1. ACO President Responds to Marcus Gee
Lloyd Alter

ACO photo

re: Some reminders of the past just don't deserve to be rescued

Marcus Gee think the Downsview hangers are just vast empty boxes of plain brick and steel. I defy him to remember what the Don Valley Brickworks or Wychwood Barns looked like before talented people found a use for them and restored them; they were simply less vast empty boxes of plain brick and steel.  Unlike the Brickworks, the hangars are across the street from a subway; imagine what someone with vision could do with them.

Mr. Gee also thinks that a barn thrown up on the cheap for a hockey team is more important than a building where they built airplanes. That an urban hulk is somehow more valuable than a suburban one. That it is mad to let a private developer try to fix up the hangars on the off-chance that he might run out of money but it is OK to throw millions of taxpayers' money at a Loblaws store and hockey rink. There seems to be a double standard at work here.

Heritage isn't just about saving buildings that people think are cute. Sometimes it is about saving buildings that can be put to better use than a parking lot, buildings that are part of our cultural heritage landscapes, that have been in our face all our lives and are part of the fabric of our cities. Sometimes it is just about thinking for a moment before we say "it's cheaper just to demolish."

Lloyd Alter B.Arch, OAA, TSA
President, Architectural Conservancy of Ontario
416 367 8075

2. Minister of Culture Stonewalls on Protection for Views to the Legislature
Hansard, Official Transcripts of Debates in Legislature

Minister of Culture, Aileen Carroll

The Minister of Culture is at best being coy about whether she will take any action to protect views of the Legislature from University Avenue. On two successive days the Minister was questioned by the Culture Critics, Ted Arnott for the Conservatives, Peter Tabuns for the NDP.

As noted in Issue no 152 http://www.builtheritagenews.ca/news.cfm#386 the views of the Legislative Assembly at Queen's Park are threatened by development to the north.

It is not clear if there will be any action by the province, in the form of protection, a statement of provincial interest in the matter, or being a party at the hearing. The Speaker has taken participant status. The OMB listens politely to participants, but it is evidence from expert witnesses presented by Parties that carries the day. At the moment the only Parties are the developer, the City, and the area residents.

The questions in the house refer to a letter from Ontario Heritage Trust chairman, Lincoln Alexander to the Minister's of Culture and Municipal Affairs and Housing that recommends that both Ministers take action.

The illustration is of an earlier, higher development. There is no publicly available image of the current proposal, but it is about 1/2 again as high as the current Four Seasons building, with a section at the same height as the existing that is about 50% wider.

The full text of the Questions is below.

December 9th

Mr. Ted Arnott: My question is for the Minister of Culture. Development proposals are now under way for a large-scale, multi-tower redevelopment project in Yorkville, just north of here. I'm informed that these new towers will appear twice as tall as the Legislative Assembly, depending on the vantage point.

Does the minister believe that the province of Ontario has an interest in preserving the landscape, context and appreciation of our Legislative Assembly building here at Queen's Park?

Hon. M. Aileen Carroll: Thank you for your question. Indeed we value highly Queen's Park. It is a very important heritage landmark in the province, as it symbolizes our parliamentary democracy. I know I speak for all members here at Queen's Park when I say that the home of our government since 1893 is a treasured and respected heritage resource in the province. Anyone who comes here is immediately struck by that.

A heritage plan, which is executed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, protects the site. You can see much of the restoration that is taking place. We indeed value our heritage, we have strength in our Heritage Act, and we are committed to preserving heritage inventory in the province.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. Ted Arnott: I want to quote from a recent letter from the Honourable Lincoln Alexander, chairman of the Ontario Heritage Trust, one of the minister's own agencies: "Queen's Park is Ontario's most significant heritage landmark-the very symbol of our province. Conserving the landscape, context and appreciation of Queen's Park is undoubtedly an issue of provincial interest."

He's right. If the minister agrees, I wonder, why hasn't she done as Lincoln Alexander has recommended? Why hasn't she used her powers under the Ontario Heritage Act to list the Legislative Assembly buildings "as property of cultural heritage value or interest"? What is the minister doing to protect this treasured institution, and will she support the three-point plan Lincoln Alexander has outlined?

Hon. M. Aileen Carroll: I value highly the Ontario Heritage Trust, and I have nothing against the chair but indeed value very highly his role and his wisdom on many matters.

On the issue of protecting the visionary dimensions of a cultural site, there are a variety of views in the community among heritage experts as to how far or if at all one should commence in dealing with that dimension. Since the matter that I believe the member is referring to will be very soon in front of or is currently before the Ontario Municipal Board, I would not want to go too much further in that regard.

December 10th

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Minister of Culture. The minister was asked yesterday in question period what action she would take to protect the view of the Ontario Legislature. The view of this building is threatened by a development on Bloor. She refused to commit to any action, ignoring calls for action from the chairman of the Ontario Heritage Trust, Lincoln Alexander.

If the provincial government itself refuses to step forward to protect the dignity of the Ontario Legislative Building, who does the minister expect really will look after our heritage?

Hon. M. Aileen Carroll: I would strongly disagree with the honourable member's suggestion that I am ignoring the chair of the Ontario Heritage Trust. That would be most inaccurate, because I have fully appreciated the work that he has done and the advice that he has rendered, along with that very venerable agency and the board.

In this case, a letter has been leaked, and it has caused confusion on the other side of the House-confusion that is unwarranted. I indeed value his opinions. I think it's important we note that while there is a great deal of expertise at the Ontario Heritage Trust, there are a variety of views among heritage experts on whether or not the visual context of a cultural site should be protected; indeed, whether or not it is our prerogative to step into the planning of this city in a variety of dimensions. So I-

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Neither the Minister of Culture nor the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing even bothered to show up at the preliminary hearing at the Ontario Municipal Board. If indeed she was listening to Mr. Lincoln Alexander, I think that she would have taken a different position. The government has refused to declare provincial interest in protecting the dignity of the Legislative Assembly. It has not sought official status in the OMB hearings. Unless the provincial government steps forward and declares this hearing to be of provincial interest, representatives of the city and other heritage advocates have little hope of protecting the dignity of the Legislature at the OMB. Why is the minister refusing to take the necessary actions to protect the unique heritage and architectural role of the Ontario Legislature in the city of Toronto?

Hon. M. Aileen Carroll: Au contraire, I think we have done much to protect heritage here in this city, and throughout the province as well. Queen's Park is a very important heritage landmark in the province; indeed, it symbolizes our parliamentary democracy. I know, as I said yesterday, that all members of this House value the treasure in which we work and the heritage that it represents. I think it must be remembered that crown properties, just in case that is being suggested, are ineligible for designation by the province or municipalities under the Ontario Heritage Act.

With regard to whether or not the municipal affairs department, or mine, chooses to engage to ask for amicus curiae status at an Ontario Municipal Board hearing is our choice to render. Since that hearing is now under way, I do not intend to speak further on that dimension of this matter.

3. Beijing Appeal: UNESCO, ICCROM AND WHITR-AP on Climate Change

Regional Capacity-Building Workshop on Assessment of Vulnerability of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Properties in Asia - Pacific to Disasters and Climate Change

UNESCO, ICCROM and WHITR-AP
Beijing, China, 6-12 December 2009

Whereas, the world, including the Asia Pacific region is increasingly exposed to disasters and the adverse impacts of climate change,

Whereas the peoples of this region are acutely aware of the associated risks of disasters and climate change and have experienced immeasurable suffering and loss of life, property and heritage,

Whereas the experts from the governments and peoples of this region and also from Canada, Italy and World Bank gathered here in Beijing, 6-12 December 2009, for the workshop on Vulnerability of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Properties in Asia - Pacific to Disasters and Climate Change, and organized by UNESCO, ICCROM and WHITR-AP to share their common need for the creation of a culture of disaster prevention, having discussed the adverse impacts of climate change on cultural and natural heritage properties and explored solutions to mitigate the threats associated with climate change,

Acknowledge that World Heritage properties are exposed to natural and human-made disasters which threaten their integrity and compromise their values, and

That the loss and deterioration of these outstanding properties would deprive the world of their cultural and socio economic value, their documentary value as a source of information and their tangible ability to support and shape human cultural identity.

That risks related to disasters within heritage properties are a function of their vulnerability to different potential hazards.

That despite this, most World Heritage properties, particularly in developing areas of the world, do not have any established policies, plans or processes for managing risk associated with potential hazards.

That existing national and local disaster preparedness mechanisms, usually do not take into account the significance of these sites and do not include heritage expertise in their operations and policy formulation;.

That international institutions including the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) in its Reports do not mention the effects of climate change on the world’s cultural and natural heritage properties;

That due to climate change, many cultural and natural heritage properties are already damaged with more under threat;

That there is a strong need to group and synthesize the efforts of local communities, educational institutions and professional peoples under the umbrella of international agencies such as UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS, IUCN,UNEP, etc..

That there is insufficient recognition of the role played by traditional knowledge as one of the key tools for disaster preparedness

That international cooperation in the arena of vulnerability assessment of disasters and climate change for World Heritage properties requires strong future commitments at local, national and international levels in order to better protect threatened heritage.

