As part of a multi-disciplinary team, Ecoplans' heritage consultants and landscape architects were retained by the City of Kitchener to participate in a study to determine if the Civic Centre Neighbourhood met the City's Municipal Plan criteria for Designation as a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) under the Ontario Heritage Act, Part V.  As part of the study, the team undertook a detailed architectural, historical, and planning analysis of the proposed district.  Once an appropriate boundary was determined, a document outlining guidelines and strategies was created which outlined measures which both the Municipality and residents could take in order to conserve, protect and enhance the district.

With ever increasing redevelopment pressures, Heritage Conservation District designation was important to the City and it's residents to ensure that alterations and redevelopment were completed in a sensitive manner and that any future infill was fully integrated into the fabric of this heritage community; ensuring that heritage buildings and landscapes within the districts were maintained and enhanced also provided the impetus for the creation of the HCD.