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To join our Citizens for Riverdale Hospital e-mail list: peninac(at)sympatico.ca
HERE'S TO A NEW YEAR FOR RIVERDALE HOSPITAL!
December, 28th, 2006
Citizens for Riverdale Hospital will start the new year back at the Ontario
Municipal Board (OMB) hearing which continues on January 8th (655 Bay St.,
16th floor). During the fall, we spent almost two weeks before the board.
Everyone wants to know how it's going.
Unfortunately, only the hearing's adjudicators (we were assigned two) can
answer that and it's safe to say that even they do not yet know since the
hearing isn't over. What can be said, however, is that the issues we are
raising are going to come up again and again.
Just as scientists had to make the case 20-30 years ago that releasing even
a little of a toxin into a waterway was unacceptable -- that dilution is not
a cure for pollution -- we're making the case that demolishing perfectly
good, sound, readily reusable structures is not sustainable. We estimate the
environmental cost of throwing away all the energy embodied in the existing
building, combined with what it will take to replace it is equivalent to
putting 20,000 cars on the road for a year. We do not think this is a
negligible impact.
We have argued that Riverdale Hospital is part of a cultural landscape that
is unique -- a parcel that for 150 years has served a variety of public
uses: hospitals, a jail, a work farm, a fabulous Carnegie library -- and
should not be subdivided for private development. We hope to see a new
Bridgepoint Hospital take its place in the context of a natural and cultural
setting that includes the Don Jail, the Riverdale Hospital and notable park
lands.
We have argued that the Riverdale Hospital is of architectural and
historical importance, that the failure of the City of Toronto to designate
it is a dreadful oversight, that modern buildings of note require and
deserve protection. Toronto is lauded for being a multi-cultural city, but
seems unwilling to act on the idea that the city itself needs to be
multi-faceted. It cannot be continually new with a few isolated reminders of
its Victorian and Edwardian past.
We have argued that throwing away the Riverdale Hospital building when the
city so desperately lacks sufficient housing (some 68,000 units are needed)
is appallingly wasteful. The Toronto Star recently noted, for instance, that
people requiring wheelchair accessible housing are waiting for eight years
or more. We have suggested a variety of uses -- including some that are
ancillary to Bridgepoint -- and also student housing for Ryerson and housing
for seniors; none of these uses are mutually exclusive.
So... stay tuned and we'll let you know how things are going! Meanwhile,
however, this is your last chance to make a 2006 charitable donation to the
cause. I want to thank all those who have contributed in the past few
months, and to urge the rest of you to come on board. No amount is too
small! Of course, if you prefer, you can be among the first to make a 2007
donation. Make cheques payable to TAC-Riverdale, and send them to:
Toronto Architectural Conservancy
P.O. Box 7162, Station A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1X8
Thank you! Have a good year!
Penina Coopersmith
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