In conclusion therefore, the participants of the Regional Capacity-Building Workshop on Assessment of Vulnerability of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Properties in Asia - Pacific to Disasters and Climate Change held at Beijing, China, 6-12 December 2009, representing 24 different countries and UNESCO, ICCROM and WHITR-AP appeal to world leaders to ensure the following:

• Integration/inclusion of disaster and climate change considerations in legislation and international agreements related to, or having impacts on World Heritage properties

• Mobilize financial resources for the safeguard of cultural and natural heritage for sustainable development.

• Endorse the Action Plan prepared by the participants of the Beijing workshop on Assessment of Vulnerability of World Cultural and Natural Heritage Properties in Asia - Pacific to Disasters and Climate Change (Dec. 6-12, 2009)...

• Give priority within international assistance to States Parties to implement emergency measures to mitigate significant risks to cultural and natural heritage from disasters.

• Endorse and give support to the creation of a culture of disaster prevention in all States Parties.

• Declare an International Disaster Prevention Day for Cultural and Natural Heritage, and .

request UNESCO, ICCROM and WHITR-AP to follow up in a timely fashion on response to this appeal by the world leaders.

Participants from :Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, China, Cook Islands, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kirghizstan, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, WHITR-AP, ICCROM, UNESCO and the World Bank

Date: 11-12-2009

Note:
WHITR-AP- World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia Pacific

ICCROM - the International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

UNESCO- UNITED Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
 

4. Recommended Design Chosen for the New Visitor Centre at Fort York
Toronto Culture Division

Winning Scheme

A jury has unanimously recommended the conceptual design submitted by Patkau Architects Inc., Vancouver, with Kearns Mancini Architects Inc., Toronto, for the new Visitor Centre at Fort York National Historic Site.

Fort York National Historic Site is the birthplace of urban Toronto and the site of Canada's largest collection of 1812-era military structures. The Visitor Centre is key to the planned revitalization of the entire 43-acre (17-hectare) site, and is scheduled for completion in 2012, for the Bicentennial Commemoration of the War of 1812.

In the recommended design, the Visitor Centre forms a new escarpment of weathering-steel, re-establishing the original sense of a defensive site. The jury noted that the success of the Patkau/Kearns Mancini collaborative design lies in the use of the steel-escarpment and a simple foreshore of grasses, which when combined with the recently launched multi-media art installation Watertable, interpret the historic site condition of the original Lake Ontario shoreline bluff, and provide a strong visual presence for the Fort.

From a field of 31 architectural firms who originally expressed interest in the Visitor Centre design, five teams were invited to make conceptual design proposals. In December 2009, four teams submitted designs. After being displayed at a public open house, the anonymous designs were reviewed by a jury, which included George F. Dark, Antonio Gomez-Palacio, Rick Haldenby, Rocco Maragna, Marianne McKenna, Charles Pachter and Anthony Tung. As part of their evaluation, the jury considered a summary of public comments gathered at the open house.

Submissions were received from: Patkau Architects with Kearns Mancini Architects Inc. (identified as ‘Design A’); Raw Design with Gareth Hoskins Architects (Design B); du Toit Allsopp Hillier / du Toit Architects Limited (Design C); and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects (Design D). Additional information regarding the jury and the conceptual designs is available at http://www.toronto.ca/visitorcentre.

Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone (Ward 19 Trinity-Spadina), Chair of the City of Toronto War of 1812 Bicentennial Steering Committee, praised the recommended conceptual design for “creatively integrating the Fort with the surrounding urban landscape.” He congratulated all the competition participants: “Everyone was impressed with the high quality of all four designs, and I want to thank all of the design teams for putting so much time and effort into the process and into assisting us with one of our City’s most important historic sites.” The Visitor Centre will be designed to meet or exceed the performance targets and guidelines contained within the City's latest Green Development Standard.

The building of the Visitor Centre will facilitate a much needed change in how Fort York is perceived as a public resource. Located outside the walls of the existing museum, but within the 43-acre (17-hectare) National Historic Site, the Visitor Centre will reframe Fort York to include not only the seven-acre museum within the Fort's walls, but also the archaeological landscape/former Lake Ontario shoreline to the south, the Garrison Common/battlefield, military cemeteries located at Strachan Avenue and Victoria Memorial Square, the Fort York Armoury and Garrison Creek parkland being developed to the east. The Visitor Centre will be the hub connecting visitors to the experience and content of the entire site as well as to the surrounding neighbourhoods and the city.
At the December 4 launch of the design competition open house, Mike Wallace, Member of Parliament (Burlington) was on hand on behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, to announce that the Federal Government, through the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund, had approved a grant of up to $4 million for the construction of the Visitor Centre. The City has committed $5.3 million. The Fort York Foundation will be launching its fundraising campaign early in the new year. Those wishing to make donations or receive more information should contact: fofy@sympatico.ca. The final cost of the Visitor Centre is estimated at $18 million.

Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. 2009 marks the 175th anniversary of Toronto's incorporation as a city. Toronto's government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its residents.

- 30 -

Media contacts:

David O’Hara, Museum Administrator, Fort York National Historic Site, Ph: 416-392-6907 ext. 222, Cell: 416-220-7545, dohara@toronto.ca

Shane Gerard, Senior Promotions & Communications Coordinator, Cluster A Communications Unit, 416-397-5711,Cell: 647-881-9854, sgerard@toronto.ca

5. Ontario issues stop order to prevent further alterations or damage to century home
Ministry of Culture Press Release

Aileen Carroll, Minister of Culture

Ontario issues stop order to prevent further alterations or damage to century home
McGuinty Government to Assess Potential Heritage Value

NEWS December 21, 2009

Minister of Culture, Aileen Carroll, today issued a stop order to prevent further alterations or damage to 7 Austin Terrace, in Toronto.

The stop order gives the Province time to assess the building’s potential cultural heritage significance while ensuring the building is not further altered or damaged.

Mayor Miller of The City of Toronto requested that the Minister intervene after the property owner removed numerous windows and architectural elements.

Built by notable architect John Lyle and the former home of John Maclean, founder of Maclean’s magazine, the home dates back to 1922 and is currently vacant.

The Ontario Heritage Act gives the Province and the City powers to protect buildings that may be of cultural heritage significance.

QUOTES

“This stop order prohibits further destruction of the building and allows the Province to assess its potential heritage significance. I want to ensure the building stays intact while the Province and the City of Toronto each considers the matter.”
— Aileen Carroll, Minister of Culture

“This is an important step and I applaud Minister Carroll for her intervention. Residents have been asking for action and this order allows time for assessment and helps protect a building that the community feels strongly about preserving.”
— Eric Hoskins, MPP St Paul’s

QUICK FACTS

• The Minister of Culture may issue a stop order for any property to prevent alteration, damage, demolition or removal of any building or structure, if the Minister is of the opinion that the property:
• may be of provincial cultural heritage significance, and
• is likely to be altered or damaged or a building on the property demolished or removed.
• A stop order prevents alteration or demolition for up to 60 days pending assessment of provincial significance and which procedures, if any, should be undertaken to conserve the property.

LEARN MORE

Learn more about the heritage conservation in Ontario.
Find out more about Ontario Heritage Act.

Sarah Petrevan, Minister’s Office, (416) 325-1676
Lisa Robart, Communications Branch, (416) 212-3928 ontario.ca/culture-news
Disponible en français

Editor's Note:
Aileen Carroll is to be congratulated for halting this cultural vandalism.

6. Halifax: Ancient Building Finds New Site
Nova Scotia Heritage Foundation Press Release

A two-and-a half-century-old building is expected to move to a new home in
downtown Halifax this evening.

Sheldon Rushton of Pictou County has been hired by the Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia to move the Charles Morris office building, at 1273 Hollis Street,
to a site across a nearby parking lot on lands owned by Nova Scotia Power. At last report, Sheldon's crew were passing Brookfield, and were expecting to arrive at the site about 6:45. They will start by removing fences and any vehicles in the Imperial Parking lot and will then start the main move of the building to the NS Power lot. The building was removed from its foundation, and off its original site on Sunday, and now sits at a 45 degree angle behind the Ruhland House next door.

The move should be an interesting spectacle.

This was the office building of Charles Morris, the first Surveyor General of
Nova Scotia. He laid out the plans for Halifax, and many other Maritime communities.

It is a two-and-a-half-storey, wood-shingled building, with a truncated pitched roof
and one early, Scottish dormer. The building was moved once previously, in 1895, when it moved south to make way for the New Victoria Hotel. The building was slated for demolition, to be replaced by a ten-storey office building.
More has been learned about the building during the move. There are hand
hewn beams under the building. Some shingles and wall sheathing came off when the kitchen addition was removed. The missing sheathing revealed planks more than a foot wide, and post and beam construction, with brick nogging between the posts. The only other building in Halifax known to have this construction is St. Paul's Church, our oldest building, at 260 years. Both St. Paul's and the Morris office have Roman numerals on the beams. The building was mentioned in Charles Morris' will in 1781, which makes this one of the four oldest buildings in HRM.

The Heritage Trust has had cooperation and financial contributions for the
developers, Louie and Peter Lawen of Dexel Developments, and from HRM, particularly Mayor Peter Kelly, and Councillors Dawn Sloane, Jennifer Watts and Bob Harvey. Heritage Planner Maggie Holm has arranged numerous permits
and permissions. Intervening property owners, such as Pascal Holdings,
and lessees are cooperating. Nova Scotia Power will providing a temporary resting place for the building for up to three years, at $1 per year. Kim Thompson and the other members of the Ecology Action Centre have been
working hard to assist in keeping the building out of a landfill. Roy McBride has provided structural engineering advice.

