Toronto Massey Tower Condos | 206.95m | 60s | MOD Developments | Hariri Pontarini

freshcutgrass said:
Well...I think selling them was the last thing the city should have done. That's right...back in the 80's, the city owned 197, 197R, 201 Yonge, the old Colonial Tavern (now empty lot) & 170 Victoria St (sold to Parasuco Jeans Inc in 1999) as well as 205 Yonge (sold in the early 2000's). The great ironic kick in the ass is that 205 Yonge was the home of the city's Historical Board (which the city extensively renovated in 1992).
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And it was a beautiful reno. My husband and I were doing regular volunteer work for the THB (as it was known at that time) and I remember getting shown around the place not long after they moved in. It was beautiful. They moved out only a few years later (after graduate school and an eventual move had eaten up our time for volunteer work) and I never really understood why, although I think it probably had something to do with amalgamation, as Heritage Toronto ceased operating the City's heritage properties and the City took over. Of course, around that time there was the huge misstep of moving the Marine Museum out of the Stanley Barracks on the CNE grounds to a spanking new facility on Queen's Quay--which lasted only a few years. Now it's closed, the Stanley Barracks is closed, and all the artifacts are in storage.
 
Long ago I fantasized that these two buildings would form the outer portions of an atrium which would be, effectively, the lobby of a very tall, sleek, slender condo backed far from Yonge (actually the condo tower would be closer to Victoria than Yonge), and you know, this sort of thing could happen. I believe this idea is in good taste and that we have the right architects in Toronto to do the idea some justice. It's just a matter of time.

All you worriers out there, just chill, these two beauties aren't going anywhere. They're here to stay.
 
TonyV said:
All you worriers out there, just chill, these two beauties aren't going anywhere. They're here to stay.
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I love your enthusiasm TonyV, but consider for a moment...

1. These buildings have stood derelict for some thirty years+ now (save for a small period of use for one of them). What's to suggest any change is imminent?

2. One of them is known to be in an advancing state of deterioration. This situation will only get worse, leading perhaps to:

3. Flames and/or wreckage...the recent track record for abandoned heritage buildings in the downtown core (The Edison Hotel building at Yonge and Gould or Walnut Hall)... and all the more likely given:

4. ...the wider context of a lack of appetite for or interest in heritage preservation when it comes to the 'big H' sites like First Parliament, let alone the arguably less 'case-worthy' heritage ones like 199/205 Yonge.


I'm just not feeling the enthusiasm, unfortunately.... though I sincerely hope to be wrong.
 
These properties have heritage easement agreements with both the province and City that stipulates the maintenance of these buildings.

They must enforce those property standards.
 
They're beautiful buildings. Hasn't the loss of the Empress taught us anything?
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
They're beautiful buildings. Hasn't the loss of the Empress taught us anything?
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... or the lessons of successful heritage integration! Look at the the National Ballet of Canada school on Jarvis and how its profile has been raised through its enlightened expansion on Jarvis, or the Royal Conservatory and so on.
 
One question to bring up might be the quality of construction in the buildings.

It might be likely that these two buildings are built a bit more sturdily than say, the Empress Hotel.

We should compare these buildings to abandoned buildings in Detroit if we want to see how long they'll last without maintenance.
 
If the buildings are in good condition (205 is supposedly okay, no one has been inside 199 recently) than there is nothing legally anyone can do as it's up to the owners to do as they wish, as long as they are maintained.

There has been lots of press recently and discussions, but it's most likely a question of investment or funding. So who will step up to the plate?
 
Automation Gallery said:
Doesnt make much sense to buy a heritage site as an investment..maybe someone with deep pockets can purchase/retrofit these as a tax write-off.
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I think in this case, we're looking at different situations for the two buildings. 205 was restored and occupied as recently as ten years ago. Depending on the use, it should require minimal retrofitting. The main issue there seems to be an absentee landlord whom no one can apparently reach and who seems to have no plan for the building. Given that he purchased it because he liked it, it's hard to believe he would let it decay significantly.

199 has been unoccupied for a much longer period, and the task of making it usable might be more difficult there. It's a more likely candidate for demolition by neglect.
 
The former sherrif, Mayor Lastman, sold both the banks and the former park between them as "surplus lands". The theatre block was a great initiative but I believe the City could never find a tenant for the Darling designed bank to the south. It is a very difficult building to inhabit due to it's interior layout. The THB was the tenant for 205 but the THB was gutted by Lastman.

Our current sherrif shows the same or even lessser a degree of foresight as Lastman, and I suspect a lot more of our finer buildings now owned by the City will be sold as 'surplus' to pay for the end of the war on cars. I just hope these buildings dont end up being demolished and replaced by a parking garage.
 
Inside 199
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