Theatre preserved in Mirvish/Gehry plans

Kimberly Spice –

Developers and city planners revealed the updated proposal to the Mirvish and Gehry project at 260-270 and 274-322 King St. W. during a community consultation meeting at Metro Hall on May 27.

The original design would have eliminated the Princess of Wales Theatre but after deliberations between city staff, the developers and a working group, the theatre will remain intact. In addition there will be an Ontario College of Arts and Design University (OCAD) and gallery presence along with retail and residential space.

“I just wanted to voice my great appreciation of the work that both David Mirvish and Frank Gehry has done,” stated Dr. Sara Diamond, president of OCAD University. “It is an amazing opportunity for our institution to be part of this vision, and the way we are looking at our involvement, is that we are going to impact hundred’s of young people.”

Inspired by Canadian artists such as the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson, Gehry wanted something unique. After looking at nature, the designed split between the towers, one at 92 storeys and another at 82 storeys, was created to represent a water element, which looks like a waterfall.

A common thread with all the developments in the area is the capability of services such as fire to handle the overload.

“We are also looking at it across the Downtown in an exercise, underway recently, called ‘Comprehensive to the Core,’” Gregg Lintern, director of community planning, told approximately 70 people. “It’s looking at the overall growth management strategy for the Downtown and the infrastructure that’s needed to support that growth. So we are on top of things and where we have gaps so we are establishing a baseline condition of what infrastructure needs we’ve got to continue to support growth but we are also looking at the scale of growth and making sure we can manage it going forward.”

During the negotiation process Section 37, which provides improvements to the area, had been put on hold but now will move forward.

“If Frank were here he would be quick to say it is a work in progress,” commented David Nam, senior design associate, partner with Gehry and Associates. “We are still progressing.”

Further information can be found at http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2013.TE28.2. Comments and questions can be directed to planner Philip Cravalino at pcrarval@toronto.ca.