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GeekyBoyTO

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A rendering of a slick, 5s glass-ish box appeared in an ad in the Globe today along with a description of the donor enabling the project. Here is a release from St. Michael's Hospital:

KEENAN FAMILY DONATION FUNDS MAJOR EXPANSION AT ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL

Keenan Research Centre Ushers in New Era of Medical Research

TORONTO, Ont., November 23, 2005 – St. Michael’s Hospital has received a $13 million donation from Toronto businessman Patrick Keenan and his wife Barbara to enable a major expansion to the hospital’s research facilities and create The Keenan Research Centre. The Centre is named in honour of the family and their continued support of St. Michael’s Hospital. With today’s gift, the largest single donation in the hospital’s 113-year history, the Keenan’s cumulative gift to the hospital for research is in excess of $25 million.


Today’s gift will help build a new research centre, more than tripling the hospital’s current research space. The funds will help attract and retain leading scientists from around the world building on the hospital’s world-class research in four areas: critical care; inner city health; global health; and knowledge translation.

“St. Michael’s is proud and privileged to have had a longstanding relationship with the Keenan family. They inspired and helped initiate a new vision for the hospital that has firmly established our reputation as a centre of excellence worldwide,†said Jeff Lozon, President and CEO, St. Michael’s Hospital, â€but more importantly, their generosity is helping to save lives and developing better ways to care for those in need.â€

The Keenan Research Centre will provide much needed space for the hospital’s thriving research practice. Since 2000, the hospital has more than doubled its external research funding, increased recruitment of world renowned scientists by more than 60 per cent, and seen a four-fold increase in publications in leading journals. The hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.

The new Centre will help advance the hospital’s unique approach to health care, which emphasizes a close proximity between research and the patient care setting, and integrates care and research into the community. The Centre will provide researchers with formal and informal opportunities to spend time with patients and clinicians, collaborating and learning from each other to create research that has immediate impact on patients’ lives.

Since 1985, as past Chairman, ongoing board member and benefactor, Mr. Keenan has played an instrumental role in the hospital’s transformation into a major research centre. Among their many contributions, the Keenan family endowed the hospital’s first chair in medical research (Nephrology) in 1992 and made substantial donations to research in kidney disease, and also to a new floor dedicated to the care of patients with kidney disease. In 2000, the Keenan’s $5 million donation to medical research marked the largest gift in the hospital’s history and was the basis for naming the new Cardinal Carter wing.

“Some of the most important questions are generated at the patient’s bedside. Researchers need to be there and easily interact with their colleagues across disciplines, and medical departments,†said Dr. Arthur Slutsky , Vice-President, Research, St. Michael's Hospital. “In essence, the Keenan Research Centre will help break down barriers to enable research that will directly impact patients. We are so grateful and fortunate that the Keenan’s have shared in our dream and have made it a reality.â€

“Today’s research leads to tomorrow’s health care breakthroughs. That is why Barbara and I are so gratified to invest in the outstanding people and programs at St. Michael’s,†said Mr. Keenan, who has had a distinguished career in business including leadership positions in international mining companies. “This new centre will provide greater opportunity for development and discovery, and ultimately a healthier future for all.â€

Mr. Keenan went on to say: â€Our hope is that this gift will act as a catalyst for new investments in medical research, solidifying our hospital’s and this City’s reputation as a global centre for innovative health care research that directly impacts patients.â€

St. Michael’s Hospital is a large and vibrant Catholic teaching and research hospital in the heart of Toronto . Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto , St. Michael’s Hospital leads with innovation, and serves with compassion. Renowned for providing exceptional patient care, St. Michael's Hospital is a regional trauma centre and downtown Toronto’s designated trauma centre for adults.

For more information, please call:

David Davenport
Media Relations
St. Michael’s Hospital
(416) 864-6094
davenportd@smh.toronto.on.ca

GB
 
Is it going to be built on site of the hospital? I wish they would get rid of that parking lot on the corner of Queen & Victoria.
 
Metro:

That's one of the things I am trying to find out - where it is going, and who designed it.

GB
 
I hope that's going in on the corner of Queen and Victoria - what's there now is extremely ugly - some kind of 2s parking deck/transformer unit of some kind.

And the pictured addition can be read as an 8s building along its west* wall.

*if I'm right about where it will be sited.
 
I like the look of the building, which strikes me as understated but very much in the spirit of its time. St. Mike's has nowhere to go but up, architecturally speaking. It's been all downhill since 1950.
 
I thought the glassy extension of a few years ago to the top of the preexisting brick slab improved things a bit.
 
It'll be at the NE corner of Victoria & Shuter, where the parking garage sits. Good news.
 
Good news!

It seems we are seeing alot of philanthropy lately from our rich. That is a good sign.

I expect to see alot more too as rich baby boomers seek to leave something of significance before the end.

That sounded gloomy!
 
allabootmatt:

Heh, I remember what you've said about the Victory :p

Thanks for that info!

GB
 
I don't think that the lot on the corner of Queen and Victoria is big enough for this building. That is an awfully small site- looks like it might go somewhere else- at least from the renderings, there do not seem to be any buildings in the background of large proportion, which would locate on that corner!

p5
 
A story in today's Sun (p. 18 ) says that it will be on the NE corner of Victoria and Shuter. It will be 16,200 square metres in size and will be completed in 2009. It will free up 4,600 square metres of space in the existing building.

BTW, laugh at the Sun if you like, but they gave this story decent coverage including a picture. The Star gave it a pitifully small blurb. Stories like this shoud get more recognition. This is one of the steps toward Toronto becoming an even greater city.
 
Excellent! So it's going up across the street from Pantages. I always thought that once Pantages and Opus got built, the neighborhood around them would have to change. Getting rid of that parkade was the priority.
 
I've been waiting for this site to be redeveloped for a very long time. Excellent news!!!
 

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