Toronto Massey Tower Condos | 206.95m | 60s | MOD Developments | Hariri Pontarini

[Tewder]

I like the theatre idea. I could see something more along the lines of a small art gallery. Not the kind of thing you'd expect on Yonge, but it could work.

Personally, I think the site is highly inappropriate for a tower, condo or otherwise. I think something quite low-rise and thoroughly deferential to the two existing historical structures is the way to go.

You raise a good point, which is why if a tower is needed I would hope it be glassy and minimalist as a contrast to the beaux-arts architecture of the heritage buildings. A museum would be a nice use too, I just figured with several theatres and Massey Hall nearby this general area could be considered something of a theatre district so a performance use might be further appropriate.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

There are so many wonderful ways these buildings could be lovingly re-purposed but there needs to be a strong business plan as the value of the property and upkeep of the buildings make most anything other than a busy retail outlet (yes, Apple!) unfeasible. The parkette should stay too, a little TLC and night time lighting and it's a beautiful little space on busy Yonge Street.

 

[Towered]

I really hope whatever gets proposed here will respect these two remarkable buildings. Facadism would be a disaster - they fully deserve to be kept in their entirety.

 

[Northern Magus]

I really hope whatever gets proposed here will respect these two remarkable buildings. Facadism would be a disaster - they fully deserve to be kept in their entirety.

I'm fairly confident they will, and if the developer tries otherwise they'll be in for one Hell of a fight.

 

[Northern Magus]

I just figured with several theatres and Massey Hall nearby this general area could be considered something of a theatre district so a performance use might be further appropriate.

This is definitely another block that's crying out for a couple of Off-Broadway sized theatres. Growing a proper theatre district/cluster would be perfect for this area -- and a real coming of age sign for the city.

S.37 funds combined with property tax and extra height incentives might be an effective way to do it.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Can Toronto support more live venues right now? With Council selling off the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto Centre for the Arts and Sony Centre along with The Panasonic in the dark much of the time I don't think the timing is very good for the next few years.

 

[Northern Magus]

Can Toronto support more live venues right now? With Council selling off the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto Centre for the Arts and Sony Centre along with The Panasonic in the dark much of the time I don't think the timing is very good for the next few years.

Huge venues? No. But 400-800 seat stages? I definitely think so. (I realize for theatre sticklers I'm blurring the technical size distinctions here, but bear with me)

For starters, it will increase the variety and longevity of shows. In London, for example, big shows often start in the huge houses and then sustain their runs by moving to smaller ones. This appears to play an important role in making that city a hub for theatre afficionados -- and both residents and tourists appear to respond to it.

Second of all, similar to London, it will quite arguably help grow our domestic base of theatre-goers and get us on the radar of tourist ones.

I'd argue it's no coincidence that the two biggest theatre centres in the English-speaking world both have vibrant theatre districts.

We should too.

 

[someMidTowner]

I really hope whatever gets proposed here will respect these two remarkable buildings. Facadism would be a disaster - they fully deserve to be kept in their entirety.

If they somehow can get away with that with the south building they certainly wont with the north one. If they try to demolish anything built by E.J Lennox, u will find me chained to the pillars on demo day.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Huge venues? No. But 400-800 seat stages? I definitely think so. (I realize for theatre sticklers I'm blurring the technical size distinctions here, but bear with me)

For starters, it will increase the variety and longevity of shows. In London, for example, big shows often start in the huge houses and then sustain their runs by moving to smaller ones. This appears to play an important role in making that city a hub for theatre afficionados -- and both residents and tourists appear to respond to it.

Perhaps you have a point here. When I first saw the off-Broadway hit "Little Shop of Horrors" around '84 or '85 (before the movie) it had already been playing for a couple of years in a tiny 200 seat theatre in Greenwich Village to packed houses. They obviously managed to make money off it in a venue of this size.

If they somehow can get away with that with the south building they certainly wont with the north one. If they try to demolish anything built by E.J Lennox, u will find me chained to the pillars on demo day.

PM me, I'll join you.

 

[adma]

If they somehow can get away with that with the south building they certainly wont with the north one. If they try to demolish anything built by E.J Lennox, u will find me chained to the pillars on demo day.

It's not so much that it's Lennox per se, as the fact that the interior's intact and pre-restored. No way anyone'd reduce that to a facadectomy, other than Doug Ford types with a "there's far older stuff elsewhere" alibi...

 

[Tewder]

Can Toronto support more live venues right now? With Council selling off the St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto Centre for the Arts and Sony Centre along with The Panasonic in the dark much of the time I don't think the timing is very good for the next few years.

... well maybe there is something to the idea that the city shouldn't be running theatres.

Northern Magus is right that there is a lack of good mid-size theatres in the city. Not to mention that once a successful production or two parks itself a shortage of space presents itself pretty fast.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The Elgin and Wintergarden are great midsized theatres (1500 & 1000 seats respectively) and sit dark half of the year.

 

[Northern Magus]

The Elgin and Wintergarden are great midsized theatres (1500 & 1000 seats respectively) and sit dark half of the year.

True, and I'd argue that it's at least in part because they're too big for anything other than mega-shows. They harken back to an era where this city played second fiddle to Montreal nationally, and we needed to build big houses to attract touring shows that wanted to do short(ish) runs and maximize their profits.

Different paradigm today, at least in terms of what I'm advocating.

Houses half their size with correspondingly scaled back casts and costs would quite arguably be able to either attract more shows or sustain longer runs. And a convergence of several mid sized and large sized stages within a district or clusters would also help grow our own base of theatre-goers.

I think it deserves some serious consideration.

 

[Tewder]

The Elgin and Wintergarden are great midsized theatres (1500 & 1000 seats respectively) and sit dark half of the year.

Agreed... but they are owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust which may explain why they sit empty half the time when they shouldn't.

 

[WanderLust]

Agreed... but they are owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust which may explain why they sit empty half the time when they shouldn't.

It's a prohibitively expensive venue to host anything, and that's for those that want to use the space. Blame it on red-tape and unionized labour for all we know. These venues should be booked non-stop and filled nightly, but they aren't.