[cdr108]

I thought the upcoming meeting was to decide if the building would be listed as heritage. I didn't know it already was, as everyone keeps saying. Was it officially listed or not?

from what i've heard, it was already designated after last years wall falling and the owners (Lalani Group) wanted to demolish it. Kyle Rae, the former councillor for the region, even helped apply and got grants for the owners for heritage preservation but the cheques (2) were never cashed.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

It's impossible to save it, the other side is so badly damaged the brick would just fall apart if they were to try to clean it

Much of the mortar is as loose as sand from the heat which is why they have to get it down to safely complete the investigation.

that sucks. i wonder if it's possible to save whatever bricks they could and rebuild the exterior of the building the same with the aid of photographs?

Is it normal to have police forensics on site for an arson investigation? I thought that would be handled by the fire marshals office. Unless they found a body amidst the rubble.

you usually see those guys around when they find dead bodies.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

i think it's safe to say that the city should buy (expropriate) these high risk heritage properties, especially in such important areas. it would be cheaper than what happens when these buildings are left to die. or, the city could just do the repairs and put the cost on the owners taxes or collect the cost when the property is sold. heck, if you don't cut your grass, the city sends a crew to do it for you and then you get the bill, but if your building collapses and its innards are spread all over the sidewalk for months and months, nothing happens?

is a mowed lawn more important than the stability & safety of a building?

is the aesthetics of a mowed lawn more important than the aesthetics of a heritage building?

 

[SP!RE]

Levi's Jeans across the street has closed. Not sure if that relates at all but thought I'd point it out. I wonder if they're just sick of this shit.

 

[MetroMan]

No way!! I love that store

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I thought the upcoming meeting was to decide if the building would be listed as heritage. I didn't know it already was, as everyone keeps saying. Was it officially listed or not?

It was officially designated a heritage site back in June. The meeting in mid January was for the owners & the City to hash out repair & restoration plans. The Lilani Group was clearly dragging their feet on this property - and this is what happens.

Levi's Jeans across the street has closed. Not sure if that relates at all but thought I'd point it out. I wonder if they're just sick of this shit.

I wouldn't be surprised to see more businesses in the area go under or just shut down due to this area being closed off for so long.

 

[Bogtrotter]

It seems Lilani didn't want to get involved with a restoration project, even with the City's help. I'm speculating that they would make a lot more with a modern and more spacious building on that site. I just hope if it was a deliberate act that there is sufficient punishment to dissuade other owners from doing the same thing to culturally significant buildings.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

It seems Lilani didn't want to get involved with a restoration project, even with the City's help. I'm speculating that they would make a lot more with a modern and more spacious building on that site. I just hope if it was a deliberate act that there is sufficient punishment to dissuade other owners from doing the same thing to culturally significant buildings.

Indeed. The City should expropriate the property and give the owners nada, set a precedent and send a strong message for sleazy, absent, slumlords like this.

From CBC, the site is now under a criminal investigation

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada/1239665812/ID=1722854678

 

[MetroMan]

The fact that businesses may be closing due to the closure of Yonge St. for almost a year lends to the idea that it may not have been the apparently obvious motive and perpetrator that caused this fire. It could have been one of the business owners desperately trying to return Yonge St. to normal. The fire debris will be cleared in the next 2 weeks at the latest. Restoration would have dragged this process for many more months or even years.

 

[doug]

The City should expropriate the property and give the owners nada, set a precedent and send a strong message for sleazy, absent, slumlords like this

It would have been nice if the city had expropriated Walnut Hall from its owners....the RCMP.

 

[adma]

On a related note--did anyone catch the statements from the owner of Barberian's Steakhouse about how the structure should have been torn down a long time ago because it was "a flophouse"? (He also thought it was called "Ford's Hotel.")

Actually, it sounds like he conflated it with the Ford Hotel, which did indeed have a dubious reputation. As for the Edison, I don't know how long it had, uh, "flophouse rooms" available, but let's presume that any "flophouse issue" was already addressed by its de-neoning and sandblasting (and de-Edisoning) in the mid-70s.

Oh, and one further emblem of Toronto media mangling the facts: the frequent reporting of the building's date as 1847 (which, in fact, was only the date when the Reynolds family which eventually built the building set up shop on the site)

 

[Kingsway]

There is so much weirdness surrounding this corner. Firstly, it sat vacant for about a year with for lease signs during one of the most robust leasing periods in Yonge-Dundas history. I am sure they had calls weekly from national credit worthy tenants able to afford the exorbitant rent they were asking (about $35,000 a month for 1800sf). Then, they put in an independent sushi restaurant...Very unlikely a small sushi restaurant could EVER make the rent numbers work unless they were selling unbelievable amounts of booze. Then...the building collapses and here we are today. The owners should be held accountable for the losses of the other tenants, the city and be fined for the disruption on Yonge St. I wonder if they will get the big clean up bill like Duke's did....I sure hope so...and then some

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

The fact that businesses may be closing due to the closure of Yonge St. for almost a year...

is that true?

 

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"It would have been nice if the city had expropriated Walnut Hall from its owners....the RCMP. " QUOTE doug.


The Horsemen was/were a former owner, but in the y e a r s that they had owned it, did the most "damage by neglect".

Regards,
J T

 

[androiduk]

I heard somewhere they also trashed the Household Sciences building at Bloor & Queens Park which they occupied before Club Monaco moved in. Specifically and among other things a beautiful indoor pool. Maybe someone else can confirm this.