1. Release of 2015 Top Ten Endangered Places and Worst Losses lists
Carolyn Quinn, Heritage Canada The National Trust

The National Trust for Canada has released its Top Ten Endangered Places and Worst Losses Lists, drawing attention to historic places in Canada either threatened or already lost, as part of its mission to raise awareness of the value that historic places bring to quality of life, local identity and cultural vitality.

The Endangered Places List, compiled from nominations received as well as from news items the National Trust has been following and reporting on throughout the year includes (from west to east):

Peace River Valley, Northeast, BC  Hydro power trumps Aboriginal and Natural Heritage.
Point Grey Secondary School, Vancouver, BC  Seismic mitigation program poised to reduce historic school to rubble.
East Coulee Bridge, Atlas Coal Mine, East Coulee, AB  Rare trestle bridge needs new lease on life.
Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, ON  Feds play fast and loose with a National Historic Site.
Barber Mill, Halton Hills, ON  Stakeholder impasse threatens important industrial heritage site.
Our Lady of Assumption Church, Windsor, ON  Hope remains despite fundraising rollercoaster ride.
Quebec Bridge, Quebec City, QC  Longest cantilever bridge span in the world is rusting away.
Miséricorde Hospital, Montreal, QC  Institutional landmark in need of revitalization.
Sackville United Church, Sackville, NB  Deck stacked against yet another former church building.
Belcourt Spirituality Centre, Rustico, PEI  Good faith lacking in Diocese's dismissal of a cherished community

This year's Worst Losses lists three heritage buildings destroyed by the wrecking ball: Etzio Building, Edmonton, AB; Farnam Block, Saskatoon, SK; Stollery's Building, Toronto, ON.

https://www.heritagecanada.org/en/issues-campaigns/top-ten-endangered

2. York Square: Redevelopment Scheme Preserves Next to Nothing
Catherine Nasmith

The restaurant is still operating, catch a drink there before it goes! photo R. Longley

The planning process to redevelop York Square is well advanced, has had a public meeting and a working group process. So far, preservation of the complex is barely getting lip service.

Last week I attended the final working group meeting regarding the proposed redevelopment of York Square, at the corner of Avenue Road and Yorkville. The two issues being discussed were traffic and heritage. The working group process has resulted in little substantial change to the project since it was unveiled in January.

Heritage, which should be the defining issue, is still being treated as just one of the balls in the air. It was left unresolved. ACO Toronto, (I am the current President) who worked hard providing research and argument for the designation, is watching this file closely, and is also considering an appeal of the project to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) if the design continues to fail to include the majority of the heritage attributes of the property.

The property was designated as a full complex, including all the existing buildings, round windows and all, the courtyard, entrances and urban connections to surrounding streets and Hazelton Lanes. All that is being conserved in the current iteration are two facades on Avenue Road and Yorkville, minus the round windows. None of the little proposed for retention addresses the reasons for designation, the complex’s internationally praised urbanism. What is significant here is how the project, by the pioneering firem Diamond and Myers, brought together new and old, creating something unique to Toronto and in the world at the time. Saving only a fragment of an Edwardian building completely misses what is important.

ERA Architects have prepared an HIA, that suggests that partial retention of the older buildings on the corner and replacement of the courtyard with a court off of Yorkville Avenue keeps the spirit of the existing complex. ACO Toronto strongly disagrees with this approach.

The designation report is as well developed and argued as any I have ever seen, and if it didn’t withstand OMB scrutiny, we should all just give up trying to work under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). If you were a numbers kind of person, you would see that it scored 8 out of a possible nine in the evaluation under the regulations of the OHA. A score of only one in nine is sufficient to be considered for designation. City Council would be well within its rights to refuse development on this property. But as OMB forced mega-development has become the Toronto norm, it seems planning staff and residents may settle for crumbs rather than stick to their guns.

What makes York Square so special is the totality of the way the early buildings were retained and organized around a public space, intimate in scale and sheltered from the street noise. The spirit of Yorkville lives in this place that inspired so much like it in the area, and in cities around the world. Toronto needs to say “No, we’re keeping this one”.

3. Globe and Mail: Obituary Roger du Toit
Adele Webber

Roger du Toit: Urban designer reshaped Canadian cities

Roger du Toit, one of Canada's best

In an age of specialization, urban planners are by definition highly multidisciplinary, cultivating or enlisting others with skills in architecture, urbanization, landscaping and project management. But few in the planning field have been as widely and deeply skilled as Roger du Toit. His wide-ranging expertise helped make him one of Canada’s most important and influential urban designers, who was bestowed a rare triple official recognition as a professional architect, landscape architect and planner.

From the creation of vast campuses to small parks, his firm, du Toit Allsopp Hillier (now known as DTAH), improved the look, feel and function of communities across the country. When Mr. du Toit died on May 31 in Toronto at 75, from injuries suffered in a bicycle accident, the design profession lost one of its most prominent players.

