L Tower + Sony Centre (Castlepoint/Fernbrook/Cityzen, 58s, Libeskind/P+S)

From the City of Toronto Policy and Finance Committee:

www.toronto.ca/legdocs/20.../it066.pdf

Heavily legalistic document, though there is a site plan on pg. 110 of the PDF.

AoD
 
From the Globe:

Hummingbird Centre reveals revamp plans

JAMES ADAMS

The chief executive officer of Toronto's Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts says the landmark building is well on its way to "rebranding" itself as a multipurpose, multicultural facility after the departure this year of its two long-term tenants, the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada.

Yesterday, Dan Brambilla announced that the city-owned centre is donating $10,000 to the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention, tying the donation to both the 16th International AIDS Conference that takes place in Toronto Aug. 13-18, and Hummingbird's presentation of Bombay Dreams, a Bollywood musical, Aug. 16-20.

Hummingbird also plans to "top up" its donation to ASAAP by as much as $90,000, using a portion of revenue from the Bombay Dreams run.

"It's all about reaching out to the community," Mr. Brambilla said in an interview, "and not just through programming."

Meanwhile, city council has approved a business plan to finance the redevelopment of the Hummingbird's physical plant, including the construction of a 41-storey condominium tower designed by Daniel Libeskind. The tower is to be mounted on a nine-storey podium that will include a theatre, exhibition hall, interactive centre and other facilities.

The plan, approved on Tuesday, requires that Hummingbird raise $60-million by next June.

Meanwhile, the project's developer, Castlepoint Realty Partners, has agreed to pay Hummingbird $15-million for the use of the land for the condominium building, which Mr. Brambilla hopes to use as leverage to extract $15-million each from the federal and Ontario governments.

If Hummingbird doesn't raise the $60-million by next spring, the centre will enter into an 89-year lease with Castlepoint, with buy-back options.

Mr. Brambilla hopes he can secure at least $15-million through the sale of naming rights after the Hummingbird name, adopted in 1996 after Hummingbird Communications donated $5-million, expires at the end of the year.

AoD
 
I never liked the new name, I'm glad it's changing. Does the new plan preserve the architecture of the original building? Surely, it must be designated?
 
Tudararms: the new plan adds on along the west and south sides of the centre, preserving some views of the Dickinson modernist exterior, including the light-studded porte cochere.

Name wise though, I always get nervous when naming rights are up for sale again. I mean, Cleveland has a "Quicken Loans Arena".

42
 
Philly has the "F.U. Center" - now that is an appropriate name for Philly! I think the name may have changed but Nashville had the "Gaylord Entertainment Center".
 
And we have the Direct Energy Centre, but the Quicken Loans Arena is one of my favourites. Houston had Enron Field, Toledo has the Fifth/Third Field (named for the Fifth/Third Bank, one of the strangest bank names I know of), Buffalo has Dunn Tire Park. Sick Kids had a wing named for that crook Conrad Black's foundation.

Amongst the worst: Powerade Centre (the Brampton OHL arena) - named for a brand, not even a company. Then there's SkyDome, renamed to the name that I refuse to acknowledge.

I never minded Hummingbird much (epecially since it is not a company that markets to consumers), but I liked O'Keefe Centre for some reason - they built the place, so maybe that's why - kinda like Massey Hall.
 
National Car Rental Center isn't bad either. We certainly were lucky having Four Seasons get the naming rights to the opera house. You probably couldn't have picked a better corporate name.
 
I like the DEPENDS DOME because it always keeps you dry. (that's not false advertising! :))
 
They're so keen on "rebranding" themselves, but they can't even take down that huge sign on the west side of the building advertising four shows that ran back in March and April!
 
itravel2000.com centre?

(for ticket and scheduling info, call 1-866-WOW-DEAL)
 
I can't help but wonder what company would pay $15 million to have its name put on The Venue Everyone Just Left (with the exception, as noted, of Dora the Explorer and her ne'er-do-well monkey), which has barely had a press clipping in the past two years that hasn't included the phrase "3,000 bad seats."
 
"TD Bank North (Formerly Boston) Garden"

Actually, the original Boston Garden was demolished in 1997. TD Banknorth Garden was formerly called the Fleetcenter.
 

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