7.9K 
Historically, Toronto has always been a city dotted with places of worship. Once upon a time, the tallest structures in the city were church steeples, piercing through the tree canopy in nearly every neighbourhood of the city. But since the late twentieth-century, dwindling attendance has put many of these churches in financial peril, with increasing numbers having to shut their doors and either being redeveloped into other uses or facing the wrecking ball. Some congregations, however, have embraced development as a way to finance their future and have sought to reinvent themselves by redeveloping their often large lots. One such church in Weston has perhaps come forth with the most ambitious scheme yet.
The Weston Park Baptist Church (WPBC) is located just south of the intersection of Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue West. Situated on their lot is a modest historic church surrounded by surface parking, while to the immediate north is a wedge-shaped commercial building, formerly a bank, at the southeast corner of the Weston-Lawrence intersection that is also owned by the WPBC. Just to the south of the property is a Metrolinx parking lot that feeds the adjacent Weston GO and UP Express station.
Seeking to leverage their prime location, WPBC struck a development partnership with Castlepoint Numa to reimagine their property with a mixed-use proposal that maintains the church's presence on the site while introducing residential and retail uses. Referred to as the Weston Park Development, the project proposes to add two residential towers of 28 and 38 storeys, with new expanded facilities for the WPBC and retail included at grade.
The development is designed by SvN and Giannone Petricone Associates and features eye-catching curvy towers, including a signature 38-storey flatiron, sitting atop a three-storey podium. The existing church building will be retained but is proposed to be relocated to the southwest corner of the site and would likely house commercial or retail uses, with the WPBC's new facilities housed in the podium. The facades of the existing wedge-shaped commercial building on the corner will be retained in situ and incorporated into the base of the development.
An existing storm sewer easement cuts diagonally across the site roughly parallel to Lawrence, which will be left clear for a pedestrian mews leading toward the adjacent transit station. A woonerf runs perpendicular to the easement and connects to Lawrence, passing under the building through a porte-cochere.
The WPBC's new facilities will include a multi-purpose 350-400 seat Sanctuary and Performance Hall that serves as a place of worship but which can also be used to host events and performances. The podium will also contain a full gymnasium, along with all other administrative and community spaces for the WPBC. A new home for the Weston Area Emergency Support food bank, which currently operates out of the WPBC, is also included in the building. The remainder of the ground floor will house commercial and retail spaces.
The proposal has not yet been formally submitted to the City for a development application, so no hard facts and figures are yet known. The quantity and types of residential units is still being worked out, but in their most recent community consultation, Castlepoint Numa expressed a desire to have a mix of unit types including a significant number of rental units, and were fairly confident that the development would have an affordable housing component.
While still very early on in the design and planning process, the architecture of the buildings shows a feature wood-coloured cladding on the podium, the design of which is aiming to provide both a visual and physical connection to the surrounding neighbourhood given the community-oriented uses housed within. The Sanctuary and Performance Hall is oriented to have a clear view through a large picture window to the southwest down Bellevue Crescent toward the Humber River, with wood finishes throughout the interiors. The towers above have not yet been fully rendered, but both feature unique massing that will surely create a signature landmark for the Weston neighbourhood.
The project team has been actively engaged with community consultations over the past couple years and are aiming to submit a rezoning application within the next few months. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available, but in the meantime, you can tell us what you think by checking out the associated Forum thread or by leaving a comment in the space provided on this page.
* * *
UrbanToronto has a new way you can track projects through the planning process on a daily basis. Sign up for a free trial of our New Development Insider here.
