ProjectEnd
Superstar
Menkes just picked this up for $51m.
That sign must stay!
I think you are correct that it is the Garden District HCD as a whole that is under appeal (@ LPAT). See: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2017/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-99124.pdfIf you search the Heritage Register, you get this:
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As I understand it, the Conservation District is what's under appeal; the building itself is listed, but not designated.
For those interested, The Heritage Register has a useful online map.
Here's a Globe and Mail article in 2017, suggesting the current councillor would try to stifle demolition.
Toronto's Filmores at centre of debate between gentrification, preservation
Filmores hotel and gentlemen’s club in Toronto's Garden District is emblematic of the constant struggle between those who would preserve the city’s character and those who would transform itwww.theglobeandmail.com
The City report on the listing is here:
The building isn’t much, but I am a big fan of the rounded corner, with the mid-century(?) neon signs above the entrance and on the roof- it’s a rarity in Toronto, and wonderfully noir (especially with the hyphenated 'to-night').Maybe. The sign is interesting; but if de-contextualized it loses a lot. The Sam's Sign as far as I'm concerned is dead in its current home.
That said, by context, I don't mean saving the facade of this building; this is one I won't miss, that doesn't add anything positive the streetscape.
I do mean how do you place the sign on a new building, with the right material palate (or air) behind it, at the right height, and still have it work?
I live in the neighbourhood, and I am not excited. It's a SRO hotel, one of the last in the area, especially as Inglewood Arms is going to come down. So that won't help the homelessness problem. I'm also not looking forward to yet another investor-driven grey spandrel and grey mullion condo tower in the neighbourhood, perhaps with a token fauxcade.