[dt_toronto_geek]

CityTV news at 6 reports a slew of emails asking why Mayor Ford hasn't made a statement on the loss of 335 Yonge, or made any comment for that matter. A call was made and apparently he has thanked Toronto fire services for a job well done. No other comments on the issue. Why am I not surprised?

 

[Kingsway]

We should be proud that there are so FEW buildings of significance in neglect in Toronto. When I say neglect I mean chronically unoccupied AND their state of repair. If this happened in Detroit, Buffalo, LA, etc there wouldn't be 25 pages of out-cry, newspaper commentaries, etc...it probably would not have made the news.

 

[Kitsune]

During Lunch, I noticed two people bringing heavy duty looking cleaning materials along with a wet-vac into HMV... so it looks like it did receive some water damage along with damage from the heat itself.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

how did the heat effect the building/masonry next door? it's wall looks scorched (top left of the pic).

 

[Peepers]

We should be proud that there are so FEW buildings of significance in neglect in Toronto. When I say neglect I mean chronically unoccupied AND their state of repair. If this happened in Detroit, Buffalo, LA, etc there wouldn't be 25 pages of out-cry, newspaper commentaries, etc...it probably would not have made the news.

I cannot agree with the statement that there are "so few buildings of significance in neglect". I think just the opposite is true. On Yonge street for example very few heritage buildings are in what could be called pristine or even reasonable condition. Most have had their architectural features destroyed over the years. We are all lamenting the fact that this building has burnt down but this building has been in deplorable condition for as long as anyone alive can remember and there was no huge outcry to do something about it. I hope this incident will cause the city and the public to take a good look at all of the decrepit heritage buildings all across this city and demand that landlords finally take action.

 

[ShonTron]

C H said that he doesn't know/remember the city ever trying to stop a demo.

Well Chris, do remember the Gooderham+ Worts/C P Rail fiasco, (Atari?) and the North Toronto Station event.

The city was however, dealing with a Federally Chartered Company (C P RAIL) and didn't even know they had no jurisdiction!

You mean CP's demolition of West Toronto Station in 1984? Yes, that was a terrible loss, but the direct result of that outcry was the Federal legislative protection for all railway stations that are on site and in railway control. Since the LCBO owned North Toronto Station in 1984, it took the LCBO to fix it up on its own. But it did halt most railway station demolitions since. So at least CP has to preserve all stations it still owns by law.

 

[adma]

We are all lamenting the fact that this building has burnt down but this building has been in deplorable condition for as long as anyone alive can remember and there was no huge outcry to do something about it.

Actually, I think one subtle reason why it was taken for granted is that it *already* underwent a sort of renewal/restoration in the 1970s, when all the Edison Hotel signage was removed and the brick sandblasted--evidently, they were trying to channel some of that Gloucester Mews mojo further south on Yonge. Unfortunately (and ironically), the sandblasting may have weakened the brick to the point where it precipitated last year's collapse, as well as compounding whatever weakening effect the present fire caused...

 

[adma]

CityTV news at 6 reports a slew of emails asking why Mayor Ford hasn't made a statement on the loss of 335 Yonge, or made any comment for that matter. A call was made and apparently he has thanked Toronto fire services for a job well done. No other comments on the issue. Why am I not surprised?

"insert vague response on policy"

"insert token thank-you to Toronto fire services"

 

[Dan416]

I haven't seen the site today - but they are already nibbling away at the site yesterday. Newspaper reports suggest they are really biting into the brick now.

If one is punishment-oriented, one can always make those responsible pay for a replica using period techniques - I am sure enough documentations exist for that to be done - and if they can rebuild old Warsaw, I don't see what's so impossible about this relatively minor project.

AoD

Funny, I was going to mention the rebuild of Warsaw after WWII. I think 98% of the city was destroyed, yet they managed to rebuild a great deal of it by using old pictures and paintings.

