Case closed: City needs the Sony Centre
Jun 23, 2008 04:30 AM
Martin Knelman
Toronto owes a debt to Leonard Cohen.
His four concerts here earlier this month were memorable for many reasons. Among them was that his thrilling performance made it clear it would be an act of civic madness to let the Sony Centre be torn down.
Five or six years ago, there was a real question whether this place would be needed once the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet moved to their new home at the Four Seasons Centre – and whether it could survive without them.
Now the verdict is in: Toronto needs the Sony Centre, especially for bookings that need more than 3,000 seats to make them viable, but whose audiences dread the cavernous Air Canada Centre.
The demise of the Sony came close to happening, but sanity prevailed. This week, the famous fan-shaped performing arts centre designed by Peter Dickinson will close its doors – but not forever.
Instead, the place long known as the O'Keefe Centre – until it changed its name to Hummingbird, then Sony – is about to be reborn. Almost 48 years after it opened with the pre-Broadway tryout of Camelot, it is going to get the facelift it has long needed. And its future seems secure.
The price tag for its makeover will be more than $20 million, mostly covered by Sony's development partner, Castlepoint Realty, in payment for the right to build a 49-storey residential tower known as the L Tower, designed by that provocative architect, Daniel Libeskind.
That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that time is running out on Sony Centre CEO Dan Brambilla's $75 million scheme to create a cultural complex adjacent to the theatre to keep the centre abuzz even on nights when there is no show.
He called it the Arts and Heritage Awareness (AHA) Centre, which was to include an interactive attraction telling the story of the arts through the history of the many ethnic groups that make up this city's population.
There was also going to be a concierge service to help tourists plan activities, plus a banquet facility and a video cabaret space.
That plan got the blessing of the city, which owns the centre, but the money to build it was going to have to come largely from Ottawa and Queen's Park – about $22 million each. Over the past three years, there has been lots of positive talk but no commitment.
Brambilla has not given up and, technically, his deadline for raising the money has been extended to Sept. 15. But at this point, I'd say chances are very slim it will happen. Luckily, there's a Plan B.
With or without funding for the AHA Centre, Castlepoint will soon break ground and start the long process of building the L Tower. The seven-storey podium at the base of the tower, linking it to the original theatre, will be built even if there is no AHA Centre.
But unless AHA funding comes through, the podium will belong to the developer for the next 15 years – and will be used for retail space. Then, perhaps around 2025, the city will have the option of reclaiming the space and using the podium for whatever it chooses.
The theatre could reopen in the fall of 2009, after being shuttered for less than 18 months. But it may be more realistic to plan the gala reopening for the spring of 2010.
The theatre will be more dazzling than ever – with a knockout lobby, new seats in the auditorium and an improved sound system. Tarnished brass will gleam more brightly than we've seen since 1960 and broken pieces of limestone will be replaced.
And maybe Toronto will learn to appreciate this unique showplace after years of denigrating it because it wasn't really an opera house. No, it wasn't.
But now we don't need to pretend it ever was.
I Love Canada. I love Toronto. I Love L-Tower. I Love this Forum. You have been my main link for information regarding the development of this beautiful, wonderful, artistic design of a building. And to be able to live in such a landmark and main attraction in Toronto. All I can say is, wow. Thank-you Forum.