"We are delighted that we have so many partners in wanting to see the
Charles Morris office building saved," says Peter Delefes, President of the Heritage Trust.

The Trust will have a fund raising drive to cover the cost of the move, securing the building, and finding a permanent solution for the building. Information on the drive will be forthcoming. The Trust will also be seeking ideas for a permanent home and use for the building.

Contact:
Peter Delefes, President, 826 2087, pdelefes@eastlink.ca
Phil Pacey, Chair HRM Committee, 237 1375, 422 8814, 494 3334

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7. Youth Summer Employment Program in Heritage
Heritage Canada Foundation: Press Release

NOW ACCEPTING 2010 YCW APPLICATIONS

The Heritage Canada Foundation, in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage, is pleased to announce the launch of Young Canada Works (YCW) summer student and graduate internship programs for 2010-2011.

In 2009, HCF assisted in the creation of 82 summer positions and 4 internship positions in such areas as historic research, heritage site interpretation, Doors Open events and much more.

Applications for both YCW in Heritage Organizations and YCW at Building Careers in Heritage will be accepted until February 1, 2010. All applications must be completed online at www.youngcanadaworks.gc.ca

All questions regarding the application process or the program should be directed to Kevin Parker at (613) 237-1066 ext. 240 or by emailing kparker@heritagecanada.org

Thank you for your continued interest in the YCW program!

Kevin Parker
YCW Coordinator
Heritage Canada Foundation
5 Blackburn Ave.
Ottawa, ON, K1N 8A2
(613) 237-1066 ext. 240
kparker@heritagecanada.org
www.heritagecanada.org
 

8. Ken Greenberg honoured by AIA Thomas Jefferson Award
AIA Release/Ken Greenberg Announcement

Three AIA Members Honored with 2010 Thomas Jefferson Awards/

Awards recognize design excellence in public and government

The 2010 Thomas Jefferson Awards honor three singularly unique practitioners that have all had a vital and positive influence on architecture’s interaction with the public at large. The recipients—Curtis Fentress, FAIA, a designer; Les Shepherd, AIA, a government agency head; and Ken Greenberg, Assoc. AIA, an urban planner—have all exemplified the architecture profession’s regenerative responsibility to make the everyday lives of the public better and earned these accolades in accordance with three award categories.

 Ken Greenberg, Assoc. AIA, FRAIC

A public official or other individual who by their role of advocacy have furthered the public’s awareness and/or appreciation of design excellence.

Throughout his entire career, Greenberg has fearlessly been an advocate for the civic life of some of the most hobbled and challenged cities in North America. As a city planner and urban planning design consultant with his own firm Greenberg Consultants, Ken Greenberg has designed numerous influential master plans for cities like Philadelphia, Hartford, Washington, DC, and Detroit, becoming one of North America’s most eminent thinkers on the Post-Industrial city, and earning the 2010 Thomas Jefferson award in the process. He’s renowned for his ability to engage the public and ground his designs in the unique zeitgeist of each place he works for to repair its urban fabric. An acolyte of urbanist and writer Jane Jacobs, Greenberg understands that cities are too complex and dynamic to be solved by final, definitive design end points, and that the best urban design interventions allow for and encourage this kind of spontaneous evolution.

Greenberg’s Lower Don Lands master plan in Toronto (in Association with team led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Landscape Architects)
Greenberg has degrees in architecture and international relations from Columbia University. He co-founded the Toronto-based planning and urban design firm Urban Strategies in 1987. Greenberg Consultants was founded in 2001. Greenberg has also created urban master plans for projects in Toronto, Boston, Cambridge, Mass., and the Twin Cities.

Developer Lyme Properties worked with Greenberg on the Kendall Square project in Cambridge, and managing director David Clem wrote in a recommendation letter of Greenberg’s “gift for language. He is able to communicate the importance of urban design and superior architecture, not only to the professional world, but to the residents of neighborhoods impacted by growth, change, construction noise, and traffic.”

“Ken is one of the most skilled and respected urban designers practicing in the world today,” wrote Kairos Shen, Boston’s chief city planner, in a letter of recommendation. “His greatest strength, however, is his ability to build consensus on even the most controversial of projects.”

Ken Greenberg
Greenberg Consultants Inc.
20 Niagara Street - Unit 603
Toronto, M5V 3L8
Ontario, Canada
p 416 603 3777
f 414 293 7497
kgreenberg@sympatico.ca
www.greenbergconsultants.com

Editor's Note:
Congratulations Ken!

9. Globe and Mail: Bruce Etherington's own house
Dave LeBlanc

50s styling that's right up to date

Globe and Mail photo

Call it what you will, call it “TD Modern” but even the designer of over 900 branches of the Toronto Dominion Bank had to start somewhere.

For architect A. Bruce Etherington, it was building his own home in 1950-51 near Oakville's Trafalgar and Lakeshore roads. It was his first, and built on an “unbuildable” lot that was purchased at a discount because it sloped steeply to meet a natural streambed. Rather than fill it with earth to raise it to street level like others were doing, he designed a modernist, post-and-beam back-split that co-existed with the lush landscape.

“It's really inverted,” said the architect over the phone from Honolulu, which has been his home since 1963. “The daytime living is downstairs and the nighttime sleeping is upstairs.”

Living, both upstairs and down, is enhanced by an enormous two-storey window-wall that welcomes in oodles of natural light; this light also softens an unadorned cinderblock wall.

“I didn't have much money,” laughs the 85-year-old of his choice of inexpensive materials such as cinderblock, pine panelling and a fabricated-on-site, floating “acorn” fireplace in the walk-out lower level; even that huge window-wall was built by hand, since these were early days for Canadian modernism: “I had to work it all out, it isn't even sealed glazing, it's double glazing but it's not sealed, I had to put it in with just ordinary sheet glass.”

Editor's Note:
I have long been a fan of Bruce Etherington

Click here for Link

10. Globe and Mail: Fort York Competition Winner
Anna Mehler Paperny

How the Gardiner will help Fort York stand tall again

Image Courtesy Patkau Architects to Globe and Mail

Expressway to stand in for vanished lake bluff in time for War of 1812 bicentennial

From Saturday's Globe and Mail Published on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009

It's no easy feat to rejuvenate a 200-year-old national landmark in the shadow of a hulking concrete commuter artery.

But the ambitious new vision for Toronto's Fort York would go one step further: Incorporate the Gardiner Expressway into a re-creation of the fort in time for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, one of the formative conflicts of Canada's history.

The city announced the winning conceptual design for Fort York's visitor centre Friday – a joint project by Vancouver's Patkau Architects and Toronto-based Kearns Mancini Architects.

It plans to build a steel version of the escarpment that defined the fort's 19th-century geography – making the 20th-century Gardiner an integral part of the design and reinforcing the visual impression that these now-tiny buildings helped defend a country.

“[We wanted] something that had some scale, that could compete with the Gardiner, or at least situate itself in relation to such a huge long, linear structure in a way that they acted together … to bring back the kind of defensive landscape that site originally was,” said designer Patricia Patkau. “I would call the Gardiner a landscape.”

Hemmed in by the raised expressway, railroad tracks and thousands of gleaming condominiums, once-imposing Fort York is reduced to a collection of squat brick buildings – utilitarian antecedents to an infamously utilitarian city.

New York historian and urbanist Anthony Tung, a juror on the committee that selected the winning design, said this would change the impression of utilitarianism: “The original fort looks quite imposing and it would have looked quite imposing at the time of the War of 1812. … That one winning submission was doing something of great contextual architectural brilliance, re-creating the lost imposing edge of the lake.”

Click here for Link

11. Globe and Mail: Hamilton's Stinson School Repurposed
John Bentley Mays

Harry Stinson goes back to school

Globe and Mail photo

After a string of successes, developer Harry Stinson left Toronto under a cloud. He has re-emerged in Hamilton, with a project reminiscent of the Candy Factory Lofts that launched his careerFollowing the ups and downs of developer Harry Stinson's career has long been a favourite spectator sport among observers of Toronto's real-estate market.

Mr. Stinson scored big in the 1990s with his pioneering, successful loft conversion of the Ce De Candy factory on Queen Street West. He scored again in the following decade when he put up the tall, graceful condominium-hotel complex known as One King West. We thought we'd lost him a couple of years ago, however, after his ambitious plans to raise an enormous residential tower in the heart of downtown Toronto collapsed, and he fell into a bruising court battle with his partner in the One King West venture, theatrical impresario David Mirvish.

But Mr. Stinson is back – in Hamilton, where he now lives – with a conversion scheme as exciting as anything he's undertaken since the Candy Factory Lofts.

Editor's Note:
I live in a converted classroom, fantastic living space. The school board's loss is someone elses huge gain.

Click here for Link

12. Globe and Mail: Reno of a James A Murray Home
Dave LeBlanc

A modernist home is updated and personalized

Rick Armstrong must have been the kind of kid who measured, catalogued and took things apart to see how they worked.

