Can I get anyone a low-res image?
It goes with this update courtesy of Councillor Adam Vaughan's newsletter:
On January 31, 2011, Councillor Vaughan hosted a community meeting regarding the site at the north-east corner of Bathurst and Lake Shore Blvd W. Loblaws plans to redevelop the site into a four-storey commercial/retail development that will include a two-storey grocery store with a Joe Fresh clothing store, additional Loblaws and food-related retail, and Loblaws office space.
Parking for the site would be accessed from Lake Shore Blvd to the west of the building, with a right-in, right-out only access point. There would also be parking access from Bathurst Street via Housey Street, located at the north side of the building. A total of 414 parking spaces would be provided at the north side of the building over four levels, located below the Gardiner Expressway. The loading dock for trucks would be in a fully enclosed portion of the building at the north part of the site. Bicycle parking would also be provided on site.
The corner of Bathurst and Lake Shore would be landscaped, and there would be an outdoor patio area associated with the grocery store on the west side of the building.
There were several questions about the preservation of the heritage designated building, which has many Art Deco features. The building was constructed in 1927 by Loblaws as a home for their offices, as well as distribution and warehousing. The building has been vacant since 2000. The facades have been reviewed by heritage, structural and geotechnical engineers, who found substantial deterioration in the building. Based on their analysis, Loblaws is proposing to dismantle and then rebuild the south, west and a portion of the east facades of the structure, but remove and replace the remaining portions of the building.
Scaffolding has been installed at the site after Loblaws was issued hoarding permits in December 2010. There is a projected 2-3 months of work on the interior of the building to remove garbage, contaminants, and non-structural demolition work. Depending on Heritage approvals, the building would be catalogued brick by brick, starting in March 2011, and then the building would be dismantled, with the bricks stored off-site. Construction of the building is projected to begin in February or March 2012, and would require 24 months to complete. Construction access for the site would be from Bathurst Street, from the north side of the site.
The store is projected to open in early 2014.
The Loblaws company is also planning to open several other stores in downtown Toronto over the coming months, including a No Frills store at Front St E and Ontario St in March or April 2011, and Loblaws stores at Queen and Portland and at Maple Leaf Gardens in October 2011.
Councillor Vaughan proposed the creation of a working group to provide detailed feedback to Loblaws as their plans advance. The working group should include residents and stakeholders immediately adjacent to the building. If you wish to participate on this working group, please e-mail
Councillor_Vaughan@toronto.ca.