Toronto First Parliament Site | ?m | ?s

I'm slowly trying to prepare myself for the loss of this heritage site and the potential it once offered. I have no illusions that we will end up with anything other than a condo, that the height will be paid for by developers by agreeing to some lame art component/heritage plaque or some such. It is the way in Toronto!
 
This is a genuine question for information. What was there before this property was purchased? What is actually about to be "lost" or has been "lost" if this or a lower project is approved? Certainly not the First Parliament itself. Are the foundations still there, beneath the surface, ready to be excavated?
 
67Cup said:
This is a genuine question for information. What was there before this property was purchased? What is actually about to be "lost" or has been "lost" if this or a lower project is approved? Certainly not the First Parliament itself. Are the foundations still there, beneath the surface, ready to be excavated?
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There are foundations etc there. See: http://www.toronto.ca/planning/271_front.htm
 
On City Council's docket today:

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.MM23.31

Councillor Pam McConnell, seconded by Councillor Paul Ainslie, recommends that:

1. City Council direct the Director of Real Estate Services to form an inter-divisional working group consisting of, but not limited to, the City Planning Division, the Toronto Public Library, the Toronto Parking Authority, the Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division and the remaining private landowner on the First Parliament Site and report back to Council, through the appropriate committee, on the possibility of a proposal that secures the First Parliament Site under public ownership, at no net cost to the City.
 
Welcome, RocketAppliances!

The motion seems pretty lame to me -- of course the city would want the site if it didn't have to actually pay anything.
 
Most certainly.

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I'm not sure about this but possibly the site that currently houses the Toronto Public Library offices directly to the east. It is currently designated to allow for a point tower and podium I believe.
 
neubilder said:
Doesn't this refer to a land swap?
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How is it any cheaper to give away valuable land than it is to pay cash? I must say I do not understand the obsession with this site. Could it be because politicians attach unnatural importance to a place where a few other politicians used to work?
 
Nobody said it would be a cost saving solution, but it will hopefully be a wash.

First Parliament is a significant historic site both to Toronto and to the rest of Canada in a city that has otherwise shockingly little to commemorate it's past. The site is also part of an urban plan to unite the existing urban fabric to the west with the newly evolving districts to the east with a somewhat grand urban gesture of greenspace and civic architecture.
 
Could someone explain to me the civic and national significance of this site? The building, was, architecturally, a nothing, before it burned. Twice. The Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada had met in Newark (now Niagara on the Lake) before the capital was moved, so it's not the location of the first meeting of the Legislature. Legislatures existed in other provinces well before this one was formed. To the best of my knowledge, no legislation of lasting significance was promulgated in the building. Nothing remains of the building, other than, possibly, a few charred foundation stones.

So why is it felt to be crucial, to some, that the location should be marked in any way other than the plaque that is there now?
 
This is Canada. We look for significance where we can find it.
What I don't get is why anyone would oppose or refute it.
 
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