from the star:
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/1170547--toronto-heritage-landmarks-get-new-lease-on-life
y Susan Pigg Business Reporter
Heritage architect Scott Weir keeps a little piece of Toronto history on his desk — a handmade brick from the 1830s.
Deeply embedded is the paw print of a cat that he figures was wandering the brickyard back in the day.
The delightful find was uncovered recently during one of the most challenging heritage restorations Weir has ever overseen — the complete dismantling and rebuilding, row by mortared row, of a relatively rare piece of Toronto history called Bishop’s Block.
Reviving one of finest examples of Toronto’s Georgian past, and one of the few buildings left in the city from the 1830s, was a passion for Weir, as well as for developers of the sleek new Shangri-La hotel that shares the block at University Ave. and Adelaide St.
“A lot of buildings in Toronto are sheets of glass and steel. But this brings character to the site, to have the old building next to the new,” says Michael Braun, an executive with Vancouver-based Westbank Project Corp. which is building the 66-storey hotel and condos slated to open in August.
“It signifies what Toronto was and what it is becoming.”
As skyscrapers push ever higher into the Toronto skyline, and prime downtown redevelopment sites grow even scarcer, the pressure to bulldoze history and build condos has seldom been more intense, says Weir.
Keeping ahead of it all can be a challenge for city planners because developers are looking for any sliver of land left within walking distance of the subway, many home to historic properties that have yet to be officially designated.
MOD Developments, which plans to turn a 1905 Bank of Commerce building into the grand new entrance to its 60-storey Massey Tower development across from the Eaton Centre, sees great opportunity for the condo boom to breath new life to derelict landmarks.
The bank, which has been empty since 1987, is now undergo a $3 million worth of restoration and will form the elegant entranceway to the almost 700-unit condo tower.
“This is the most complicated, challenging project that any of us have ever worked on. And we all love it,” says MOD Developments founder Gary Switzer.
“We’re all rising to the occasion because this is such an extraordinary site. I love dealing with heritage properties and doing projects that I think improve the city.”
Where it used to be seen as sufficient for new office and condo towers to just include pieces or facades of heritage buildings, tougher heritage preservation laws make complete demolition more difficult and stress the need to protect the integrity of the building beyond just the façade or a few details, says Mary MacDonald, acting manager of heritage preservation for the city’s planning department.
“There have been a number of developers now who see that having a heritage property can lend a certain distinction to condo projects,” says MacDonald.
“Developers seem to understand now that you have a ready-made landmark there and it’s a lost opportunity to try to rid yourself of it because there are a lot of people who are interested in not just living on sites where a heritage property has been retained, but also living within a heritage property.”
That’s why, for example, the conversion of old churches to condos is now a booming business in Toronto neighbourhoods, says MacDonald.
Bishop’s Block had been so neglected by the time Westbank began the development of the five-star Shangri-La, scaffolding was erected just to keep the bulging façade from crumbling into Simcoe St. or Adelaide Ave.
Taking the building apart brick by brick, under the careful supervision of heritage experts at E.R.A. Architects proved to be a blessing in disguise: the bricks could be culled and carefully cleaned, the Shangri-La could excavate below for underground parking and archeologists could dig up one of Toronto’s oldest blocks with abandon.
A treasuretrove of artifacts, uncovered in the dig, will be part of a rotating display at the site. E.R.A. was even able to save and restore some of the old windows.
In the next few months, the 8,000-square-foot Bishop’s Block will become the site of Canada’s first SoHo House, a private club, restaurant and event space for the film, media and creative industries that started in London in 1995 and now has houses in Europe and North America.
“It didn’t take long to find a tenant, but it took a long time to find the right tenant,” says Braun, “someone who appreciates what this building is. It just felt like a really good fit and something that would enhance the rest of the development.”
