Broom Factory

The Broom Factory has hosted a variety of artists across music, comedy, and spoken word, including:

• Charlie Kaufman, a screenwriter and director known for writing Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind^[6]
• Kevin McDonald and Bruce McCulloch from The Kids in the Hall ^[4]
• Gord Sinclair, the bassist for the Canadian band The Hip (The Tragically Hip)^[4]
• Protest the Hero, a Canadian progressive metal band ^[4]
• Propagandhi a Canadian punk band ^[7]
• Shayne Koyczan, a spoken word poet and writer ^[4]
• Virginia to Vegas, a Canadian singer-songwriter ^[4]
• Ria Mae, a Canadian singer-songwriter ^[4]
• Donovan Woods, a Canadian singer-songwriter
• Whitehorse, a Canadian folk-rock duo ^[8]
• Dizzy, an indie pop band ^[4]
• Snotty Nose Rez Kids, an Indigenous Canadian hip-hop duo ^[9]

The building, a red-brick industrial warehouse, was constructed in 1894 by the Imperial Oil Company. William Bailey, who had been manufacturing brooms since the late 1850s,^[10] relocated his company, "W.B. Broom Co." from 299 Queen Street to the new site some time between 1896 and 1903.^[1][5] Together with his son, Samuel R. Bailey, and associates William J. Lee and John M. Hughes, he established the new factory, rebranding to "the Bailey Broom Company".

A 1956 account reports that a Bailey factory burned to the ground on July 22, 1903. There has been speculation that this may have been the 299 location, fueling the move, though this has not been proven.^[10]

In approximately 1905, William Bailey engaged Newlands and Son, esteemed architects based in Kingston, to design an office addition at the front of the building.^[10][5] A concrete warehouse running north–south was also constructed between 1904 and 1911.^[10]

Reports vary on the number of employees working in the factory and numbers of their "universal cleaner brooms" produced, but numbers are somewhere between 40 and 55 employees, producing an average of 140 to 157 dozen brooms a day.^[10][5]

After the business closed in 1923, the property was sold to a subsidiary of the Imperial Oil Company, either British-American Oil Co. or the Queen City Oil Company, who resold to Quintal & England roofing in 1959.^[10] The firm stopped operation in 1994,^[10] at which point Rosen Fuels used the building for storage and abandoned it at some point in the next decade.^[1]

On April 15, 2014, the City of Kingston bought the building in a lot sale including 305 to 323 Rideau st., with the condition that the factory was demolished by August 15 of the same year.^[5][11] The city had intended to improve the look of the area and make way for the since-cancelled “Wellington Street Extension,” which would have had an arterial road cut through Douglas Fluhrer Park.^[1]

On June 17, 2014, the neighbors who owned a business across the road, Michael and John Sinclair, heard of the demolition plan and spread word. Hundreds of letters were sent to the city opposing the demolition,^[5] and a protest was held outside of City Hall.

Community heritage experts, including Laura Murray of the Swamp Ward and Inner Harbour History Project, advocated against the demolition, citing the lack of attention and restoration efforts to industrial heritage buildings or heritage buildings north of Princess Street. The association with Newlands and Son was also drawn on to emphasize importance of the history of the building.^[1]

On June 30, 2014, Kingston City Council voted to stop demolition,^[5] and sold it to Toronto-based architecture firm RAW Design in 2016.^[5][11] According to Jon Jeremonis, a representative and architect of the firm,^[5] they received many calls and emails expressing both gratitude and interest in the restoration process during construction.^[11]

From purchase, RAW Design had intended for the building to become the firm's Eastern Ontario branch office, as well as a café and community hub.^[5] A proposal for nine residential townhouses beside the building^[10] was later halted due to the extensive soil remediation that would have been required.^[5]

The building was extensively restored, and portions restabilized. The original building and the Newlands & Sons addition were left largely unaltered, while the structurally unstable concrete and warehouse additions were demolished. The former warehouse footprint was repurposed as a bike parking and waste storage area.^[10]

Careful restoration was carried out on the original brickwork, wood detailing, and windows, using historically appropriate techniques for the masonry, while modern materials were incorporated into the new windows. Key elevations were reconstructed or repaired to reflect the historic design while supporting contemporary use.^[10]

Sustainability upgrades, such as improved insulation and energy-efficient systems, were also incorporated.^[10] By 2021, the offices were in use. The space was featured in the January/February 2023 Kingston Life spotlight.^[10]