Most of the building is empty after ServiceOntario moved all of its services into College Park, where the OHIP office is... I wouldn't be surprised if it now becomes surplus/temp space as mentioned above.
 
Wasn't there a rumour of the Ontario goverment needing to find new office space close to Queen's Park and that they were considering building a new building in the Bay Street corridor? Perhaps this is the site?
 
canarob said:
I was inside the building yesterday, and it's in very rough shape. There are signs everywhere warning not to drink the water as the lead content is high due to the pipes.
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Kind of like many of the schools in this city...they run the water fountains for a while every morning before the kids show up, which gets rids of most/enough of the lead.
 
Darkstar416 said:
Wasn't there a rumour of the Ontario goverment needing to find new office space close to Queen's Park and that they were considering building a new building in the Bay Street corridor? Perhaps this is the site?
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That is the plan, although my understanding is it isn't a short-term plan.
 
Darkstar416 said:
Wasn't there a rumour of the Ontario goverment needing to find new office space close to Queen's Park and that they were considering building a new building in the Bay Street corridor? Perhaps this is the site?
Click to expand...

There's another rumour suggesting that the government is considering a hiring freeze. I wonder if that (if true) would have an impact on these construction prospects?
 
Darkstar416 said:
Wasn't there a rumour of the Ontario goverment needing to find new office space close to Queen's Park and that they were considering building a new building in the Bay Street corridor? Perhaps this is the site?
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I believe that is so, although this may not be the site. The govt. acquired the old Sears office building on Jarvis St. several months ago, and I have not heard any further news of what is planned there.

In addition, the govt. has just acquired land at the NE corner of Armoury Street and Centre Avenue, to add to land which they already had on that block. This is just north of the University Avenue courthouse. It's currently a parking lot, and obviously underutilized.
 
Well the speculation of the Sears site was the government buying it and leasing the land back to Ryerson to expand their campus. I don't believe it was ever meant for government office use.
 
299 bloor call control. said:
Well the speculation of the Sears site was the government buying it and leasing the land back to Ryerson to expand their campus. I don't believe it was ever meant for government office use.
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I think the talks broke off. Ryerson wanted the parking lot for a sports complex, but the site was too small or something along those lines.
 
The mid-rise building is actually 880 Bay Street. It used to house the government bookstore and a BMO branch, but both have relocated to College Park. I used to work in the complex, and 880 is in terrible condition. It houses a couple of small functions from different government ministries, including Ministry of Energy.

900 Bay refers to "Macdonald Block", the large, two story podium that connects the four government towers (Ferguson, Hearst, Hepburn and Mowat Towers). Lots of remarkable 1960's features, and much of the office space has been updated quite nicely. It certainly has a great deal of historic merit.

There may be a good case to tear down 880 and build a larger office space for the government - they currently rent out most of the College Park Tower (Municipal Affairs & Finance) as well as parts of 2 Bloor West.

Another government building of note is the Coroner's Building on Grosvenor, which is right behind the Murano development. It's very aged and in poor condition as well. It may also be ripe for redevelopment.
 
eloodi95 said:
Another government building of note is the Coroner's Building on Grosvenor, which is right behind the Murano development. It's very aged and in poor condition as well. It may also be ripe for redevelopment.
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You talking about that tour de force of 70s bureaucratic architectural exhibitionism? I can't see that biting the dust.

Though from the same period, I can see the Ontario Archives building at 77 Grenville biting the dust...
 
I sit in the fifth floor of this building as I type this. Unfortunately, as a denizen here, I can only acknowledge that it is indeed a frightful building to work in, a set of dirty rabbit's warren's, of which the offices of ServiceOntario Publications is possibly the ugliest. Sigh. But I work with lovely people.

I have no real insight into what is happening here. Offices have moved in and moved out constantly as they tend to do in government. We have been told more than once that we will move from the 5th floor to the 1st, and the funds for that move were included in our budget for this fiscal year. However, as they were also included in the last fiscal year, I wouldn't hold my breath. The building would certainly benefit from a razing.

Most of my Ministry is located at Finch and Yonge, so we were all pleased to duck the several time we were told we had to move up there.

It is connected underground to the MacDonald Block, which is sort of interesting. It also has an odd seventh floor, unserviced by the elevators. To get to the seventh, you take an elevator to the sixth and walk up. Isn't that a bit weird? Why would anybody design a building that way?
 
Any objections if this thread is moved to Buildings and Architecture until such time as this does become a development site?

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