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OMB rules Riverdale half-round building must go
Bridgepoint Health's new building design features made a priority
www.insidetoronto.ca/to/b...?loc=beach
JOANNA LAVOIE
Feb. 1, 2007
It was either lose Riverdale Hospital's half-round building or maintain a much-needed complex chronic health care facility in east Toronto.
Faced with that choice, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rendered a decision on Jan. 29 to reject the appeals of the Citizens for Riverdale Hospital (CRH) group and various other opponents of the plan and approve the redevelopment of the Bridgepoint Health site, located near Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street.
"The Don Jail and the Half Round both can't remain in the Bridgepoint master plan," said Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth), noting the OMB had a difficult decision to make.
"Sometimes decisions are very tough and this is the toughest decision I would have to make about a building in my ward. No decisions were made lightly."
Fletcher said she "would have liked nothing better than to have everything fit on the site and have a hospital," in her community but is pleased the OMB is calling for the future design features of the new buildings to be of the highest quality.
Like Fletcher, MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth) said the decision was a bittersweet one.
"It's one of these decisions where people are going to be glad the hospital's staying there and, like me, are very unhappy the half-round will be gone," said Tabuns, noting the citizens groups made some strong arguments.
"They really put their heart in to it. It's good to see people really care."
Bridgepoint Health's master plan includes tearing down the existing half-round building on the site and replacing it with a 12-storey state-of-the art complex chronic care hospital as well as a second building with 169 long-term care beds. A community park is part of the project, as are three new eight-storey office/residential buildings.
The historic Don Jail building will be used for administrative purposes and two other historically significant edifices, the Governor's House and Gatekeepers House, will also be retained.
"The OMB decision in our favour marks another important milestone for our staff, patients, family members and the community," said a source at Bridgepoint Health who didn't want to be identified.
She added the redevelopment means the creation of a new "world class" facility for complex chronic disease and disabilities such as AIDS, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and brain injuries.
"We very much believe and support the OMB process. We look forward to moving ahead in partnership with the city and the province in building the best hospital for the people we serve."
And while Bridgepoint Health is pleased with the decision, Davis Mirza, a local resident who made a presentation at the hearing on behalf of a group called the Half-Round Artists Collective, said he finds the OMB decision "cold" and "heartless."
"They're sacrificing the half-round and the trees so they can build a service road," said Mirza, who has a special fondness for the half-round's rotunda space, which he utilized to put on a play a few years back with Community Head Injury Resource Services during Brain Injury Awareness Month.
"It's sad. It's really sad. Our arguments were acknowledged by the board but weren't addressed as a factor in the final decision," said Mirza, who even put up an online petition against tearing down the half round.
Mirza, whose focuses are the artistic and healing values of the half-round building as well as the negative environmental impacts of the site's redevelopment, said the decision is simply a lack of "smart planning".
Like many in the community, Mirza said maintaining a local health care facility is a priority.
Yesterday afternoon Mirza, representatives from Citizens for Riverdale Hospital, architects and planners were invited to meet with Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan (Trinity-Spadina) to share their concerns and discuss what future steps could occur.
Two mediation sessions held at the land-use tribunal this past summer between Bridgepoint Health and Citizens for Riverdale Hospital failed to reach a compromise, which inevitably led to the OMB hearing that began Nov. 6. The hearing wrapped up on Jan. 12 and the decision was issued this week.
For more information about Bridgepoint Health's plan visit www.bridgepointhealth.ca and click on the redevelopment tab.
Bridgepoint Health's new building design features made a priority
www.insidetoronto.ca/to/b...?loc=beach
JOANNA LAVOIE
Feb. 1, 2007
It was either lose Riverdale Hospital's half-round building or maintain a much-needed complex chronic health care facility in east Toronto.
Faced with that choice, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) rendered a decision on Jan. 29 to reject the appeals of the Citizens for Riverdale Hospital (CRH) group and various other opponents of the plan and approve the redevelopment of the Bridgepoint Health site, located near Broadview Avenue and Gerrard Street.
"The Don Jail and the Half Round both can't remain in the Bridgepoint master plan," said Ward 30 Councillor Paula Fletcher (Toronto-Danforth), noting the OMB had a difficult decision to make.
"Sometimes decisions are very tough and this is the toughest decision I would have to make about a building in my ward. No decisions were made lightly."
Fletcher said she "would have liked nothing better than to have everything fit on the site and have a hospital," in her community but is pleased the OMB is calling for the future design features of the new buildings to be of the highest quality.
Like Fletcher, MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto-Danforth) said the decision was a bittersweet one.
"It's one of these decisions where people are going to be glad the hospital's staying there and, like me, are very unhappy the half-round will be gone," said Tabuns, noting the citizens groups made some strong arguments.
"They really put their heart in to it. It's good to see people really care."
Bridgepoint Health's master plan includes tearing down the existing half-round building on the site and replacing it with a 12-storey state-of-the art complex chronic care hospital as well as a second building with 169 long-term care beds. A community park is part of the project, as are three new eight-storey office/residential buildings.
The historic Don Jail building will be used for administrative purposes and two other historically significant edifices, the Governor's House and Gatekeepers House, will also be retained.
"The OMB decision in our favour marks another important milestone for our staff, patients, family members and the community," said a source at Bridgepoint Health who didn't want to be identified.
She added the redevelopment means the creation of a new "world class" facility for complex chronic disease and disabilities such as AIDS, diabetes, cancer, multiple sclerosis and brain injuries.
"We very much believe and support the OMB process. We look forward to moving ahead in partnership with the city and the province in building the best hospital for the people we serve."
And while Bridgepoint Health is pleased with the decision, Davis Mirza, a local resident who made a presentation at the hearing on behalf of a group called the Half-Round Artists Collective, said he finds the OMB decision "cold" and "heartless."
"They're sacrificing the half-round and the trees so they can build a service road," said Mirza, who has a special fondness for the half-round's rotunda space, which he utilized to put on a play a few years back with Community Head Injury Resource Services during Brain Injury Awareness Month.
"It's sad. It's really sad. Our arguments were acknowledged by the board but weren't addressed as a factor in the final decision," said Mirza, who even put up an online petition against tearing down the half round.
Mirza, whose focuses are the artistic and healing values of the half-round building as well as the negative environmental impacts of the site's redevelopment, said the decision is simply a lack of "smart planning".
Like many in the community, Mirza said maintaining a local health care facility is a priority.
Yesterday afternoon Mirza, representatives from Citizens for Riverdale Hospital, architects and planners were invited to meet with Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan (Trinity-Spadina) to share their concerns and discuss what future steps could occur.
Two mediation sessions held at the land-use tribunal this past summer between Bridgepoint Health and Citizens for Riverdale Hospital failed to reach a compromise, which inevitably led to the OMB hearing that began Nov. 6. The hearing wrapped up on Jan. 12 and the decision was issued this week.
For more information about Bridgepoint Health's plan visit www.bridgepointhealth.ca and click on the redevelopment tab.
