1. Heritage: Not Such a Sleeper Election Issue
Catherine Nasmith, editor

Brantford the Great

An election about voter anger…..was that the story in the Toronto mayoralty elections?

While heritage was not a big issue in the Toronto mayoralty debates, anger against Councils who bungled the heritage file is a strong pattern in Ontario’s election results.

Hamilton elected Bob Bratina one of the two councillors who took a lot of flack for his efforts to save the Lister Block and Hamilton City Hall’s limestone cladding.

The news is not good everywhere, in St. Catharine’s Carlos Garcia, who had been such a strong force against the tower development in Port Dalhousie, lost his seat. That is a real loss, and one St. Catharine's may live to regret. 

But elsewhere lots of champagne corks were popping.

In Brantford, the election occurred too late to stop the demolition of the south side of Colborne Street, but voters expressed their opinions by throwing out the leaders of the pro-demolition forces. Lloyd Alter, ACO president wrote “ In Brantford, heritage activists made a difference. The leader of the South Side Six who rammed through the destruction of Colborne Street came an ignominious third in his campaign for Mayor. Lisa Wood, ACO Branch President, reported "Chris Friel, heritage friendly, is mayor. We spoke tonight already at the victory party about working together on a heritage master plan....  [ACO Member] Mary O'Grady lost, but ACO member Dan McCreary was re-elected."

In St. Thomas, Cliff Barwick went down, partly due to his bungling of the Sutherland Press building. Local activists ran a poster campaign on his record in ordering a premature demolition, and then failing to stop when a judge ordered the town to cease and desist. The building’s owner David McGee, is now suing the municipality for damages. Suzanne Van Bommel, immediate past president of Elgin ACO was thrilled with the election of former alderman Heather Jackson-Chapman, “Heather will do a great job. We also have a great new advocate for heritage on council with Mark Cosens.”

It was just over one term of Council ago that the Muskoka Lakes Municipal Heritage Committee resigned en-masse because of the Council’s failure to act on their advice. The MHC members re-convened as a branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario and have been working ever since to build awareness of Muskoka’s important heritage. A major election issue in Muskoka Lakes was how to protect the heritage of Bala and also capture the potential hydro-electric power at the Bala Falls. Just prior to the election Muskoka ACO held a meeting on the benefits of Heritage Conservation Districts. The only Mayoralty candidate to attend that ACO meeting Alice Murphy won by a large majority. At an all candidates meeting, all candidates, Mayors and councilors alike also agreed that Windermere should be an HCD.

If re-shaping your council is on your list of projects look to Guelph for inspiration. With a second successful election result, it is clear that the Guelph Civic League (GCL) http://www.guelphcivicleague.ca/ is a force to be reckoned with. With strong margins, Guelph re-elected Mayor Karen Farbridge, councillor Leanne Piper and many others. How did they do it? Five or six years ago community activists, unhappy with the destruction and unfettered development occurring around Guelph, started to talk to each other about their common values and how to advance them. With an ongoing program of visionary speakers coupled with advocacy on diverse issues like food quality and security, heritage, arts, culture and the environment, GCL has kept the community talking and energized. GCL tracks council voting records, and scores individual councillors on their support of GCL values.

In so many Ontario communities positive organizing on heritage is making a big difference. If you are not happy with your local results, now is the time to start getting ready for next time. 

2. Multi Million Dollar Lawsuit Filed against the City of St. Thomas and Mayor St. Thomas
David McGee

Claims in a lawsuit filed by real estate developer David McGee allege that City of St. Thomas officials ignored engineering reports and violated a Court order in their rush to tear down the former Sutherland Press Building.

On July 21, 2008, a demolition crew retained by the City arrived at the 105-year-old Sutherland Press Building in downtown St. Thomas, Ontario to demolish it. The city, and various officials claimed that the 4-storey 35,000 sq. ft. solid brick structure was in imminent danger of collapse and a threat to public safety. This was despite McGee’s repeated efforts to save, preserve and develop the building for future use as retail, office and residential space. This was also despite an overwhelming amount of evidence that said that building was sound. McGee is seeking $3 million in actual damages and further sums in punitive damages from the City of St. Thomas and various city officials, including Mayor Cliff Barwick.

