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"Never thought of saving it"
January 17th, 2007 /////
The appeal of Bridgepoint Hospital's proposed plan amendment and zoning
changes at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) wrapped up on Friday, January
12th after some twelve days of testimony spread over a two-month period.
There were few surprises from Bridgepoint; essentially they claimed to have
followed every municipal and provincial policy and law to the letter, and
like Dr. Pangloss, to have come up with the best of all possible schemes.
An unexpected chord was struck,
however, when expert witness, planner Frank Lewinberg
declared that a soon-to-be-demolished East York eatery --
the Dairy Queen north of the Danforth on Pottery Road-- was
the "real Riverdale landmark". Adding that the "hospital is
not a landmark", he referred to it as a "lousy old hospital
building" and "a failure" and admitted he "has never thought
of saving it".
 
Planner Frank Lewinberg: "DQ: LANDMARK, Riverdale: LOUSY, FAILURE, NOT LANDMARK"
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While not a fan of the building, Lewinberg did
acknowledge that the landscape architect involved, George Tanaka, was worthy
of admiration. "It's a too bad," he said, "that nothing remains of his work
there." In fact, the terrace garden Tanaka created on the hospital's second
floor is completely intact except for the removal of a sculpture...
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The Citizens for Riverdale Hospital (CRH) meanwhile maintained that in fact
Bridgepoint and the City had erred in failing to adhere to Provincial and
municipal plans and policies in the areas of architecture, cultural
heritage, environmental protection and planning.
CRH requested that Bridgepoint's plan not be approved pending further
assessment of the "Half-Round" and the entire scheme. The group emphasized
that more work needs to be done to understand the heritage, environmental
and planning impacts of Bridgepoint's proposal. In addition to providing
information not disclosed by the proponent, CRH also demonstrated that all
the stated objectives of Bridgepoint and the City of Toronto as set forth in
the item approved by City Council last year could be achieved without
demolishing the Half-Round. These include restoration and re-use of the Old
Don Jail, building a new hospital, additional landscaping, better access and
putting most of the parking underground.
In closing submissions CRH lawyer, Eric Gillespie, also set
out a number of possible basis of appeal. (70K doc file)
To make a much needed and much appreciated tax-deductible donation,
please 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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