Well, this is a long dead thread, but we have recently started following an interesting new development with Casa Loma plans.
The Kiwanis, which manages Casa Loma for the City of Toronto, has been looking into ways to generate the funds needed to restore more of the building, and to complete more of Sir Henry Pellatt’s dreams.
First, a little history (a fuller history can be found here):
Sir Henry, a multi-millionaire financier with interests in the railway, mining, and hydroelectric power, built Casa Loma with architect E.J. Lennox, beginning work in 1911. Not all of Pellatt’s interior plans were completed when World War I broke out and construction halted in 1914. The results of the construction were the famous turreted ‘castle’ house we know today, including the Hunting Lodge and Stables which extend north along Walmer Road. The house was habitable, and Sir Henry and Lady Mary moved in, but soon enough the Pellatts ran into increasing financial difficulties, and by 1923 they were forced to move out of the grand estate. The late 1920s saw Casa Loma operating as a luxury hotel and a popular nightspot, and it was during this time that the great hall and billiard rooms were finished. The hotel failed in 1929, and the house subsequently sat vacant through the Great Depression, until the City of Toronto seized the property in 1933 for unpaid back taxes. Several schemes were considered to keep the massive property afloat financially, including making it a permanent home for the Dionne Quintuplets. All plans fell through however, and in 1936 the City considered demolishing the structure. It was then that the Kiwanis Club of West Toronto offered to run Casa Loma as a tourist attraction, and a year later after considerable refurbishment, the building opened to tours.
Original furnishings were sold off when Pellatt’s finances collapsed, and a slow restoration to period condition has continued at Casa Loma under the auspices of the Kiwanis Club of Casa Loma ever since. Tourism figures have not been as high as all involved would have liked, and other functions including dances, film and tv shoots and the like have not paid all of the bills over the years. The Kiwanis Club has come in for criticism from the City for not having put enough money back into the building, and for being too slow to respond to changes in tourism trends. Despite the criticism, following months of negotiations with the City, the Kiwanis’ management contract was extended in 2008 for another 20 years. As part of the agreement, Kiwanis was required to draw up plans to reinvigorate the attraction. Until now the has CIty rejected the plans for a visitor orientation centre, a centrepiece gift shop, galleries, community venues, a theatre, and possibly a five-start restaurant as inadequate.
Here’s the latest:
Kiwanis is floating a new plan now, and have been talking it up with community groups, hoping to gain support before going to the city with it. UrbanToronto caught up at a working group meeting held with the Russell Hill Residents Association this past Wednesday, where discussions about what is being called ‘Casa Loma 2’ were underway.
Casa Loma 2 entails building a 98-metre tall (321 feet), 28-storey condominium tower on the site of the eyesore parking garage currently sited to the west of the house.
Existing:
Proposed:
The tower would be post-modern in design, sensitively blending with the house’s famous turrets, with throwbacks to the neo-Gothic design of Casa Loma, and clad in sandstone precast and a lightly reflective gray glass so as to not overpower the landmark beside it.
At the base of the tower is a four-storey podium which would house the parking garage (both above and below-ground levels) plus amenities for the condominium residents. The podium would also contain space for the visitor orientation centre, a relocated ‘Castle Keep’ gift shop, and a cafe. 'Sir Henry’s Cafe' as well as the gift shop would move out of the lower level of the castle and into Casa Loma 2, allowing Pellatt’s never-completed bowling lanes, shooting range, gymnasium and swimming pool to finally be finished. A search to find an operator for a Fitness Club within those facilities is pending. It was also noted that vines will be encouraged around the hill-side of the podium to mitigate the impact of the new bulk from Davenport Road, and from Casa Loma’s gardens.
Discussions are also underway to include a 28th-storey rooftop restaurant currently called ‘Top of the Turret’. Rumours are swirling that Dominic Jack of Edinburgh’s Castle Terrace restaurant, recently awarded a Michelin ‘Rising Star’, would be tapped as executive chef.
As exciting as all of this seems, to many in the crowd this amount of planning seemed somewhat premature for the time being. “You know which chef you want and we still have not hammered out community access to the swimming pool?” was shouted at one point in the meeting, presumably by a local ratepayer, who subsequently stormed out.
Of particular concern for many, of course, is the height of the proposal. As of right, Kiwanis may build a 50 metre tower on the site, which would equal about 14 storeys for the high-end condo they want to construct here. Fourteen storeys will not generate the funds they need however, so they are appealing for understanding from the community. “No one will buy here for less than 9 foot ceilings. We know that purchasers here will want to feel that they are king of their castle, just like Sir Henry did, for a while, anyway, while it lasted” declared Downey Newsom, of DN Design Build of Indianapolis, Indiana, Kiwanis International’s home town, and partner in the project. “We have to go to 28 storeys to make it work.”
As seen from the Toronto Archives:
As seen from George Brown College:
Avril Poisson, 71, a resident of the Annex who attended the meeting, had this to say, “My house is just up the street from where Jane Jacobs lived, and there’s no way she would have allowed anything taller than 18, maybe 19 storeys here. 28? You gotta be kidding!” John Knightly, 53, of Lyndhurst Avenue did not even want 18 storeys. “If we moved Giorgio Mammoliti’s Toronto Islands red light district into Casa Loma, we wouldn’t need a condo tower at all. Kiwanis would make all the money they need quickly. And it would be far more convenient!” “Set it up on a trial basis. Call it ‘Red Light Nights at the Castle’” added Trevor Rampallion, 19, a student at nearby George Brown College who boards on Davenport Road. Nina Hilton, 44, of Wells Hill Avenue, was in favour of Kiwanis’ previous plan to convert Casa Loma into a no-slots casino. “We could be another Monte Carlo. World class. I don’t know what the problem is. The place is perfect for roulette wheels.” “I’m just thankful it’s not another green-glass box. This is a very complimentary design” said Roy Croft, 85, of Glen Edyth Drive.
Discussions are ongoing. It will likely take time to build consensus on a plan, but for now Kiwanis’ scheme to build Toronto’s first 6-star luxury boutique resort hotel on the site of the stables is on hold until all of the details of Casa Loma 2 are worked out.
In the meantime, the City of Toronto continues to restore the crumbling masonry of Casa Loma’s exterior: that work is expected to be complete in 2013 at a cost of $20 Million.