McGee, who has been active in developing property in Ontario for 25 years, purchased the building in 2003 after receiving an engineer's report that the one-time home to the Sutherland Press was structurally sound. Before he began renovation work, however, a series of other developers expressed interest in acquiring the property, so McGee put his plans on hold while exploring those options. In May 2008 following inspections by the former Chief Building Official of St. Thomas, and an engineer retained by the City, St. Thomas City Council and Mayor Barwick held a closed door session to which McGee was not invited and of which he was not informed. During that meeting, they declared that the Sutherland Press Building represented a threat to public safety and agreed to proceed with the building’s demolition, without further notifying McGee or trying to find a less dramatic resolution.

On finally discovering the city’s demolition plan that June, McGee retained an independent engineer, to conduct another evaluation of the building’s structural integrity. After an extensive survey, the independent Engineer confirmed that there was no immediate danger to the public, as long as McGee undertook some minor renovations before the onset of winter. Unfortunately, City officials ignored this engineer’s conclusions, as well as those of two other independent structural engineers that McGee subsequently retained to study the building. Instead, the City began demolishing the building 15 minutes before a scheduled meeting between City Officials and McGee’s legal representatives was to take place.

According to the lawsuit, city crews continued demolition work on the historic building for several hours after being notified of a ‘stop work’ court order. Moreover, McGee was denied access to his property for a further 10 days, causing further damage as the building was left exposed to the elements.

Ultimately, an Ontario Ministry of Labour engineer reached the same conclusion that all three of McGee’s experts had reached months earlier: the building did not need to be demolished. In December, the City of St. Thomas finally granted McGee a permit to go ahead with needed repairs, and the remedial repairs were completed at a cost of less than $50,000. By then, McGee points out in his suit, the city had already spent $154,000 of City funds on the demolition and decreased the value of the building in the process.

The building now remains in its partially demolished state – a scar on the main thoroughfare of St. Thomas. McGee is hopeful that upcoming municipal elections may bring new leadership with visions of revitalizing and restoring the downtown. “In filing this suit I hope to hold City officials responsible for their actions.” McGee says. “At the very least, I would like to ensure that they are less cavalier in their future behaviour, and think twice before acting so recklessly in destroying the City’s heritage and trampling over the interests of both St. Thomas taxpayers and business owners. My ultimate goal is to ensure that nothing like this can happen again. I am looking forward to working with new civic leadership after the election on the revitalization of our downtown.”

Video of demolition in 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mebiZqtFGCQ&feature=related
.
For further information, please contact David McGee, mail@davidmcgee.com
or (416) 625-1112.

3. There Goes Another Grand Forest Hill Home?
Catherine Nasmith, editor

One of the sad things about editing BHN is that people send you all kinds of bad news. Today's were photos of 8 Forest Hill Road, rumoured to be about to bite the dust.

Can you imagine that anyone would find such a beautiful home lacking?

Susan Stock reports it is rumoured to have been purchased by Ted Rogers for his daughter Melinda. True or False?

Many bemoan that so much is being lost in Forest Hill....if ever there was a situation where the City should just intervene and establish an HCD Forest Hill is it. But, overworked city staff are not about to walk into that lion's den, and it is hard to imagine the local councillor wanting to do it either.

Anyone who can add some facts to this rumour? I would love it to be false.

4. Hamilton Celebrates Mid Century Modern
Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hamilton, ON - November 1, 2010
Exhibition Showcases Hamilton’s Modernist Residential Architecture
Hamilton HIStory + HERitage Celebrates Mid-Century Modern Architectural Gems

Hamilton HIStory + HERitage, billed as Hamilton’s only storefront museum, is launching a fascinating look at some of the city’s most remarkable modernist houses. All built between 1950 and 1975, the homes were designed by architects, most for individual clients.

The names of the well-known architects featured in the exhibition include Anthony Butler, Stanley Roscoe, Jerome Markson, Mac
Gerrie, Barton Myers, Joe Singer, Harry Lennard, Trevor Garwood-Jones, and J.D. Kyles.

“It has been a great pleasure to meet with homeowners who have been so generous with us in permitting their homes to be part of this exhibition,” says Graham Crawford, founder of Hamilton HIStory + HERitage, located at 165 James Street North in Hamilton.

“The quality of the design and the construction materials, inside and outside of the homes, is still evident today. In fact, most of the homes are in pristine original condition.”

