Market Lane preservationist, visionary honoured by city, peers

Dennis Hanagan –

About 100 people gathered under blue skies for a ceremony on Market St. in June to hear it dedicated to the man whose dream was to restore dilapidated heritage buildings there and turn the street into a pedestrian-friendly walkway with restaurants and patios.

The street will now bear an honourary sign calling it Paul Oberman Walk. The Toronto developer and heritage preservationist died at age 54 in a plane crash in 2011.

Oberman’s wife Eve Lewis told the gathering how one of the Market St. properties that her husband rescued and resuscitated was once slated for a 12-storey condominium. That block has retained its low-rise character and houses several eateries.

“Paul wanted to restore the street. It was part of his wish and dream to make this street closed for pedestrians. It took a vision and it took a dream,” Lewis said with her six children beside her.

“He was so passionate about architecture (and) urban design. He showed us that preserving significant heritage properties could be developed in harmony with modern design,” said Lewis.

The crowd was large enough that some people stood on Market St. as they listened to speakers, and police had to gingerly direct car traffic around them.

One of the speakers was former Toronto mayor David Crombie who has a park named after him just a few blocks from where the ceremony took place.

He told of a three-hour conservation he once had with Oberman. “What came out of Paul was his love for this city,” Crombie said.

“He said it’s really important to understand that cities are at their best when they make room for new life as they give shape to its history and form to its heritage, and that’s what this street is about.”

With Oberman’s death, his wife Lewis took over as CEO of his Woodcliffe Landmark Properties. The Market St. redevelopment project was designed by Michael Taylor of Taylor Smyth Architects with heritage work by restoration specialists Goldsmith Borgal. The work was carried out by builder Den Bosch & Finchley.

Oberman’s daughter Melissa said her dad wanted to create a pedestrian-only street in Toronto like the ones he saw in European cities he liked to visit.

She remembered advice he gave her. “He always told me to find something that you love and something you’re good at and to make that your job and that way it doesn’t feel like you’re going to work everyday.”

Oberman’s other restorative work includes the North Toronto train station on Yonge south of St. Clair. He acquired the iconic Gooderham Flatiron Building in the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood. in 2005.