When he purchased his Bennington Heights home in 1995, he set about stripping away the “Georgian features and trim and all kinds of crap” that had been hiding the “little gem” that architect James A. Murray had designed for the founding president of York University, Murray Ross, in 1958. As he pried his new home apart, he was amazed at the logic, the repetition of the same measurement – 433/4 inches (1.1 metres) – throughout the hallways, stairwells and windows, and the simplicity of the split-level home's original floor plan. Although he didn't know about modernist architecture at the time, the house educated him about it with mathematics.

Inspired, he set out to learn more. Mr. Murray's name appeared on a tattered drawing the previous owner had left, so he asked a friend, architect Donald Schmitt (of Diamond and Schmitt Architects), what he knew and got an earful: A University of Toronto professor; first editor of Canadian Architect magazine; one of the architects involved with Don Mills; this portion of Bennington Heights was originally known as Heathbridge Park, a co-op planned by Mr. Murray and his students in 1946 (Mr. Murray lived there for a time, as did Margaret Atwood's parents). Eventually, he contacted Mr. Murray and asked him if he'd like to come over.

Editor's Note:
I once had the privilege of working with a James A Murray home in North Toronto. The owners very carefully restored it and love it still. Alas for me, they fell in love with it just before they were about to build one of my designs on another site. Once I saw the house I understood their love for the place.

Click here for Link

13. Globe and Mail: Richard Serra's Shift will be Preserved
James Adams, forwarded by Penina Coopersmith

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/king-township-councillors-vote-to-save-richard-serra-installation/article1384624/

Site of Shift sculpture to be protected landscape under provincial legislation

In a surprise move, councillors for the Township of King have voted in favour of granting heritage status to an outdoor installation erected in the municipality in the early 1970s by the famed U.S. minimalist sculptor Richard Serra.

Meeting Monday evening in a packed council chamber 50 kilometres north of Toronto, councillors, in a 6-1 vote, agreed to a motion from King Mayor Margaret Black calling for the preparation of a notice of intention that will define the Serra installation, called Shift, and its associated lands as a protected cultural landscape under the Ontario Heritage Act.

“Reaching this decision has been very difficult for me,” Black acknowledged at the meeting.

Although the township's heritage committee had recommended King Township Council put the Serra under the heritage umbrella, the expectation among many before Monday was that council would decline the action. The owner of the land on which Shift is located, Hickory Hills Investments (a subsidiary of Toronto-based developers Great Gulf Group of Companies), has steadfastly resisted designation for two years and, until this week, King council had never sought or approved “the designation of any property without the owner's consent.”

The mayor said that while she “respects property rights,” she felt the cultural and historical importance of Shift “overrides that.” Black also expressed a mixture of regret and frustration that the owner-developer had been unable earlier to reach a consensus or compromise with either King's heritage committee or an ad hoc committee set up early in 2008 to deal expressly with Shift.

Editor's Note:
A victory for ACO and others. Michael McLelland did an ACO Preservation Works report several years back which was one of the early efforts to raise awareness of the significance of the work.

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14. The Globe and Mail: Marcus Gee gets it wrong on Downsview Hangers
Marcus Gee

Some reminders of the past just don't deserve to be rescued

ACO photo of Downsview Hangars

A city with a past as brief as Toronto's has to fight to preserve its heritage. Thanks to the energy and passion of conservationists, we have come a long way since the days when the wrecking ball threatened historic monuments such as Old City Hall. Sometimes, though, conservation can become a fetish.

Consider the case of the Downsview hangars. The two structures, romantically known as Buildings 55 and 58, stand on what used to be a Canadian Forces Base near the 401 and Allen Road. The Department of National Defence was on the verge of pulling them down when developer Paul Oberman objected. He calls them important heritage buildings that recall Canada's contribution to the Second World War, when the de Havilland company used them as part of a contract to manufacture Mosquito warplanes.

A piece on the online site BlogTO praised their "square-shouldered, muscular majesty." The Heritage Canada Foundation speaks of their "precise and polished design aesthetic." The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario calls them "historic, iconic structures enclosing vast space, with dramatic monitor windows filling them with light."

Hmm. When you cast your eyes on the crumbling hangars, it is hard to understand all the to-do. Where heritage buffs see iconic majesty, the ordinary person sees vast, empty boxes of plain brick and steel. This is not exactly Versailles we are talking about. The Defence Department says the hangars are riddled with asbestos and lead paint. Parts of the ceiling are falling in. Defence looked at restoration and found it would be cheaper just to demolish.

Editor's Note:
See Lloyd Alter's response in News

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15. Globe and Mail: Views of Queen's Park
John Lorinc

Queen's Park vista threatened by condo plan

View of earlier scheme at 44-48 stories from Queen St. The current proposal is lower and wider.

Queen's Park may soon be sporting a strange protrusion.

A proposal to replace the Four Seasons Hotel on Avenue Road with 48- and 44-storey condos has drawn howls of outrage from heritage advocates and even the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly because the new towers will poke up from the gables of the building, sullying the silhouette of one of Toronto's best-known landmarks.

“The development is going to have negative impact on the view of the legislative buildings,” Stephen Peters said yesterday, echoing statements he made at a public meeting earlier this fall.

The issue has everything to do with the views looking north on University Avenue toward Queen's Park, an enormously historic part of the downtown that was designed 150 years ago to frame a young province's new seat of government.

The current inhabitants of the legislature seem to have forgotten their history lessons. While provincial bureaucrats flagged the need to protect the heritage vistas around Queen's Park over a year ago, Ontario's Liberal government now appears unwilling to take steps to block the high-rise.

This has left heritage fans stumped and angry.

“It's just stupid,” said architectural preservation expert Catherine Nasmith.

She points out that capitals like Ottawa, Washington and most of Canada's provincial seats of government take steps to ensure that views of legislative buildings aren't compromised by competing development.

Recalling U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural motorcade to Congress, she asks, “Could there ever be a condo building behind the Capitol? It's inconceivable.”

The file rests with two ministers: Jim Watson of municipal affairs and housing, and Aileen Carroll, who holds the culture and heritage portfolio.

With the high-rise development application now before the Ontario Municipal Board, the two ministries missed an opportunity earlier this month to seek formal standing at a hearing set for March, citing as an excuse the city's vague policies for protecting heritage landscapes.

Ontario planning law, however, allows the government to trump the decisions of the OMB (a quasi-judicial body that vets municipal planning decisions), but the government rarely exercises that authority.

Ms. Carroll, in an interview yesterday, stressed that her ministry has no intention of getting involved in the hearing: “No, I am not going to seek standing at the OMB.”

More than a year ago, however, Ms. Carroll's officials wrote to the city with their concerns about the towers' “negative impact” on the legislature's appearance. In response, the city and the province agreed to jointly commission a heritage impact assessment, which was completed last month but has not yet been made public.

The Globe and Mail has obtained a copy of the 104-page report, prepared by Archeological Services Inc. and Carleton University historian Herb Stovel, and delivered to Toronto Planning.

It recommends the city's planning rules be altered to protect historic view corridors, and urges the province to “take every appropriate action to protect the highest level of visual integrity of significant views of the Queen's Park cultural heritage landscape.”

Ms. Carroll said she was not aware of the study.

Co-author Ron Williamson, an authority on the city's history, points out that the Four Seasons, built in the 1970s, also interfered with the view of the legislature, so repeating the mistake with a considerably higher structure makes little sense.

Editor's Note:
I don't understand how the Minister could be unaware of the study, but it is now posted online at the Globe and Mail where we can all read it. It recommends action from both Toronto and the province - taking the opportunity that potential redevelopment presents to reverse damage done in the 1970's. That is what a government that valued its dignity would do. The most recent report to Council had 44-48 stories, but I understand that the present proposal is lower, about 1.5 times as high as the existing building and 1.5 times wider, so considerably increasing the visual impact, instead of reducing it. The situation is ridiculous and very sad. Once damage is done it is impossible to reverse. In a letter to Toronto Council written as President of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario I wrote "To have the views of our most important government buildings overwhelmed by commercial buildings behind them will say more than we care to admit about the relative importance of public and private interests in Toronto."

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16. Toronto Star: Demolition to prevent Designation?
Stephen Smysnuik

Anger as historic home's features hacked away

photo, Liz Rykert

Contract workers smashed out windows with hammers and crowbars while about 10 dismayed residents watched from behind the home's old iron gates and a newly installed chain-link fence.

There were some gasps and yelps from the spectators.

"Oh my God, how can they do this?" one of them muttered.

Dyan Kirshenbaum, vice-president of the Casa Loma Residents Association, yelled out: "I hope you're prepared to pay for the damage!"

Editor's Note:
Take a look at the comments below, lots of people side with the owner. There is so much to do to protect everything of value

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17. Toronto Star: Fort York Visitor Centre Competition
Christopher Hume

City and Fort York bury hatchet, seek ways to engage the Gardiner

As the history of Fort York makes clear, it's the enemy within you have to watch.

Since the city bought it in 1909, the "birthplace of Toronto" has had a rough go of things.

The past century has seen one indignity after another heaped upon the place.

At one time, the city ran a streetcar line along the ramparts. Then Metro chair Frederick Gardiner tried to have it removed to make way for the elevated expressway that bears his name. (Though it's hard to see how you'd move a hole in the ground.)