The exhibition was created by a team of volunteers, including retired architect, Tony Butler, who took on the challenge of researching
the houses, including when they were built and who designed them. “I must admit it’s been a very pleasurable challenge for me. As a result of the project, I’ve been in touch with colleagues whom I have not spoken with in many years.” For some on the list, that meant phone calls to California, or Calgary. Some were still in Hamilton. Others were in Toronto.

Given the period on which the exhibition focuses (1950–1975), it meant that most of the architects were in their late 70’s or older.

Photographer Jeff Tessier took on the task of taking images of the exterior and interior of the nearly dozen homes featured in the exhibition. “I have always admired this period of residential architecture, so it was an amazing opportunity to spend time inside the homes with the owners. Clearly, they understood what they bought and have taken such remarkable care of their homes. It’s really evident in the photographs.”

The exhibition features photographs and a series of multi-media presentations that provide not only great images of the homes, but
also information about when they were built, by whom, and the primary construction materials. There are also print materials including
posters, a calendar, and a small book featuring the homes.

The team also included the creators of Historical Hamilton, a website that documents Hamilton’s architectural history through photography and satellite maps. Brain Kowalewicz and Paul Dolanjski have created a special SLEEK section on their website that shows each of the homes in the exhibition, both photographically as well as on an interactive Google Earth map. “This exhibition was a natural fit with the vision we have for our site,” says co-founder Brian Kowalewicz. Graham and his team provided the content and
Historical Hamilton provided the platform to ensure all Hamiltonians, and anybody else anywhere in the world with an internet connection, can enjoy this exhibition.”

The SLEEK exhibition premieres on Friday, November 12 during Art Crawl, the monthly event that brings nearly 1500 people to James North, one of Hamilton’s oldest streets that features blocks of Victorian buildings now housing art galleries, cafés and restaurants.

The exhibition runs until February 11, 2011.
-30-
For more information, contact Graham Crawford at:
905-546-0660
gcrawford6@gmail.

5. Deaty of Andrzej Tomaszewski
ICOMOS Release

Professor Andrzej Tomaszewski, past President of ICOMOS Poland, past Director General of ICCROM and one of ICOMOS’ most remarkable members passed away on October 27. He founded the ICOMOS International Committee on Training (CIF) as well as, more recently, its International Committee on Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration.

For your information, ICCROM has published an obituary at http://www.iccrom.org/eng/news_en/2010_en/various_en/10_27obitTomaszewski_en.shtml

6. The revitalization of the Lairet River at Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site in Quebec City
ICOMOS Press Release

New life for a historic site

The section of river that meanders through the national historic site commemorating the spot where explorer Jacques Cartier spent his first winter in Canada has been restored to what it likely looked like when Jacques Cartier arrived in 1535.

Charlotte Simard, project manager, at the worksite during the revitalization.
PWGSC’s Quebec regional office lent a hand to Parks Canada to rehabilitate the site, transforming what had become a storm drain back into a river.
Created in 1972, Cartier-Brébeuf National Historic Site of Canada commemorates Jacques Cartier’s first overwintering in North America, and the establishment of the first Jesuit residence in Quebec. Four and a half centuries ago, Cartier and his crew wintered near the Iroquois village of Stadaconé on the banks of the Lairet River.

In the 1960s, the Lairet River was channeled into a 2 km-long storm sewer serving Quebec City’s Limoilou neighbourhood. The underground sewer carried the flow of the Lairet as well as rainfall drained from paved surfaces, roofs, etc. in Limoilou. When a portion of the sewer collapsed in 2005, Parks Canada approached PWGSC to replace the storm drain, but the Department’s architects and landscapers successfully urged Parks Canada to rehabilitate the site instead.

Landscape architects created a new river bed that would be ecologically sustainable. Based on historical research, the project team planted vegetation that was described in the centuries-old “Récits de Cartier.” These texts, literally “the stories of Cartier,” describe the explorer’s experiences when he arrived in what is now Canada. Bike paths and footpaths were also added to the park to make it even more welcoming for visitors.

The revitalization, completed in fall 2009, received a PWGSC Award of Excellence and an award of honour 2010 from the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

“I am very proud of the results of the project,” says project manager, Charlotte Simard. “The park is a location that is culturally and environmentally significant; it was a pleasure to be part of returning it to a more natural state.”

