Gee, it surprises me that there's a lot of active dislike for the Toronto Star building. True, it's no beauty. But I remember it from my first trips to Toronto, when buildings like that looked like...the future. If a building had smooth concrete facing (and even better - 45-degree angles altering everything) - it was a vision of progress. Even more points for sunken moats, stepped plazas, globe lamps, potted plants and orange and brown tile. Now, this was 1977-8.
When the Toronto Star building was built - along with the Harbour Castle and part of Harbour City, there was nothing there. The entire area was largely a brownfield industrial wasteland, littered with scraps, fences, shacks and mud - much like certain parts of the Portlands now. I remember the tunnels under the tracks to get from Front to Queen's Quay were twice and three times the length that they are now.
So, the Toronto Star and it's neighbours were built like little fortresses.
I wouldn't weep much if the printing press warehouses off the back of the building were demolished or thoroughly refitted. But I don't think the building itself should be removed. It's base could probably use a spruce-up to open it up to the street some. But I'd be sad to see it go. It's a wee, forthright bit of history. There's no guarantee that anything that takes it's place is going to be any hot shakes, anyway.There's a lot of room to build around it. It should stay.
Nothing says "outdated" like yesterday's "futuristic". That's a good excuse in Toronto to keep the wheels of demolition and erasure turning. But there's no place to start like the present to enrich our understanding of our own history, and gain patience with it's oddities, loose ends and reminders.