He was instrumental in reshaping both the iconic and the everyday aspects of Canadian cities, beginning with his home base of Toronto. His early career milestones including serving as project architect for the CN Tower and project captain for the proposed redevelopment of the downtown railway lands that surrounded it, both while working with architect John Andrews from 1965 to 1972.

Mr. du Toit was a member of the high-calibre team working with architect George Baird to produce the first design guidelines for downtown Toronto, published in 1974. The two men took some of the Toronto study’s concepts regarding view corridors and streetscaping to Vancouver in 1982, when they devised the urban-design templates for downtown Vancouver’s north and south sections.

Editor's Note:
I feel this loss on a personal level, as my husband Robert Allsopp, a partner in DTAH worked closely with Roger du Toit on many projects, most notably the work in our nation's capital.

Click here for Link

4. New blog on the Ontario Heritage Act and policy issues: OHA+M
Dan Schneider

Photo taken by Catherine Nasmith

Long-time policy wonk Dan Schneider now blogs on heritage legislation and policy issues in Ontario. Dan invites readers to comment and make suggestions for future posts. Check it out!

Click here for Link

5. Ottawa Citizen: NCC to Consider Victims of Communism Monument Thursday
Tom Spears

Political interference' moved Victims Of Communism Memorial to controversial site, MP charges

Acrimony over plans for a massive monument to victims of communism near the Supreme Court could make Thursday’s meeting of the National Capital Commission board the most contentious in years.

Veterans are coming to the meeting to protest the monument. Too big, they say, and in the wrong place.

Architects have mobilized, saying a political “whim” will leave us with a monument no one wants. The City of Ottawa wants to stop it, too.

And on Tuesday, a New Democratic MP said that newly released letters between cabinet ministers show that “political pressure” triumphed over planning in selecting the controversial site.

Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar says cabinet ministers combined to “do an end run” around a vision plan for the Hill, one in which Parliament itself chose to create a precinct of parliamentary and judicial buildings.

And he says the only consultation the ministers did was with each other and with a charity group backing the Memorial to Victims of Communism.

Dewar used an access to information request to get the 2012 correspondence between Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney, a monument booster, and Rona Ambrose, who was then Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

In it, Ambrose writes: “Though this site is currently available for this memorial, it remains a strategic site for our departmental real property program.

“Should our program needs evolve, and in accordance with the National Capital Commission Comprehensive Commemoration Program and Policy, we would initiate discussions with both the National Capital Commission and the Tribute to Liberty group for the relocation of this memorial.”

Click here for Link

6. Globe and Mail: Harper Appoints 5 New Members to NCC Board
Bill Curry

Commission board shaken up ahead of vote on anti-communism monument

The Conservative government is shaking up the board of the National Capital Commission ahead of a key decision on the future of a controversial memorial to the victims of communism.

Five new board members were announced Wednesday and most have Conservative connections. The board will vote Thursday on whether to break ground near the Supreme Court of Canada in preparation for the monument, even though a final decision on the project’s design is still months away.

Pierre Poilievre, the minister responsible for the commission, said in a statement that the vacancies required “the most qualified and experienced individuals to ensure the National Capital Commission continues to represent all Canadians” and he is pleased they accepted the challenge.

The commission is a federal Crown corporation responsible for key federal lands and events in the national capital region.

The five new members include former Ontario provincial Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Brian Coburn and Basil Stewart, the former long-time mayor of Summerside, PEI. Mr. Stewart ran and lost as a federal Progressive Conservative in 1993 and there was speculation this year that he would run provincially for the Tories.

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7. Globe and Mail: Chateau Frontenac Renovations
Josh O'Kane

Château Frontenac reaches out to a new generation

The orange and burgundy were too dark. They had to go. The architectural details of the Fairmont Château Frontenac’s lobby had historic value, but the ceiling’s old paint job didn’t. So management made it a brighter, icy blue. Same with the carpets. Now the place looks more inviting.

A year ago, Fairmont and the Château’s owner, Ivanhoé Cambridge, finished $75-million in renovations to the 122-year-old hotel. Three-fifths of the rooms were gutted and rebuilt, conference space was expanded, restaurants reimagined, the lobby brightened and modernized.

Click here for Link

8. CBC Charlottetown
Forwarded by Chris Tweel, Architect

Wraps come off Tweel Property in Charlottetown

building 9 mos ago, congrats to Chris Tweel

Great Good News story from Charlottetown, Chris Tweel unwraps heritage restoration at key Charlottetown intersection. To see the story, move the timeline to the 8 minute mark. 

Click here for Link

9. Globe and Mail: Union Station Behind Schedule and Over Budget
Anne Hui

Toronto Union Station renovations behind schedule, $160-million over budget

Renovations to Toronto’s Union Station will not be completed until 2017 at the earliest – two years behind schedule and $160-million over the original budget.

The city’s government management committee met Monday to approve an additional $4-million for the project, bringing the total cost of the renovations to $800-million – up from its original $640-million price-tag. And the project, originally expected to reach “substantial completion” in 2015, now won’t be ready until 2017.