7. Call for Letter Writing Campaign for Fort York Visitor Centre

Parler Fort is typical of the new type of programming that we want to introduce to Fort York to put the Fort on the map as a destination and priceless resource for communities across the city.

The Visitor Centre will make it possible to expand this programming, and its location off Fort York Boulevard will make it conveniently accessible year round as well as an attractive addition to the area.

The Visitor Centre is a $23 million project. The Federal Government has committed $4.6 million and we've requested another $400,000; the City has committed $7 million; and the Fort York Foundation has committed $6 million raised from the private sector.

The missing budget is the $5 million that we've requested from the Provincial government. We've been told that they are aware of our request and have been considering it but still need to decide and did not indicate when a decision would be made. Given the importance of the Fort to the defence of the capital of Upper Canada and now the capital of Ontario, this is pretty discouraging, especially given that this is a Bicentennial of the War of 1812 legacy project.

We need your help for a lettering writing campaign. Snail mail is best from as many individuals as possible as well as from the executives of your respective associations. Email is good. Could you please invite your members to write? The objective is to flood the offices of four cabinet ministers: The Premier, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Infrastructure.

We need to show that it is not only the City that thinks a Visitor Centre is important but that community members do as well. Attached you will find a Word document with the snail and email addresses for these individuals and some key messages. We have purposely not written a form letter for you to sign because letters express opinions clearly in the words of the writers are more effective. You may pick and choose the messages you wish to include as well as well as your personal thoughts and comments.

Please call me at 416-392-8231 or email sshaul@toronto.ca if there is some way in which you would like me to help you. Thank you for your help.

Sandra Shaul
Museum Administrator - Special Projects
(Bicentennial of the War of 1812)
Museums and Heritage Services
Cultural Services, City of Toronto
55 John Street, 8th Floor
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
phone: 416-392-8231
sshaul@toronto.ca
cell: 416-949-5809

8. BlogTO: Toronto Church Conversions
Matthew Harris

What should we do with Toronto's superfluous churches?

Toronto used to be known as a City of Churches. However, since the 60s, most churches in the downtown core - particularly the more mainstream churches - have seen dwindling attendance. The loss of attendance has caused a loss of income for the church organizations that administer them. Many of the churches in the downtown core were built in the 19th century or the early 20th century. Maintenance costs for these aging but beautiful structures can be high. Without a sustainable income from congregations, how can they be maintained as functioning churches? The Bellefair United Church on Queen East provides an example of a growing trend affecting "superfluous" churches: their conversion into condos.

A few years ago, two United Churches in the Beaches felt the need to deal with their declining incomes at Bellefair United Church and Kew United Church. Unable to support their churches separately, the congregations decided to amalgamate in 2007. The new congregation was named the Beach United Church. To reduce their costs, the unified congregation decided - after an intense discussion - to sell off one of the buildings: the Bellefair Avenue Church. Out of the eleven bids submitted, the one made by Reserve Properties was chosen. The church was sold to them in 2009. Proceeds from the sale went to renovations of the remaining church, as well as ministry work.

Converting churches is always a risky business. Even if the regular congregation is not very large, the number of people in the neighbourhood who think fondly of the building is often much greater. Churches are fixed in the community's memory as the location of significant ceremonies the individual members might have attended, such as weddings and funerals. As well, churches are usually architecturally important to the fabric of the neighbourhood. The Bellefair Church fronts onto Queen East and is a major landmark in the Beaches community. Changing or demolishing the building could have a large impact on the community's sense of self.

Click here for Link

9. Toronto Star: Cinema's stand in for Church buildings
Carola Vyhnak

God

Toronto Star photo

Praise the Lord and pass the popcorn.

It’s Sunday morning in Bowmanville and God is the feature attraction at the Cineplex Odeon.

The faithful of Gracepoint Baptist Church sink into red plush seats where, just hours earlier, congregants of a different sort communed with the decidedly ungodly characters in Jackass and Saw 3D.

Pastor Jon Vincent has traded in his old-fashioned, high-maintenance house of worship for a portable church-in-a-box that sets up in a cinema.

It’s a heaven-sent solution — yes, God directed him to do this, says Vincent — for a growing number of Christian groups looking for both new members and affordable access to a high-tech, multimedia platform.

“The big screen is the 21st-century version of the stained-glass windows of the middle ages. That’s where the story is told,” explains Vincent, who moved his flock three months ago after outgrowing their aging church in Courtice.