From Wikipedia:

During WWII, Warsaw was razed to the ground by bombing raids and planned destruction.[14] After liberation, rebuilding began as in other cities of the communist-ruled PRL. Most of the historical buildings were thoroughly reconstructed.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

On Yonge street for example very few heritage buildings are in what could be called pristine or even reasonable condition. Most have had their architectural features destroyed over the years

Very true, and it's not just happening on Yonge Street.

We are all lamenting the fact that this building has burnt down but this building has been in deplorable condition for as long as anyone alive can remember and there was no huge outcry to do something about it.

It wasn't in deplorable condition, as adma notes it underwent a $2 million renovation in the mid 70's however, the tower above the corner of Yonge & Gould was well past due for repairs & restoration. The second floor was regularly used for decades until very recently, the ground floor & basement were usually fully rented. I don't recall ever being up on the third floor, I can't shed any light as to what the conditions were like up there.

I hope this incident will cause the city and the public to take a good look at all of the decrepit heritage buildings all across this city and demand that landlords finally take action.

I hope so, but I doubt it. The Gravy Train Express will most certainly ensure that no more building inspectors are hired.

 

[Mustapha]

The site should be expropriated such that this crime doesn't profit anyone. And quite frankly what of criminal charges - neglect of structure endangering the public, etc. from the original collapse in the first place?

AoD

I can't agree enough with this. I'm surprised at the silence of even our city's bylaw enforcement on this one. Surely more than a few have been broken.

 

[Tewder]

I just don't buy the argument that the owner of a heritage property (and this was a company, not a local guy who inherited the joint from his favorate aunt) shouldn't be responsible to keep up with maintenance and current fire regualtions - or any property for that matter. We know what kind of rent they were charging here, you can't convince me that this owner couldn't invest any money into keeping the property safe and up to code. They still had two empty floors above which, with money invested, could have brought in perhaps triple the amount of rent that they were already making each month prior to the wall collapsing last April. I won't pretend that old buildings aren't expensive to maintain, they are, so are buildings built in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

Anyway, pedestrian traffic has re-opened on the west side of Yonge Street today between Elm & Dundas Sts.

Your anger at the building owner is one thing but the fact that you completely let the city off the hook is another. At the end of the day where was the city? Where are the laws, regulations and codes to protect from this kind of thing? This simply shouldn't happen, and certainly not at the heart of Yonge/Dundas.

CityTV news at 6 reports a slew of emails asking why Mayor Ford hasn't made a statement on the loss of 335 Yonge, or made any comment for that matter. A call was made and apparently he has thanked Toronto fire services for a job well done. No other comments on the issue. Why am I not surprised?

... and enough already with turning this into yet another divisive partisan issue. Lets not pretend that the issues that have plagued this building for years - and what those issue represent in a more profound way - are anything to do with Ford. I mean, it's sort of like blaming Obama for stimulation spending! If the worst Ford has done is to keep his mouth shut on something he probably doesn't know very much about then he's certainly done far better than Miller thus far. In the meantime we must lobby Ford and the province for responsible improvements to building/heritage legislation.

 

[midge]

I don't know anyone's caught this yet, but G&M is reporting some interesting CCTV footage:

A lone figure wearing a backpack was caught on surveillance cameras entering the historic Empress Hotel building before the massive blaze early Monday morning which gutted it, The Globe and Mail has learned.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...acant-death-traps-proliferate/article1860962/

 

[Bogtrotter]

A homeless person seeking shelter for the night, a lone arsonist getting his jollies... perhaps a paid hatchet man sent to carry out a deed for crooked developers.. ? Was he captured by camera coming out of the building- thus the forensic unit..? The plot thickens.

 

[Blovertis]

If this happened in Detroit, Buffalo, LA, etc there wouldn't be 25 pages of out-cry, newspaper commentaries, etc...it probably would not have made the news.

Setting the bar a tad low, aren't we?