Click here for Link

10. Hamilton Spectator: Auchmar Estate Victory
Matthew Van Dongen

Auchmar sale on hold

The city has suspended a private sale of Auchmar for six months to give public groups an additional chance.

The city has suspended negotiations with "multiple" would-be buyers of Auchmar Estate to give residents one more shot at keeping the heritage building in public hands.

Ward Coun. Terry Whitehead urged councillors Wednesday to put off any sale negotiations for six months to give a recently formed "roundtable" of concerned citizens and community groups a chance to discuss ways to maintain the dilapidated mansion.

City staff warned they were already negotiating with more than one serious would-be buyer, with inquiries from other "interested parties."

Editor's Note:
Congrats to Hamilton'sheritage activists, Heritage Hamilton, ACO Hamilton, and many others!

Click here for Link

11. New York Daily News: Demolition of Marilyn Monroe's Teenage Residence
Melissa Chan, forwarded by Richard Longley

Marilyn Monroes former California home demolished despite protests from fans

Marilyn Monroe's former California home at 5258 Hermitage Ave. in Valley Village pictured before its demolition.
Marilyn Monroe fans in California are heartbroken after the former home of the Hollywood starlet was suddenly bulldozed days before it was set to be considered for landmark status.

Click here for Link

12. NOW Magazine: End of the Waverly Hotel in Toronto
Richard Longley

Waverly Goodbye

If its elegance had been maintained, the Waverly might be considered "boutique" today, but that's not going to happen in rapidly homogenizing Toronto

Eleven years before she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, 19-year-old Amelia Earhart was a nurse's aid at the Spadina Military Hospital in the Gothic pile of Knox College on Spadina Crescent.

She wrote afterwards, "There for the first time I realized what the World War meant. Instead of new uniforms and brass bands, I saw only the result of four years' desperate struggle; men without arms and legs, men who were paralyzed and men who were blind...."

Click here for Link

13. PBS: Will development help or hurt Cuba's iconic architecture
forwarded by Alex Taranu

Havana Streetscape, photo credit Nasmith

GWEN IFILL: And now to the latest installment in our “NewsHour” series on the Cuban Evolution.

Tonight, Jeffrey Brown explores Havana’s aging and, in many cases, crumbling infrastructure that puts Cuba’s culture, character and charm at risk.

JEFFREY BROWN: It is a city of rare visual depth, layers of history told in its buildings, a melding of styles through hundreds of years, Spanish Colonial to mid-20th century Modernism.

Today, after decades of neglect and a severe lack of resources, so much of it is crumbling.

It’s often said that Havana has been frozen in time, and being here, that feels right. I have never seen anything quite like this before. But everyone agrees that changes are now coming to the city, and that means big new challenges and decisions ahead.

The man credited with preserving large chunks of Havana and saving hundreds of its buildings is Eusebio Leal.

What do you see when you walk these streets?

Click here for Link

14. Winnipeg Free Press: 107-year-old church in the North End faces demolition
Aldo Santin

"To leave a building for years in disrepair and justify a demolition because its falling apart  from my perspective, that makes no sense," Tugwell said. "Youre rewarding building owners for allowing their buildings to fall apart."

The Heritage North End Church in Winnipeg is up for sale for less than the price of a starter home. The church, which was built in 1907, is in need of many repairs.

The Baptist organization that owns an historic North End church has applied to city hall to remove its historical designation – the first step in what’s expected to be the sale and demolition of the 107-year-old St. Giles Church.

The Canadian Baptists of Western Canada (CBWC) have put the church, at Burrows and Charles, up for sale. A church spokesman said removing the building’s historical designation will make it easier to sell.

Mark Doerksen, regional minister with the CBWC, said a potential buyer has indicated they will demolish the stone-and-brick church (also known as the Bethlehem Aboriginal Fellowship church and the Heritage North End church) and replace it with a housing complex.

"We’re unclear as to what’s going to happen there but (a sale and demolition) that would be an option," Doersken said. "It would really be up to the new owners."

The building was originally constructed in 1908 by the city’s first Presbyterian congregation, later the congregation joined the United Church of Canada. A once-bustling church community, its membership declined and the UCC closed it in 1972 and sold it a year later to a Mennonite group. The Baptists have owned the church since 1997, as home for the Bethlehem Aboriginal Fellowship.

Click here for Link

15. Spadina Avenue Research Assistance?
Dennis McIntosh

Spadina East Side, Photo Nasmith

I have been researching a number of buildings on the east side of Spadina north of Cecil. I would like to talk to someone who can identify the architectural style of the buildings and if there is a chance the original architectural drawings exist in some archive.

(Dennis, How would anyone get in touch with you?)

If you have any information on these buildings, please post to BHN Facebook Page

Editor's Note:
I love this row too, have always wanted to do a photo shop rendering to show how fantastic it would be restored!