Now all is about to be forgiven, with the launch of an $18 million revitalization program that includes a visitor centre.

The new facility will be located outside the grounds of the fort, primarily to the south and west.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the project, however, is that it engages the Gardiner Expressway. To give Torontonians an idea of what this might mean, the four proposals shortlisted after a design competition this year will be on display Saturday and Sunday at City Hall's Committee Room 1, noon to 6 p.m.

The submissions cover a lot of ground – from green roofs and bridges to boardwalks and glass buildings.

Editor's Note: PDF's of the entries can be found at:

http://www.toronto.ca/culture/museums/visitorcentre.htm

Editor's Note:
Although I have some strong opinions on the entries, I am in a cone of silence until the jury process is complete. (My husband's firm is one of the competitors, but I don't know which one). The winner(s) will be announced early in the New Year. The jurying starts December 10. Merry Christmas Fort York!

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18. BlogTo.com: Mothballed Niagara Falls Power Generating Plant
Jonathan Castellino

An Uncertain Future for the Ontario Power Company Plant

Blog to photo

Ontario Power CompanyThe ominous beauty of disused industrial space is very powerful. Earlier this week, I took a look at the mothballed Rankine power station in Niagara, and today we slide to the base of the Falls where the now 10-year-decommissioned Ontario Power Company hydroelectric plant lies.

Opened in 1905 at the foot of the Horseshoe falls, this massive complex once seemed a symbol of steadfast power and industry. During those decades, conduits almost 2000 meters long fed water from the falls to the 15 massive generators at the facility. Sadly, the generators are no more, the turbine hall now a sealed-off tomb to a once mighty giant.

The Niagara Parks Commission was gracious enough to grant us access to the plant just after our visit to Rankine, and once again we were probed for ideas as to the future of the building.

For years I have hunted out the site's very prominent facade in various photographs of the Falls themselves, so I was naturally curious to see what lay behind its impressive walls. What I found was shocking: a massive hollowed-out space that seems, at first glance, a bit incongruous with its exterior structure, which looks far older.

After a brief explanation regarding the quirky Egyptian-style details found throughout the masonry, the space began to make more sense. With the constant, yet somewhat muffled, booming of the falls echoing throughout the entire building, one got the sense that he or she was sealed in a massive tomb. But, of course with the machinery present and running, I am sure that the aural experience was quite different.

Looking carefully at the floor, one could easily make out where the 15 mighty generators once sat...

Ontario Power CompanyClimbing the beautiful staircases to the gallery, the space seemed interminable...

Editor's Note:
More public access to this amazing space would no doubt produce some interesting ideas for repurposing the spaces.

Click here for Link

19. Canada Council: Good News for University of Waterloo Architecture

Waterloo Universitys "Hylozoic Ground" project selected to represent Canada at Venice Biennale in Architecture

Ottawa, December 15, 2009 – The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that "Hylozoic Ground," a project by PBAI (Philip Beesley Architect Inc.) in collaboration with the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, has been selected through a national juried competition to represent Canada at the 2010 Venice Biennale in Architecture. The Biennale, which is the world’s most prestigious architectural exhibition, will take place in Venice, Italy, from September to November 2010.

"Hylozoic Ground" is a uniquely Canadian experimental architecture that explores qualities of contemporary wilderness. The project will transform the Canadian Pavilion in Venice with an immersive environment composed of a network of interactive mechanical fronds, filters and whiskers that senses and responds to its human occupants. Arrays of touch sensors and actuators create a breathing motion, intended to draw visitors into the “shimmering depths of a forest of light.” The project builds upon the interdisciplinary work of PBAI and collaborators, combining innovative research within architecture, engineering and sculpture. The exhibition is intended to tour a number of Canadian galleries following the installation in Venice.

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20. CKNX 101.7: Lighthouse Fix Slow Going
Steve Sabourin

Don't count on the historic Point Clark lighthouse being repaired any time soon

Don't count on the historic Point Clark lighthouse being repaired any time soon.
Parks Canada says it will hire a consultant to proceed with an engineering assessment.

It will then go ahead with a design for repairs.

A request for money to finance the project will be made, with construction in 2011.

However, funding approval is not guaranteed although the repairs have been identified as a top priority.

Mike Fair, director of facilities and recreation for Huron Kinloss, told council last night that this was the same story they were told last year.

And Mayor Mitch Twolan said he was concerned.

A letter will be sent to Parks Canada from the township expressing its frustration with the slow progress.

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21. Gravenhurst Banner: Power generation possible at historic Bird's Mill Dam
Karen Longwell

Photo by Karen Longwell. GREEN POWER. Ottawa-based company Tweedsmuir Green Power Group is currently exploring power generation at the Birds Mill Dam in Bracebridge on behalf of the District Municipality of Muskoka.

A small power generation project at Bird’s Mill Dam in Bracebridge is a viable prospect, according to Ottawa-based Tweedsmuir Green Power Group.

Tweedsmuir specializes in renewable energy, particularly in small, low head power generation at small dams, said Tweedsmuir president Alf Chaiton.

The District Municipality of Muskoka asked Tweedsmuir to prepare a proposal to see if power generation is viable from an economic, social, community and environmental perspective at Bird’s Mill.

The dam is currently owned by the district and operated for recreational purposes only, with a focus on maintaining an appropriate water level within the affected reach of the Muskoka River, said Tony White, commissioner of engineering and public works for the district.

If the district approves the proposal, Tweedsmuir would sell the power into the provincial power grid, White said, and there would be a royalty to the district.

Chaiton said Tweedsmuir would cover the costs to build the facility and profit through the sale of power.

Bird’s Mill, which is located off Entrance Drive, was constructed in 1892 to provide electrical power to a tannery, said White. In 1894 the Town of Bracebridge bought the building and generator and became the first municipality in Canada to operate a municipally-owned generator.

Chaiton said the proposal would not affect the heritage value of the building.

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22. Kitchener Waterloo Record: Developer Stalls Heritage District?
Terry Pender

Kitcheners fourth heritage district establishment faces delays

KITCHENER — The establishment of the city’s fourth heritage conservation district is mired in a complicated mix of development applications, appeals and contingent opposition.

On Friday a provincial tribunal that rules on land use disputes, the Ontario Municipal Board, held a meeting at Kitchener City Hall to hear from different parties associated with the Civic Centre Heritage Conservation District.

The municipal board has scheduled a hearing for September 2010 for the appeal filed by Community Expansion Inc., a local developer that opposes — sort of — the creation of the conservation district.

“I think there is a sense of frustration, perhaps, that one property is holding up the heritage conservation district,” Donna Kuehl, of Ahrens Street, said.

Kuehl is a former member of Heritage Kitchener, the proud owner of a beautiful old house and a strong supporter of Civic Centre Heritage Conservation District.

The district, which is bounded by Weber, Victoria, Lancaster, Ellen and Queen streets, aims to preserve the streetscape and buildings of the city’s oldest neighbourhood that contains many properties of historic and architectural significance.

“It is in limbo,” Kuehl said. “It is difficult to comprehend, it is so convoluted it is difficult to explain to people.”

Public meetings started in 2005. Consultants were retained in 2006. A plan for the conservation district was produced in 2007. More public meetings were held. City council passed a bylaw creating the district in February 2008.

Then hurdles started appearing.

Community Expansion Inc. wants to build a six-storey residential building at 30-40 Margaret Ave. with underground parking.

The proposed building will occupy most of the lot and come to within four and six metres of the property lines. The developer needs special permission from the city to do this — an amendment to the city’s official plan and a change in zoning.

If the city agrees, the developer will drop the municipal board appeal that opposes the creation of the Civic Centre Heritage Conservation District, Eric Kraushaar, the lawyer for Community Expansion, said at the meeting.

Editor's Note:
Blackmail in other contexts is illegal.

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23. London Free Press: Restoration a Capitol idea - The Capitol Theatre and the Bowles building have been beautifully restored
JANE SIMS

SUE REEVE sue.reeve@sunmedia.ca photograph. Andrew Dale of A-1 Restoration in Komoka gives the limestone exterior a final pressure wash Tuesday as work on the former Capitol Theatre conversion to office space continues.

Two side-by-side downtown London historic gems that came close to a date with the wrecker's ball have returned to their former glory.

The Capitol Theatre and Bowles building, once thought to be too derelict to restore, have made majestic comebacks on London's Dundas Street, breathing new life into a block of core buildings between Clarence and Richmond streets that badly need a new draw.

Their comeback -- with their inviting grey limestone and large windows -- is owed in large part to London developer Shmuel Farhi and the City of London who came together with an idea that would save the buildings.

The $4-million development will soon house the city's planning department in 2010 in its open, airy spaces.

Farhi is excited about the results and admitted while the cost was high, it was a great investment in "giving back to the community" and "bringing more people to Dundas Street."

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24. National Post: New life for a tiny-but-grand symbol of "imperious clout"
Matthew Coutts

10 TORONTO STREET

The grand historic midget nestled amid downtown’s sleek towers, 10 Toronto Street has tenants again.

The building is a three-storey heirloom to Toronto’s coming of age, with fluted pillars and a Georgian design remaining from its construction in 1853, and has been home to some of Canada’s most powerful men.

It has been called the symbol of “imperious clout of corporate Canada,” and was the backdrop to Conrad Black’s fall, where he was famously videotaped removing boxes.