A movie theatre, he adds, is a modern-day version of the marketplace where people used to gather to exchange news and stories.

To skeptics, he says: “The Kingdom of God doesn’t exist in buildings, it exists in the hearts of the people.”

Editor's Note:
I attended such a service once with family members. The numbers, particularly of young families is quite striking. Which leaves the heritage community the challenge of finding appropriate new uses for churches. As libraries, community buildings, theatres, arts centres, galleries public accessibility to these quasi public buildings is preserved. Some will be converted for other uses. The worst adaptive re-use I have heard of is someone using a small rural church building for bait storage. Won't be long before the building crumbles from excess humidity.

Click here for Link

10. blogTO: A Night at the Roxy
Jonathan Castellino

Toronto's Forgotten Landmarks: A Night at the Roxy

Click here for Link

11. Globe and Mail: Toronto Art Deco
John Bentley Mays

Torontos small deco gems continue to shine

Classical temples have the power to awe a viewer.

Gothic churches are able to put even a devout modern pagan into a reverential mood.

High mid-20th-century modernism can thrill, and the dramatic moves of Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry can surely delight (or appall, depending on one’s tolerance for contemporary architecture).

But nothing in the history of the building art seems to enthrall the sensuous imagination quite like art deco. Its aficionados are passionate about the horizontal speed stripes that whip around the curved corners of deco edifices; the carved or cast reliefs of streamlined birds, exotic flora, gazelles and whatever else that adorn architraves and spandrel panels; the plucked-eyebrow chic of stone skyscraper façades that rise to the sky in elegant setbacks.

Every city has its deco devotees, but few of these fans ever get around to doing much that’s useful with their fascination. Toronto’s Tim Morawetz is a notable exception. He has written and self-published a handsome little book called Art Deco Architecture in Toronto: A Guide to the City’s Buildings From the Roaring Twenties and the Depression (Glue Inc., $39.95). I’m not the only person in town who thinks this illustrated portfolio is good, by the way: Earlier this month, Mr. Morawetz’s work garnered a 2010 Award of Merit from Heritage Toronto, the city agency most concerned about our built inheritance.

As the subtitle of this documentary effort indicates, art deco had a relatively short career – just the 20 years or so between the world wars. But that was quite long enough for architects to dot large cities across the world, and many small ones, with myriad stylish houses, office towers, hotels, post offices and much else in the last great decorative scheme to come along before anti-decorative Bauhaus modernism swept all before it.

Editor's Note:
If you don't already own a copy of Tim Morawetz's book, get one!

Click here for Link

12. TO Built Offline
Catherine Nasmith

Two BHN readers contacted me to let me know that TO Built has shut down. (on Election Night) The owner is discouraged and has lost interest in photographing Toronto's built environment.

One can only say how we admired the site and how sorry we are to see it go, but such documentation should not be left to volunteers. Burn out is a real enemy. 

There is no information on how to contact the website management, but I would hope that the owner might be willing to partner with another organization such as ACO or Heritage Toronto to at least keep all the great work he has already done online where it can be accessed by others.

If BHN can help, I'm in!

Click here for Link

13. CentretownNewsOnline.ca: CCCA seeks heritage status for Cooper St. house
Monique Elliot

Library and Archives Canada - An archival photo of the residence, which was built around 1889. The building is one of the few stone historical buildings in the area.

The Centretown Citizens Community Association is looking to get a historic Centretown building officially recognized as heritage site because it’s at risk of losing the current protection afforded by its inclusion in the Centretown Heritage Conservation District.

The stone house at 201 Cooper St. was built around 1889. While the architect is unknown, similarities can be seen between the house and Italianate mansions designed by Henry Horsey, says David Jeanes, vice-president of Heritage Ottawa.

Horsey is also known for his design of the Nicholas Street Jail, built in 1860.

The rooms in the building are now being rented out to tenants, in an apartment style.

By the time 201 Cooper St. was built, the use of stone was almost completely phased out and many other historic buildings in the area are made of brick, making this site particular to Centretown, Jeanes says.

“There are no heritage designated-stone residences in Centretown and I am not aware of any others that are as large or as close to original condition as 201 Cooper,” says Jeanes.

