Toronto 335 Yonge | 55.2m | 16s | Lalani | Zeidler

We talked to Kyle Rae's office, here is an update:

http://www.heritagetoronto.org/news/issue/2010/04/20/1-gould-street-update

According to Councillor Kyle Rae's office, 1 Gould Street will be fully restored to its original façade. The building will not be demolished, but will be rebuilt using the original brick that fell during its collapse. The heritage listed 1888 building, formerly known as the William Reynolds Block, lost part of its Gould Street-facing façade on the Friday, April 16th afternoon.

The cause of the collapse is still being fully investigated, but a heritage consultant has been retained by the City to access the damage and ensure that the façade is restored to its original condition. Commercial façade grants were offered to the building's owners in 1997 and 2005, but were refused. Discussions continue with the owners regarding the future maintenance of the heritage building.

Heritage Toronto would hope in future that more resources are provided to ensure that property standards for heritage properties are enforced; more staffing allocated to the monitoring and inspection of buildings; and a larger grant program for heritage building owners to maintain their sites. Ultimately, the responsibility rests with owners of these buildings to properly preserve and ensure its safe condition.

Most importantly, the City's Inventory of Heritage Properties must be complete to ensure that we have identified our heritage resources and can proactively protect and care for them.
 
Though I lament the partial collapse of this building, let's get a bit of perspective here. We've had two heritage buildings in the last decade collapse (Walnut Hall, a terrible loss - and the James Chalmers Building which was unfortunate). This half-collapse which might result in the restoration of the remaining piece of the building might just be a gift in the end. With well over 6000 buildings on Toronto's Inventory, this is hardly a trend.

The fire on Queen Street has no bearing on this issue. Fires happen.

The forty buildings are in Brantford.

"Some encouraging examples of heritage preservation" - like the Distillery District to the Carlu, the 51 Division Headquarters, the James Cooper Mansion, the Palais Royale, the National Ballet school, the Guild Inn, Broadview Lofts, Toy Factory, Foundry Lofts, the Gladstone, Malthouse Lofts come to mind without really trying - the last decade has seen a huge number of impressive re-uses of heritage buildings in the city, and I'm not really trying to make a list of them all.

It's not that I totally disagree - it is sad to see much of our commercial landscape in rough shape, and this example in particular, of a fine old pile that has been neglected and that sits on a prominent site, it certainly applies. But the idea that every building everywhere must be completely clean and pretty all the time or we just throw up our hands and rip them all down is a false dichotomy and a massive overreaction to this story. Cities also need marginal buildings that house marginal businesses - and in most cities I've been in these uses have formed the most interesting and vital parts of the city.
 
^ Something I noticed while shooting in New York last week in the Chelsea district. The area is undergoing lots of development and re-using of old buildings but in many cases the re-use of a building or structure is accomplished by being as less intrusive as possible. The area gets recycled and rejuvenated but still retains it's grit and charm. No sterility here. Some examples below.

Balenciaga Boutique in an old loading dock
balenciaga.jpg

Comme des Garcons clothing store
comgarcons.jpg

HiLine
hiline1.jpg


hiline2.jpg

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Android, well exactly. I don't recall people coming back from London, New York or Hong Kong and saying "such and such a neighbourhood was in bad shape - they should rip it down and start over".

CentralHK113.jpg
 
I don't recall people coming back from London, New York or Hong Kong and saying "such and such a neighbourhood was in bad shape - they should rip it down and start over".

You don't think this was said and done in these cities? What else was urban renewal?

The difference is that what replaced the old junk was generally simply new junk.
 
Ladies Mile said:
I tend to agree. Obviously there are many major buildings that deserve attention and preservation, but IMO the bulk of Toronto's "heritage structures" in terms of commercial streetscapes are of little to no interest visually. The challenge is in making sure that what replaces them has lasting benefit to both residents and the public at large.
Click to expand...

It's difficult to tell what many of these mostly Victorian commercial buildings actually look like because of the signage, advertising, stucco, garish supergraphics, graffiti "art" etc. plastered all over them. They may be modest and unexceptional individually, but I think they have an ensemble charm that would be enhanced if much of this graphic commercial hucksterism was scraped off. What we mourn - and which shocks us - in the Brampton loss is the destruction of a collective statement more than the loss of one or two individual buildings.
 
US: Brantford. It's Brantford.
Ladies: My point was not that nothing in New York, London or Hong Kong has ever been ripped down and replaced. As I wrote, I don't find that people return from those cities and express a yearning for dilapidated buildings that they find there to be demolished, particularly since some of the areas they enjoyed the most (like the Upper Levels) are the most vibrant and interesting parts of the city.
 
Oddly, I would argue the opposite--that it's the creative POW kitsch factor of neon, posters and signage that giuves these districts their real aesthetic punch. Scrape off the collage-like colours and what's underneath is mediocre at best.

Just to clarify I am not advocating wholesale demolition, just pointing out that these "heritage" buildings are not as deserving of protection as others.
 
Archivist said:
US: Brantford. It's Brantford.
Ladies: My point was not that nothing in New York, London or Hong Kong has ever been ripped down and replaced. As I wrote, I don't find that people return from those cities and express a yearning for dilapidated buildings that they find there to be demolished, particularly since some of the areas they enjoyed the most (like the Upper Levels) are the most vibrant and interesting parts of the city.
Click to expand...

Visitors may think one thing and inhabitants another. I think plenty of people living in dilapidated neighbourhoods in New York and London would be happy to see them yanked down as long as relocation were feasible.
 
Thanks for the correction, Archivist. I got swept away by Tewder's post, which referred to Brampton as the site of the row of buildings slated for demolition.

Ladies Mile said:
Oddly, I would argue the opposite--that it's the creative POW kitsch factor of neon, posters and signage that giuves these districts their real aesthetic punch. Scrape off the collage-like colours and what's underneath is mediocre at best.
Click to expand...

I'd rather dial the commercial thing down and base our sese of aesthetics on the buildings, but I get your point.
 
I think this building could make a fantastic boutique hotel. I don't think there are any in the area.
 
I don't know if I should find it interesting that neither Spacing Toronto or Toronto on Skyscrapercity has reported this. "Historic building partially collapses in crowded shopping precinct" would be, you'd think, news.
 
I just checked and yes, Spacing is still posting delightful scrawls from "artist" Jerry Waese and Skyscrapercity Toronto is bitching, I kid you not, about black men handing out pamphlets on the sidewalk. Those scary, scary black men.
 
I would agree with an earlier comment that in some ways, holding onto certain heritage buildings is holding back the growth of the city. Cities like New York were initially built at a high enough density that their heritage districts meet the needs of the city. In Toronto, many heritage neighbourhoods currently house a fraction of the density that can be supported. If done carefully, I'd like to see most of the Bloor-College-Queen corridor, including side streets, gradually replaced with 8 story mid rises, and subway lines built on the latter two streets.
 
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