Northern Light
Superstar
In the discussion above, there is much on which to comment, but lest I end up with 1/2 a dozen posts, let me sum up my thoughts on others thoughts this way:
1) Is there some heritage value in what's there now, if properly restored? Yes. Is there value from a modern research lab point of view? Not so much, the building as is simply can't meet those needs, and a retrofit seems impractical. Meeting that type of need elsewhere on campus is plausible, but choices are limited.
2) Is the building a heritage priority? I have to side with @Towered here and say 'no'. It's simply not a best in class example of its style, nor does it have broad appeal, nor does it have much remaining context supporting it.
3) I'm actually surprised U of T didn't do the zoning for the entire site all at once, they clearly had a complete design vision for the entire site, we've all seen the renders; this would have been more cost-effective to address initially. Equally, if there was a desire to retain heritage here, this entire proposal/building site doesn't jive w/that, and a completely different thought needed to be embarked on from the beginning.
1) Is there some heritage value in what's there now, if properly restored? Yes. Is there value from a modern research lab point of view? Not so much, the building as is simply can't meet those needs, and a retrofit seems impractical. Meeting that type of need elsewhere on campus is plausible, but choices are limited.
2) Is the building a heritage priority? I have to side with @Towered here and say 'no'. It's simply not a best in class example of its style, nor does it have broad appeal, nor does it have much remaining context supporting it.
3) I'm actually surprised U of T didn't do the zoning for the entire site all at once, they clearly had a complete design vision for the entire site, we've all seen the renders; this would have been more cost-effective to address initially. Equally, if there was a desire to retain heritage here, this entire proposal/building site doesn't jive w/that, and a completely different thought needed to be embarked on from the beginning.
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