Without the individual designation, the building would lose protection if the heritage boundary is adjusted, Jeanes

Click here for Link

14. Hamilton Spectator: Lister restoration revealed - Historic building transformed
Teri Pecoskie

The Lister Block's restored terra cotta features are clearly visible now that the scaffolding has been removed from the building's upper floors.

Click here for Link

15. newsdurhamregion.com: Heritage designation puts financial burden on Whitby couple
Parvaneh Pessian

Couple looking to repeal heritage designation of their home due to related insurance fees

WHITBY -- While Ken Chapman and his wife Lynda have always been proud of the historical value of their home, they never expected it to end up costing them more than they could afford.

The couple has lived at the Robert Spence House, a heritage home built at 709 Centre St. S. in Whitby around 1861, for the past 25 years.

They had it officially designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1989 but it wasn't until last spring, when their homeowner's policy came up for renewal, that they were shocked to learn their insurance rates had gone up.

"The insurance company conducted a home inspection and noted our heritage plaque," Mr. Chapman said.

"Two weeks later, we learned of changes to our policy -- the single fact of designation has increased our premium 25 per cent or $325 for this year."

As retired seniors living on a fixed income, the additional payment places a "serious financial burden" on them, Mr. Chapman added, and it's one they simply cannot carry.

Click here for Link

16. Ontario Architecture
Shannon Kyles

A super website that contains a huge number of examples of Ontario Architecture, including a glossary of terms.....no more do you need to talk about the pointy thing at the top of the peak!

Click here for Link

17. YourOttawaRegion.com: Heritage Ottawa will push for provincial intervention at Lansdowne
Laura Mueller

The Horticultural Building at Lansdowne Park, which currently sits unused, is at the centre of a debate that could spark provincial intervention into the development. Laura Mueller

With so much change proposed for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park, some critics are asking the city to look to the past before it looks into the future.

The public finally got a look at plans for the site during the Stage 1 site plan meeting on Oct. 14, and while the proposed retail and condo buildings drew a lot of attention, Heritage Ottawa is hoping to spread the word about how the changes will impact the historic value of the site.

There are two heritage buildings at Lansdowne; the most recognizable is the Victorian architecture of Aberdeen Pavilion, known as the Cattle Castle.

But the second structure – the more humble Horticultural Building – could prove to be a sticking point for the whole development.

Plans released on Oct. 14 show the Horticultural Building moved to the north side of the Aberdeen Pavilion to make way for a series of gardens and orchards planned for the site. Even if the building was not relocated, it would have to be moved in order to allow construction of the underground parking lot that would hold 1,100 cars for the retail and stadium section of Lansdowne, along with 250 spaces allotted for the residential section of the development.

Click here for Link

18. Globe and Mail: Fogo Island
Lisa Rochon

Architectures new rock star: Newfoundlands (and Norways) Todd Saunders

Hooked. On architecture. That’s what you’ll be feeling after the Fogo Island Arts colony is done with you. A series of pavilions cut like shards of volcanic stone are being constructed off the coast of Newfoundland at the edge of the raging Atlantic.

Architect Todd Saunders, a Newfoundlander who moved 14 years ago to Norway, is the talent behind the dark blades of intelligent design. His client, Zita Cobb, a native of Fogo Island and president of the Shorefast Foundation, is investing some of her dot-com millions to reposition her remote community into a cultural, architecturally enlightened destination.

Pinch me. This might be a rare utopia but it is not a dream.

The reality is that the Long Studio, a box clad in blackened rough-sawn pine that telescopes its length and mighty view toward the Atlantic, has already been completed. Four other studios, with steel legs drilled down into the rock, and a studio tower, now under construction, are scattered nearby.

They’re all self-sustaining, off-the-grid capsules, without any power connecting them back to the surrounding villages. Their sculptural forms – brazen, mysterious, unfolding – are constructed by local builders whom Saunders calls “the best in the world.” Cobb’s brother Tony expertly handles the details of construction, including the sustainable design innovations: water collection, solar panels, thick, highly insulated walls. Sheppard Case Architects of St. John’s are the lead local consultants.

Click here for Link

19. Globe and Mail: Bing Thom and Harry Weese Play Washington
Lisa Rochon

The Arena Stage: A home for high drama in a once-troubled hood

Architectural time travel always exhilarates me. One minute, I’m walking along Washington’s National Mall, where ancient Rome and masses of marble were mined to ennoble America’s capital.

