Ghostly Spadina structure could get new lease on life

[Taller, Better]

I was riding my bike past this building last night, and snapped a photo of it. I do always think it is kind of sad and under-used. Ironically, there is an article in today's online Globe about a project planned for it. The University of Toronto deserves full marks for forward-thinking in its architecture- both new and old:



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1636451/

Ghostly Spadina structure could get new lease on life

Richard Sommer, the University of Toronto's new Dean of architecture, wants to turn 1 Spadina Cres. into the faculty's new home with a big renovation.

Richard Sommer, the University of Toronto's new Dean of architecture, wants to turn 1 Spadina Cres. into the faculty's new home with a big renovation. Della Rollins for The Globe and Mail

U of T has yet to approve strategy, dean says, but ‘It’s a very robust conversation that’s going on’


John Lorinc

From Monday's Globe and Mail Published on Monday, Jul. 12, 2010 3:48AM EDT

It’s loomed for years overlooking Spadina Avenue like a ghostly, gabled reminder of Toronto’s Victorian past.

But the 135-year-old Gothic Revival structure at 1 Spadina Cres. – just north of College Street – could soon undergo an ambitious renovation and expansion, according to a plan actively being considered by the University of Toronto and the John H. Daniels faculty of architecture and landscape design.

“The idea we’re exploring is a visual arts, architecture and urbanism complex,” Dean Richard Sommer said in an interview. “We see this site as a kind of bridge from the university to the city and this great artery of Spadina.”

Prof. Sommer, a 50-year-old architect who stepped in as dean a year ago after teaching at Harvard’s graduate school of design, stressed that U of T hasn’t yet approved the strategy, but added, “It’s a very robust conversation that’s going on.”

The university has begun cleaning out the building, which currently houses the faculty of visual arts, a student newspaper and a hodgepodge of labs and offices. As well, the faculty of architecture and landscape design, anticipating growth in its programs and research operations, has iced recent makeover plans to its current digs at 230 College St. – a $14-million project that involved an international design competition this year.

There are no dollar figures yet, but previous restoration studies of 1 Spadina Cres. put the price tag in the tens of millions. Prof. Sommer said the endowment and other existing funds would cover the renovation, but added that U of T and his faculty are pondering how to finance “a very robust expansion.”

“Given the public nature of the site, our prospects for raising funds may be better here. We believe there will be more enthusiasm for an arts and architecture project.”

Besides the Ontario Legislature and Upper Canada College, Toronto has few other “vista buildings” situated at the ends of long avenues.

Spadina Crescent dates to the early 19th century. Dr. William Baldwin laid out Spadina Avenue to ensure the property had a clear view of Lake Ontario. The current structure – designed by James Smith and John Gemmell – was built for Knox College. It was later used as hospital and then served for almost three decades as the headquarters for Connaught Laboratories, a university-owned drug company later acquired by Sanofi Pasteur.

A little-known detail is that in the late 1920s, Toronto Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe had an option to develop the property for a new hockey arena to house his NHL team, but he opted instead for the corner of Carlton and Church.

The building is said to be haunted, and was the site of two recent deaths – an unsolved homicide in 2001 and a fatal accident in 2009, when a young woman fell while climbing on the roof, looking for ghosts.

The project, if approved, will present multiple challenges.

While 1 Spadina anchors the western edge of the university, it is largely cut off. U of T lobbied for years to persuade the city to install a signalled crosswalk on the east side, to allow students and staff to traverse the streetcar tracks safely and legally. The northern half of the property is ringed by a wrought-iron fence.

“People think of it as an island,” said Prof. Sommer, who noted that any renovation and expansion plans would involve the creation of a more “porous” perimeter, allowing access in all directions.

The run-down rear of the tan brick complex, meanwhile, has seen numerous heavy-handed additions, some of which wiped out valuable historical features, including a cloister. The university, the faculty and the community, said Prof. Sommer, “wants the [new] architecture that faces north to be as important as the architecture in the original Knox building.”

Prof. Sommer – who comes from Philadelphia, a city known for its dramatic vistas, and studied at the Rhode Island School of Design in historic Providence – has a few curious connections to the scheme.

When he moved to Toronto last year, he bought a midtown house that belonged to a descendant of Dr. John FitzGerald, the founder of Connaught Labs.

Mainly, the rambling, long-in-the-tooth building reminded him of the “magical” yet “ramshackle” colonial structures that housed the RISD. “When I walked into 1 Spadina, I felt transported back to that sort of atmosphere.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

[Looking/Up]

Fantastic news! I'm interested in seeing what they decide to do with this structure.

[urban 2.0]

So is the design competition ongoing or finished?

[TheCanadianEuro]

A woman fell off a roof looking for ghosts and became one herself.

[Taller, Better]

Good for her! It's the only way, apparently.

[skyscraper03]

I have seen renderings of a renovation plan for 1 Spadina Crescent before. I think it was basically putting some glass boxes extruded from the back of the existing building. I don't know if this one is going to look similar to that or not.

I really liked both interior and exterior designs of the 14 million makeover plan to the current architecture building at 230 College St. and I was expecting UofT to have another interesting piece of architecture on College Street... I hope they stick to the original plan.