Now, the architectural gem has been renovated and reclaimed by an investment firm with ties to its past glory.

Editor's Note:
See also http://www.hainsworth.com/2009/04/10-toronto-street/ and http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2005/agendas/committees/te/te051018/it010.pdf

Click here for Link

25. Northumberland News: Walton Hotel
Ted Amsden

The Hotel Walton has been saved

Walton Hotel, circa 2002, Catherine Nasmith Photo

The Walton Hotel -- or as it is now called, Hotel Walton -- has been saved.

The collapsed roof, the missing section of the second and third floors, the precariously leaning exterior walls, are all problems of the past.

A tour with contractor Tony Sica and co-owner Ron Christopher throughout the three floors reveals the grand lady at the corner of John and Walton streets is in absolutely top-notch architectural health.

For all intents and purposes, it is almost a new building with the exception of the intact heritage facade, according to Christopher.

The 22,000-square-foot, circa 1870 building has a skeleton of steel girders tied to the exterior walls with steel plates and concrete.

Essentially, three buildings tied together with one facade, the former Queen's Hotel was originally very poorly constructed in some places according to the two men. In the centre section, the joists and the support beams, instead of being placed perpendicularly, ran parallel. Even the floors within each section were completed differently.

In the basement, scrawny poles and 40 little jack stands were the only supports for the three floors above. Basement windows, once at grade and subsequently buried when John Street was filled in, were not bricked in.

The roof was so bad its deteriorated state could be seen in aerial photographs.

Exterior double thick brick walls were free standing.

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26. Ottawa Daily News: Lansdowne Park Redevelopment

All architects resign from City of Ottawa Design Review Panel

On December 7, 2009, all of the architects that were members of the Downtown Ottawa Urban Design Review Panel resigned. The City was informed by way of a letter to Councillor Peter Hume, Chair of the Planning and Environment Committee.

 The Downtown Ottawa Urban Design Review Panel was established in March 2005 to provide expert peer review of urban design elements of new developments in the downtown core. More than 15 major development applications have been reviewed. The Design Review Panel was originally composed of seven architects and three landscape architects. The resignation of all of the architects leaves the Panel with only three members.

 Reasons cited for the resignation included long-overdue improvements to the design review process, the City’s continuing inaction on the Ottawa By Design section of its Official Plan, and the City’s approach to the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.

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27. Owen Sound Sun Times: Branningham could be moved
DENIS LANGLOIS

Branningham Grove could be taken down brick by brick and rebuilt as a replica, according to an architect hired by the developer

Branningham Grove could be taken down brick by brick and rebuilt as a replica, according to an architect hired by the developer.

Ron Gagliardi, president of a Toronto-based architectural firm, told city council Monday night that the former Louis' Steakhouse would undergo "restorative demolition" so that its bricks and historical features would be preserved and reused in a full-sized replica. It would be rebuilt on a new foundation and frame in the southeast corner of the proposed development site.

"The house will be exactly the same as it was," Gagliardi said during a public meeting.

The building could then be used to house a restaurant or office, he said.

Council heard from the developer and residents during a public meeting on an application by Heritage Centres Inc. to rezone a 30-acre property on 16th St. E. to permit a 300,000- square-foot shopping centre. Company officials say Future Shop, Michaels ArtsandCrafts and Value Village have all committed to opening a store in the shopping plaza, while Lowe's has "entered into an agreement" to buy 10 acres for a home improvement store.

The developers say the property must be graded to the same level as Hwy. 26 -- which is 16th St. E. in the area-- for the development to proceed. Branningham Grove sits atop a hill in the area.

The city's community planning and heritage advisory committee has debated for months whether to protect the building under Ontario Heritage Act legislation.

The replica plan was presented to the committee earlier this month and to council Monday.

Aly Boltman, who is leading a fight to preserve Branningham Grove, said the developer's compromise is better than razing the building, but not as good as restoring it where it stands, as is recommended in a heritage impact study.

"I'm actually quite pleased in terms of where we were and where we are now," she said.

Gagliardi said a skilled mason will remove bricks from the house and preserve as many as possible. He expects about 60% will be saved. A replica house will be built, he said, with the same layout and interior and exterior historical features as the original.

Editor's Note:
Restorative Demolition! Good grief, that's a new term, what architect is promoting this

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28. Owen Sound Sun Times: Historical society focuses on barns
CLUB NEWS

Barns are some of Ontario's earliest built heritage

"Barns are some of Ontario's earliest built heritage," said author and timber-frame builder Jon Radojkovic, who spoke to the Grey County Historical Society at its November meeting.

Radojkovic, like many pioneers, homesteaded and started building his timber frame workshop and house from the trees on his farm. He didn't have electricity for the first 10 years and so he learned the skills of using hand tools, just like the original timber frame builders.

From this experience grew a love for timber framing, which he then developed into a profession, building homes, workshops, cabins and barns for others, but gradually, "I began to appreciate more and more the early barns that dot our agricultural landscape. All of them were either post and beam or a timber frame design; some of them with timber 60 feet long with 12 inch by 14 inch timbers."

Sadly, today, as we drive through the countryside, we see these early barns either falling down or being torn down for their boards and being replaced by modern metal buildings, and so they are quickly becoming a construction of the past. "We, in Canada, don't value our barn heritage as does the United States, where generous grants are available to restore and maintain their farming heritage and so we are losing our early barns," remarked Radojkovic.

In 2001, Radojkovic was moved to write about these old Ontario barns in his first book,Barns of the Queen's Bushand in 2007, he focused on historic barns throughout Ontario and Quebec and seven in the northeastern United States, publishing Barn Building: the Golden Age of Barn Construction.He is working on his third book, which will deal with traditional timber frame building techniques of south Asia, where he is about to travel for the second time to do further research, taking interested barn enthusiasts with him.

Radojkovic enhanced his informative talk with slides, spotlighting the heritage barns of Ontario, Quebec and northeastern United States.

There were square barns; rectangular barns; round barns; bank barns; long barns; hip roof barns; hexagon and octagon barns; salt-box barns; barns with all kinds of bays, angular gables and dormers; decorative brick barns where the patterned brick served as vents, stone barns; polygonal barns, barns with multi-shaped cupolas also used to vent air. There were various shaped windows; barns with arcades, arches; some with twin openings and ramp bridges.

"The place to see log barns made from maple and beech logs is in Bancroft, Ontario, where there are an amazing number of them," Radojkovic explained. One can find between five and seven log barns on one property. The first barn built would have been the largest and then smaller barns were built to house smaller animals or used for storage. In Quebec we find grand long barns and in Albany, N. Y., one sees steep-roofed Dutch barns built as early as the 1790s and in Ohio there are Dutch barns with Gambrel roofs to provide more room for the hay.

The American Shaker's log barns were built from 1854 and he had photographed one or two in 2001 for his first book. Log barns were built in Grey and Bruce counties from 1840 and perhaps some even earlier. Small log barns and houses can still be seen on acreages where more current farm buildings exist. These log structures are an important part of our farming heritage. Pole barns were built between 1870 up until the 1890s. Timber frame hybrid barns were fashionable from 1870-1920. Round barns using cedar came into favor from 1890-1914, because it was felt that it was quicker and easier to walk around a circle to feed the animals rather than to walk up and down aisles. Barns attached to farm houses lost their popularity, because they became fire hazards. There were even Zenda kit barns that farmers could order through James Beatty of Fergus and Simpson-Sears in the 1930s at 18 cents a foot.

The next meeting of the historical society will take place on Feb. 17, when the society will hold the annual pot luck luncheon in Markdale, followed by an illustrated address by Sheila Lambrinos, who will talk about her Acadian Thibaudeau ancestors whose descendants were fur traders and Palantine Loyalist who pioneered in the former Artemesia and Glenelg townships in 1854. They married into Highland Scottish, Cornish and Irish families. The public is cordially invited to attend all programming and events. For further information call 519-372-0225 or visit the society's website at: www.greycountyhs.ca

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29. Owen Sound Sun Times: Photographer finds inspiration in the ruins of old farms
BILL HENRY

After years photographing uncounted old farm sites and the remains of rural homes

Bruce Brigham doesn't make a big deal about it, but he's convinced some of the old, falling down farm homes he photographed for a new book launching Saturday may not be as empty as they seem.

The Collingwood/Badjeros resident and graphic designer has been photographing old farm homes, barns and other structures, inside and out, for about seven years. With close to 500 black and white images and 200 pages,Abandoned Ontario results from Brigham's fascination with old rural buildings.

The self-published paperback book will be launched at The Three Herons in Collingwood Saturday. It sells for $42 or $20 online as an e-book, and includes at least one ghost story.

"I didn't set out for it to be a ghost book, and I don't want to classify it as that," Brigham said. "But at the same time there has been no doubt in my mind that I have encountered some spiritual activity in these homes."

After years photographing uncounted old farm sites and the remains of rural homes, many with fridges, cupboards, beds and other personal property still inside, others just the skeletal remains, Brigham views this book as the first of several. It focuses on Grey, Simcoe and Dufferin counties and some of Peel Region, where Brigham was raised and where his ghost story originates.