Ten minutes later, I pull up to an exuberant, life-giving piece of West Coast architecture that poses monumental columns of Douglas fir behind a dramatic curved wall of glass. No pillaging of the classical history books here.

The Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, by Vancouver-based Bing Thom Architects, rises up from the once-troubled neighbourhood of southwest Washington like a flag of hope. Mere blocks from derelict housing projects and a shuttered high school, Arena’s white roof canopy cuts a sexy, brazen figure. For two centuries, Washington’s tradition of beaux-arts architecture has been heavily anchored to the ground. It took a Canadian architect to design something that looks like clouds in graphic action: swirling and undulating. Clouds that come to a knife’s edge, then disappear.

Capture and release. That’s what the Arena Stage, constructed for $100-million (U.S.), does to its actors, its audiences and its local community. With one masterful gesture, Bing Thom has captured two existing theatres – the Fichandler (1961) and the Kreeger (1971) – underneath a steel-and-truss roof measuring some 140 metres long.

Standing on the sidewalk, which wraps around a prominent corner site, you can see inside to the original, impermeable brick-faced theatres behind the glass, captured as modern relics from the past, now thoughtfully restored and updated. Next to what is effectively a big glass drum stands a smaller one, faced in artfully poured concrete, containing a new experimental theatre called the Kogod Cradle. Lobby spaces move gracefully up and around the three theatres; natural light floods the carpentry and costume-design shops, once relegated to the dim underground.

Click here for Link

20. Google-latlong: Main Streets using Google Sketch Up for Historic Preservation
forwarded by Penina Coopersmith

Cobourg Ontario used this technique

Main Streets using Google SketchUp for Historic Preservation
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 9:05 AM

Earlier in the year, we were approached by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to discuss how their member communities might leverage Google’s 3D modeling and visualization tools to support downtown revitalization programs. The concept for developing a digital model of a downtown area was conceptualized by the town of McMinnville, Tennessee, which was among the first small towns in the U.S. to organize a community modeling effort. With city budgets under pressure, the Trust was keen to explore how a community modeling approach could be expanded by downtowns across the nation.

Click here for Link

21. Michigan Modern

Great Web Site

Architects
The architects listed below maintained offices, worked for firms, designed buildings, and attended or taught in schools in Michigan throughout the Mid-Century Modern period (1940-1970). The list has been sorted alphabetically by last name.

Editor's Note:
Amazing number of very important architects listed.

Click here for Link

22. National Trust: Demolition to get to a Green Future????Maybe not
forwarded by Lloyd Alter

Conserving Our Future

Great movie, some very interesting statistics and language to bolster the 

"Abolish the Right to Demolish" arguments

Click here for Link

23. The Guardian: Prince Charles Steps into Breach after CABE axed
Robert Booth

Prince Charles offers to take on key architectural planning role

Prince Charles's offer to take on architectural planning role means he could extend influence over UK's skyline

Prince Charles has offered to take on an advisory role for new architectural projects. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP
Prince Charles is poised to extend his influence over the skyline with an offer to arbitrate Britain's most significant planning applications, a role previously executed by a quango that had its funding axed in the comprehensive spending review.

The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, a charity of which he is president, is considering stepping into the breach left by the decision to withdraw funding from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, which leaves its design review role for new developments in serious doubt.

The move to offer the foundation's own design advice means the prince's favourite architects could soon be providing verdicts on plans for landmark developments, potentially altering how they are built. Cabe had steered the design of 3,000 plans including London's Olympic stadium and Shard skyscraper, as well as dozens of schools and the £1bn redevelopment of Liverpool's central shopping area. Cabe's influence has been such that local authority planners have heeded its advice seven times out of 10.

The possible move, announced by the foundation's chief executive, Hank Dittmar, has been met with dismay by leading modernist architects who fear Prince Charles may use the charity to further his preference for traditional styles of architecture and that the charity could not be held accountable for its advice. Others accepted the foundation could bring its expertise to town planning and supporters of traditional architecture said it could correct what some see as a modernist bias in the architectural establishment.

The foundation is not seeking public funding but is considering offering design reviews for a fee, using a panel of architects and other design professionals.

Paul Finch, chairman of Cabe, said the foundation's interest appeared "predatory" coming only a week after the axe fell on his funding, and as the quango's leadership prepares a bid to salvage its design review role in a slimmed down form.

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