built in 1886 to house the expanding Roschman Button Factory. The factory continued to operate until 1945, and the building was then used by various companies until becoming the arts centre in 1993. The building is a designated heritage landmark.

Right across Regina Street is another heritage landmark -- Waterloo's 1910 train station, the site of Paul Puncher's men's clothing store since May 1997. The station was the town's link to the Grand Trunk Railway, which became part of the CN Railway system in 1917. The building was restored by the City in 1994 and almost became a seafood restaurant in 1996 before Paul Puncher agreed to relocate his downtown Kitchener store here.

The walkway between the Uptown Parkade and the Old Button Factory takes us to the next stop on the tour.

Written by Gary Will
gary@garywill.com

Text and photographs copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 by Gary Will. All rights reserved.