The farm was entirely burned out, just charred remains of the house, barn, buildings and an old bus. Brigham climbed in and shot some frames down the length of the bus. Weeks later, he processed the film and discovered what he is convinced is the image of a young woman beyond the bus, in the doorway of an old shed.

"I made some inquiries through a psychic. She gave me names and what happened and why the apparitions had appeared," he said. "Everything she told me turned out to be true."

The spiritualist, with no prior knowledge, named the girl, the family and the man she believes murdered her and buried her at that farm in the late 1800s. Some research in archives found the same names associated with the property. The victim, if there was a murder, was an orphaned girl who stayed at the farm. The culprit was a temporary farm labourer.

The man fancied the girl, who didn't respond. He killed her, buried her and disappeared, the spiritualist told Brigham. His subsequent research indicated the family believed the girl had run off with the farmhand, taking one of their horses with them. It was not uncommon for such orphaned children to escape their forced farm servitude when they come of age, he said.

"It's a matter of opinion, and what people want to believe."

Brigham will also be at The Ginger Press in Owen Sound for a book signing next Thursday at 5 p. m.
He said he frequently gets "a feeling" from homes he photographs, but certainly not all of them. Sometimes it's just a sense of cold hostility, as if he's not wanted, and others it's a strong sense that someone is watching.

He traces this hobby to weekend outings as a child when his grandfather would often take him and his sister for a car ride and an inevitable stop at some country cemetery or a rustic, abandoned farmstead.

"I guess that really sat with me, because I've always had a real interest," Brigham said this week.

He can't help thinking of his grandfather's enthusiasm for built heritage as he visits similar old homes now. The old man would fire his grandchildren's imaginations with questions about who lived there, and what might have happened. The same questions come to Brigham in his photographic explorations.

That's the reaction he hopes readers will have, which is why he's relied on just essential text and loads of photographs in the book, which he designed himself, page by page since last August. Although he has researched some of the buildings, he kept those details to a minimum in the book.

"Going back into the family histories is not really something that I set out to do. It's more focused on the buildings and the state that they're in today. I really wanted to put the messages across through the photos and let the readers kind of formulate their own sense of what it's about. The idea is that people can kind of write their own stories in the heads as to what may have happened."

Ahead of Saturday's book release, Brigham said there's already some anticipation. He set up an Abandoned Ontario website 18 months ago and has had 16,000 hits and e-mail queries from around the world. There's also been some negative reaction to several references on the site to possible ghosts in some of the buildings, largely from religious groups who take offence. So the book minimizes, but doesn't exclude that aspect of Brigham's pursuit.

In his travels, Brigham follows several self-assigned rules.

He shoots as much as possible with natural light, with film at first and now digital. The books are black and white because he's photographing light and shadow, not colour.

To avoid vandalism or other attention to the sites, he's not very specific about location.

He won't enter any area that's fenced or posted, won't go in a locked building, and he never takes anything from the sites.

"I have some golden rules. If a building is definitely gated off and it says no trespassing I'll respect that," Brigham said. "If it's left wide open, I go up and photograph. My intentions are pure. Really I want to leave a zero footprint on a site."

More information about the book is available at www.abandonedontario.ca.

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30. The Post: Radojkovic speaks on Ontario's Barns

Members focus on the historic barns in this area and their construction

"Barns are some of Ontario's earliest built heritage," said author and timber-frame builder Jon Radojkovic, who spoke to the Grey County Historical Society at their November general meeting.

Radojkovic, like many of our pioneers, homesteaded and started building his timber frame workshop and house from the trees on his farm. He didn't have electricity for the first 10 years and so he learned the skills of using hand tools, just like the original timber frame builders.

From this experience grew a love for timber framing, which he then developed into a profession, building homes, workshops, cabins and barns for others, but gradually, "I began to appreciate more and more the early barns that dot our agricultural landscape. All of them were either post and beam or a timber frame design; some of them with timber 60 feet long with 12 inch by 14 inch timbers."

Sadly, today, as we drive through the countryside, we see these early barns either falling down or being torn down for their boards and being replaced by modern metal buildings, and so they are quickly becoming a construction of the past. "We, in Canada, don't value our barn heritage as does the United States, where generous grants are available to restore and maintain their farming heritage and so we are losing our early barns," remarked Radojkovic.

In 2001, Radojkovic was moved to write about these "old" Ontario barns in his first book, "Barns of the Queen's Bush," and in 2007, he focused on historic barns throughout Ontario, Quebec and seven north-eastern United States barns, publishing,

"Barn Building: The Golden Age of Barn Construction." He is presently working on his third book, which will deal with traditional timber frame building techniques of south Asia, where he is about to travel for a second time in order to do further research, taking interested barn enthusiasts with him.

Radojkovic enhanced his informative talk with slides, spotlighting the heritage barns of Ontario, Quebec and north-eastern United States.

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31. The Record.com: Trinity Park Re-design in Cambridge
Kevin Swayze

CAMBRIDGE — If all goes as planned, a place of quiet, mobile contemplation will grow in Trinity Park next spring.

A 20-metre diameter labyrinth in front of Trinity Anglican Church is intended as a spiritual pit stop along the Grand River — and maybe a tourist attraction, too.

“I think people will come and walk the labyrinth. It’s open to everybody and I don’t think you could walk by it without saying ‘I’d like to try it,’ ” said Ross Anderson, a retired architect on the church committee preparing the project.

A labyrinth isn’t a maze where you can’t see where you’re going; it’s not a place of entertainment carved through corn fields or hedges in gardens. A maze is a modern version of a labyrinth first created 4,000 years ago.

Think of a long, winding path folded upon itself in a within a circle: walk the path in to the centre, then follow it all the way out again. All the while, your thoughts are your companion.

“This is designed as an inspiration, to think about things,” Anderson said.

“You wouldn’t run around it, you would walk around it looking at your own imagination . . . that’s the reason the church has agreed to do this . . . It’s something very important to religious insight.”

The idea of a labyrinth in the park in front of Blair Road church was first suggested 15 years ago, by the late Barb Lemm, the parish nurse. People liked the idea, a committee was formed, but little happened. Two years ago, Anderson joined the committee and helped push the idea forward. Also helping was a bequest from Lemm’s estate.

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32. ThePost.on.ca: Grey County Historical Society Members focus on the historic barns in this area and their construction
Staff

"Barns are some of Ontario's earliest built heritage," said author and timber-frame builder Jon Radojkovic, who spoke to the Grey County Historical Society at their November general meeting.

Radojkovic, like many of our pioneers, homesteaded and started building his timber frame workshop and house from the trees on his farm. He didn't have electricity for the first 10 years and so he learned the skills of using hand tools, just like the original timber frame builders.

From this experience grew a love for timber framing, which he then developed into a profession, building homes, workshops, cabins and barns for others, but gradually, "I began to appreciate more and more the early barns that dot our agricultural landscape. All of them were either post and beam or a timber frame design; some of them with timber 60 feet long with 12 inch by 14 inch timbers."

Sadly, today, as we drive through the countryside, we see these early barns either falling down or being torn down for their boards and being replaced by modern metal buildings, and so they are quickly becoming a construction of the past. "We, in Canada, don't value our barn heritage as does the United States, where generous grants are available to restore and maintain their farming heritage and so we are losing our early barns," remarked Radojkovic.

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33. Windsor Star: Demolition proponents rebuffed by council
Doug Schmidt

For the second time in two weeks, city council sparked a noisy exodus of angry citizens from city hall after again refusing to hear residents on the issue of derelict, boarded-up houses in the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge.

A total of 19 delegations were registered to speak on a motion by Ward 2 Coun. Caroline Postma to rescind a two-year-old bylaw that prevents the demolition of homes in Olde Sandwich Towne.

Supporters of the motion also brought forward a 233-name petition of area owners and tenants complaining of the "eyesore of monumental proportions" represented by more than 100 homes acquired in their neighbourhood by the bridge company and then left abandoned.

Council was warned in a memo by both Windsor's solicitor and its planner that repealing the demolition control bylaw as recommended by Postma would "most likely result in massive demolitions and ultimately the gutting of the Olde Sandwich Towne Heritage Conservation District."

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34. Waterloo Record: Victoria Park heritage district to lose another house
Terry Pender

KITCHENER — Another old house in the Victoria Park Heritage Conservation District will be demolished, bringing to six the number of properties demolished on a single block in the past 10 years.

Heritage Kitchener voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the demolition of 179 Queen St. South, a one-and-a-half storey wood house clad in vinyl siding that was moved to that location in 1902.

City staff inspected the building in September and found it to be in generally fair condition. But because it is set back from the street heritage planners say the demolition will not affect the view of the streetscape.

This house and five others were demolished to make way for the Sandhills Christian Community, a 58 unit apartment building for seniors that fronts on to St. George St.

The developer’s original plans called for a second phase—a three storey building along Queen Street South. But those plans are on indefinite hold.

David Gardy, the president of Sandhills Retirement Community Inc., told members of Heritage Kitchener the developer was not able to secure funding to help pay for the second phase that included assisted living and nursing care, and there does not appear to be a market for that type of housing in the downtown anyway.

He said the firm wants the old house at 179 Queen St. South demolished to make way for a parkette.

“Our desire is to give our aged residents some green space,” Gardy said in a brief appearance before Heritage Kitchener.

“We believe our application will enhance the downtown core not take away from it,” he said.

