A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Star:
A myopic fixation on height
Feb. 27, 2006. 07:53 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
The sun will shine on Toronto the day someone designs a tower that doesn't cast a shadow.
Until then, the good citizens of this city can be counted on to rise to the occasion whenever some hapless developer comes along with skyscrapers in mind.
Yes, there are places where tall buildings don't belong, but if the city is to grow, prosper and halt its painful slide into irrelevance, the only way to go is up. It's either that or continue to sprawl, a certain route to oblivion.
Not that any of this means a thing. Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Torontonians will take up the battle against development at Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Dr.
On one side will be the local residents, many of them worked up into full lather, ready to do whatever's necessary to keep the area just as it is.
On the other side will be the developer, Woodcliffe Corp., which is proposing a 38-storey condo for the north side of Price St., steps east of Yonge, south of the old North Toronto train station, now the city's most popular and elegant LCBO.
In the middle will be a small army of city planners, nervously waiting to see who's left when the dust settles and where to take their cues.
Let's make it clear right now that a proposal isn't worthwhile simply because it's tall. At the same time, neither is it bad just because it's tall.
But this scheme makes sense, as much as anything, because of its height. What Woodcliffe is proposing is a complex that includes a new public square, restored heritage buildings and a tall, thin, tower sitting on top of a four-storey podium.
The plan's logic is by building high, space at grade is freed up for a public piazza. The new space would extend Scrivener Square south of the old station and out to Yonge St. It would also include the restoration of the "five thieves," the row of 19th-century red-brick buildings now occupied by food shops.
It's worth noting that Woodcliffe has gained an enviable reputation for its commitment to architectural excellence and heritage preservation, largely on the basis of its restoration of the 1916 station, a beaux-arts beauty that was neglected for decades.
In addition to its meticulous, award-winning renewal of the station, the firm also transformed the former parking lot in front of it into Scrivener Square, which has improved the area hugely.
But the truth is that the tower will cast a shadow over the neighbourhood. That can't be denied.
(Good thing no one worried about that when the CN Tower was built.)
On the other hand, one should remember that Woodcliffe could construct a seven-storey slab as of right. That would eliminate any possibility of new public space and would contribute less at street level.
Most important, perhaps, is that the scheme is in keeping with the intentions of Toronto's official plan, which envisions highrise development along the city's main arteries and transportation routes. Price St., just blocks from two subway stations, is the sort of location the creators of the plan had in mind.
But if tomorrow's meeting goes according to form, the focus will be almost entirely on height — only one factor among many. Surely the more important questions are how the proposed building meets the street, what it brings to the urban realm and the quality of its design.
Too bad Torontonians aren't as fixated on the city as they are on their small part of it.
We'd all profit enormously.
Instead we have a stop-growth-at-any-cost mentality that leads to struggles like the one over the dedicated streetcar lane on St. Clair Ave. W., a nasty and expensive example of a city barely in control.
At some point, Toronto will have to grow up, in more ways than one.
AoD
A myopic fixation on height
Feb. 27, 2006. 07:53 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
The sun will shine on Toronto the day someone designs a tower that doesn't cast a shadow.
Until then, the good citizens of this city can be counted on to rise to the occasion whenever some hapless developer comes along with skyscrapers in mind.
Yes, there are places where tall buildings don't belong, but if the city is to grow, prosper and halt its painful slide into irrelevance, the only way to go is up. It's either that or continue to sprawl, a certain route to oblivion.
Not that any of this means a thing. Tomorrow at 7 p.m., Torontonians will take up the battle against development at Rosedale United Church, 159 Roxborough Dr.
On one side will be the local residents, many of them worked up into full lather, ready to do whatever's necessary to keep the area just as it is.
On the other side will be the developer, Woodcliffe Corp., which is proposing a 38-storey condo for the north side of Price St., steps east of Yonge, south of the old North Toronto train station, now the city's most popular and elegant LCBO.
In the middle will be a small army of city planners, nervously waiting to see who's left when the dust settles and where to take their cues.
Let's make it clear right now that a proposal isn't worthwhile simply because it's tall. At the same time, neither is it bad just because it's tall.
But this scheme makes sense, as much as anything, because of its height. What Woodcliffe is proposing is a complex that includes a new public square, restored heritage buildings and a tall, thin, tower sitting on top of a four-storey podium.
The plan's logic is by building high, space at grade is freed up for a public piazza. The new space would extend Scrivener Square south of the old station and out to Yonge St. It would also include the restoration of the "five thieves," the row of 19th-century red-brick buildings now occupied by food shops.
It's worth noting that Woodcliffe has gained an enviable reputation for its commitment to architectural excellence and heritage preservation, largely on the basis of its restoration of the 1916 station, a beaux-arts beauty that was neglected for decades.
In addition to its meticulous, award-winning renewal of the station, the firm also transformed the former parking lot in front of it into Scrivener Square, which has improved the area hugely.
But the truth is that the tower will cast a shadow over the neighbourhood. That can't be denied.
(Good thing no one worried about that when the CN Tower was built.)
On the other hand, one should remember that Woodcliffe could construct a seven-storey slab as of right. That would eliminate any possibility of new public space and would contribute less at street level.
Most important, perhaps, is that the scheme is in keeping with the intentions of Toronto's official plan, which envisions highrise development along the city's main arteries and transportation routes. Price St., just blocks from two subway stations, is the sort of location the creators of the plan had in mind.
But if tomorrow's meeting goes according to form, the focus will be almost entirely on height — only one factor among many. Surely the more important questions are how the proposed building meets the street, what it brings to the urban realm and the quality of its design.
Too bad Torontonians aren't as fixated on the city as they are on their small part of it.
We'd all profit enormously.
Instead we have a stop-growth-at-any-cost mentality that leads to struggles like the one over the dedicated streetcar lane on St. Clair Ave. W., a nasty and expensive example of a city barely in control.
At some point, Toronto will have to grow up, in more ways than one.
AoD
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