Developers have chipped away at the old urban fabric along Queen Street South since before the city established a Heritage Conservation District there in May 1996.

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35. Canadian Architect: Award Winners

2009 Canadian Architect Awards of Excellence winners announced

Canadian Architect announces the winners of the 2009 Awards of Excellence, given each year to architects and architectural graduates for buildings in the design stage. One of only two national award programs devoted exclusively to architecture, the Awards of Excellence have recognized significant building projects in Canada on an annual basis since 1968.

 This year’s winners have been selected by a jury consisting of Gregory Henriquez of Henriquez Partners Architects in Vancouver, Jean-Pierre LeTourneux of Menkès Shooner Dagenais LeTourneux Architectes in Montreal, and Paul Raff of Paul Raff Studio and RVTR in Toronto.

 Awards are given for architectural design excellence. Jurors considered response to the program, site, geographical and social context, and evaluated physical organization, structure, materials and environmental features.

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36. Contemporist: Howe Sound B.C. Gorgeous New Modern House

Bowen Island House by Sturgess Architecture

The House on Bowen Island is for a return Sturgess Architecture client, whose city home is in Calgary. The house is for the couple and their two older children, their visitors and extended family. The program divided the main house from the guest accommodation and linked them under one roof.

The steep cliff site faces North overlooking Howe Sound. Located on a six meter wide ledge, the house is tied back to the upthrusting rock face that then drops 100m to the water below. An elongated bowtie plan maximizes the aperture of glazing and view to the North, while on approach from the South, only the roof marks its presence in the landscape. Naturally finished slate, cedar shingles and copper coloured roof denote a building that challenges with form yet eases itself into the coastal context. The entrance leads through the blasted rock to a sheltered deck, and landscape features are left in their original state.

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37. Saint John Telegraph-Journal / Ontario Library Boards' Association: Carnegie or criminals?
John Chilibeck

Development: If the city has its way, history will lose out to a tunnel that will transport those accused of crimes to and from a new courthouse and police headquarters at Peel Plaza - The granite staircase Andrew Carnegie envisioned to elevate the statio

Cindy Wilson/Telegraph-Journal. Kurt Peacock, researcher and member of the Saint John Heritage Development Board, stands on the steps of the Saint John Arts Centre.

SAINT JOHN - One hundred and five years after it was built, officials seem to have forgotten why the Carnegie Building has a sweeping granite staircase.

Kurt Peacock, the second vice-chairman of the Saint John Heritage Development Board, says the city should revamp its plans to remove the stairs and fill the land in front of the old library building, making the grand entranceway level with the ground outside.

The plans could also bury the basement windows of the historic landmark, all for the sake of a new tunnel that would convoy accused criminals between a planned new police headquarters and courthouse.

Peacock points out that Saint John's Carnegie Building is one of more than 2,500 built around the world that provided free public libraries to everyday people for the first time.

"These are historic buildings and there are certain standards that need to be maintained," Peacock said. "What is important for city officials to consider is these libraries are recognized throughout North America as an architectural treasure. You have websites in California, Illinois, Ontario, all dedicated to the Carnegie libraries. Since this library is the only remaining Carnegie Library in all of Atlantic Canada, it's very important for us to do the right thing."

Peacock is a full-time researcher and has learned the Carnegie story inside out. Saint John's graceful sandstone structure was built in 1904 thanks to the generosity of the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. A 19th century Bill Gates, the steel magnate was a strong believer that people could succeed in life if they were provided a proper education. In his old age, Carnegie began donating his vast, $350-million fortune (nearly $5 billion in today's dollars) for the creation of libraries all over the English-speaking world. Most of the libraries were built in the United States, but 125 were included in Canada. Only seven Canadian examples remain.

Editor's Note:
The Ontario Library Boards' Association has re-posted this story, and enhanced it with HTML links to make the article more accessible and interactive, then would otherwise be the case. see, http://www.accessola.com/olba/bins/content_page.asp?cid=66-827-3598

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38. Saskatoon Star Phoenix: One old building, three new visions - Local firms in running to remake historic Arthur Cook building and kick off revitalization of the warehouse district
David Hutton

The Saskatoon Cartage and Warehouse Co. building. Photograph by: Leonard Hillyard, 1945, Courtesy local history department, Saskatoon Public Library

Three Saskatoon developers have submitted proposals to buy the 81-year-old Arthur Cook warehouse and turn the faded architectural beauty of the building into an anchor point of a trendy new neighbourhood.

Company officials hope a remake of the long-forgotten building catalyzes a private-sector driven revitalization of the warehouse district.

"It's critical for the warehouse district to have a really strong start," said Midwest Developments president Ken Achs, who is bidding to convert the building into the company's headquarters.

The city decision-makers face a tough challenge in delineating the top proposal or deciding whether or not to accept any of them, given that several of the proponents say the $3-million asking price is too high to make any conversion project economically viable.

The three proposals from home builder North Ridge Developments, upstart Shift Developments and Midwest are diverse but all focus on carefully restoring the building into modern office space -- not condos as was originally proposed -- and opening up the closed-off warehouse to the outside.

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39. Philly.com:Preservation Pay Off in Philadelphia
Dan Geringer

Lost block' now city's most beautiful

Neighbors worked for 8 years to transform abandoned rowhouses, push out crime

SPREAD OUT on Kathy Berry's kitchen table in Fishtown, the photos show very young children, some of them in diapers, playing in a blue plastic wading pool in front of abandoned rowhouses with broken- out windows - some boarded up, some not - and no front doors.

Piles of trash fill the deserted basements and front hallways. Weeds and weed trees flourish on the shattered sidewalks.

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40. Planetizen: Issues with Over-Preservation and Economic Renewal
Tim Halbur

Historic Redevelopment, Economic Preservation?

This Saturday, Nate Berg and I will be taking part in LA 2.0: Refresh, Reinvent, Re-Imagine, an event hosted by GOOD Magazine, Sheridan/Hawkes Collaborative and The Public Studio. The goal is to brainstorm innovative solutions to improve the physical environment of Los Angeles. I’m still somewhat new to LA, so I’ve been turning over in my head what ideas I might bring to the table. Here’s one.

Lately, my bedside reading has been Ada Louise Huxtable’s The Unreal America: Architecture and Illusion. As a meditation on the themed environments of America, Huxtable actually turns the discussion on its head to talk about authenticity and preservation. Using Colonial Williamsburg as an example, she illustrates how historic preservation can be as guilty of sanitizing the past as places like the Luxor pyramid in Las Vegas. “Of course, we like our memories better all cleaned up,” she writes. “The gritty and sometimes unlovely accumulations that characterize cities are the best and worst of what we have produced; they exert a fascination that no neatly edited version can inspire…To edit life, to sanitize the substance of history, is to risk losing the art, actuality, and meaning of the real past and its intrinsic artifacts."

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41. Planetizen: Strategies for Urban Blight
John Kromer

How to Make Vacant Properties Disappear

from Planetizen

Vacant properties are considered blight instead of potential, argues John Kromer of the Fels Institute. By acting strategically and thinking smaller, officials can revitalize their cities and attract new, more stable investment.

Up until the final years of the last century, most municipal development agencies didn't regard planning for the reuse of vacant and abandoned properties as a strategic priority. Prior to that time, the prevailing public-sector view had been dismissive: we don’t own most of the vacant properties, and we don’t have enough subsidy funding to get them developed—so what can we do, other than ask the code enforcement department to board up the most deteriorated buildings and clean up the most littered lots?

Thanks to the advocacy of organizations such as the National Vacant Properties Campaign, this view of vacant property as little more than a public-nuisance challenge has all but disappeared. We are now encouraged to regard vacant buildings and lots as economic assets that, under the right circumstances, can generate substantial added value to their downtown and neighborhood locations.

Although this change of perspective is welcome, it's not always easy to identify the particular "right circumstances" under which those vacant properties that offer the best prospects for success in the real estate market can be positioned for acquisition and development. Even if the economic condition of disinvested urban areas begins to improve sooner than expected, the chances are that many of the vacant properties that can be found in these places will remain vacant indefinitely. Given this state of affairs, how can we tell which ones are most likely to succeed?

Recent property transactions and development activity involving vacant buildings and lots in the neighboring cities of Philadelphia and Camden illustrate ways in which the potential value of some vacant properties can be realized. Although Philadelphia and Camden were not as hard hit by the foreclosure crisis as other cities, no one would have characterized these cities’ real estate markets as particularly robust during the period in which most of these activities took place. This experience suggests that development opportunities can emerge in an economic environment that is far less than ideal.

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42. Preservation Resource Centre: New Orleans

Organization Doing Fantastic Work Rebuilding New Orleans

Editor's Note:
A fantastic Preservation organization, multi dimensional, broad community support and engaged in a wide range of urban issues. Beyond relevant.

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43. Treehugger: Architectural Trends over the Decade
Lloyd Alter

The Decade in Review: 14 Themes, Memes, and Dreams in Architecture

It was a wild ride of a decade for architecture. Green building got real; the economic boom created new centers of excellence and horror; computers, 9/11, green roofs and green walls all changed how we design buildings. We look at 14 themes, memes and dreams that changed architecture in the decade.

Editor's Note:
In the slideshow Lloyd Alter, current ACO President, calls for building more the way we used to.

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