PLEASE HELP
SAVE THE HEARN
SAVE THE HEARN
“Every city wants its Tate Britain, its Sydney Opera House, its Guggenheim Bilbao,” Mr. Dubowitz says. “Cities all over the world would be over the moon to have a building like the Hearn. It’s there. It doesn’t need to be knocked down. It’s got parking all around. Everything is perfect. It just needs will, funding and inspiration.”
All of which are occasionally available in Toronto — just look at the Brickworks, Distillery and Wychwood Barns. We have the power to make this happen.
pkuitenbrouwer@nationalpost.com
Please give Councillor Fletcher a call and ask her to contact Studios America about converting the Hearn into ice rinks rather than big box stores.
Her telephone number is 416-392-4060
read the National Post article....here
In the UK, the decommissioned Bankside power station was famously remade as the Tate Modern, now the most visited art gallery in London. Much of the old equipment can still be seen. But Hearn is three times the size, 23 million cubic feet.
read the Toronto Star article...here
Tyler Anderson/National Post
Hearn Generating Station
“This building is a symbol of the former waterfront of Toronto,” said Gary Miedema, historian at Heritage Toronto. “The Hearn was built there so it could easily receive coal brought up the St. Lawrence Seaway. In a place where everyone thinks that there is no history, this is a building that could anchor that history.”
Heritage Toronto posted an urgent note on its web site late Tuesday calling on Torontonians to save the Hearn.
“We have received an application for demolition from an agent for the owner, or an employee of OPG, or it could be a demolition company, on behalf of the owner, which is OPG,” Mr. Barbini said.
He said the city has no power to refuse the demolition permit, and is merely waiting for a road damage deposit before it will issue the permit to the wreckers.
“We’ve been given advice that the Ontario Heritage Act is not applicable to a provincial agency,” Mr. Barbini said. “It’s in the hands of the province.”
Related
OPG, which is provincially owned, insisted yesterday that it has not applied to demolish the Hearn, but that the application came from Studios of America, a company with a lease on the Hearn that lasts through 2024. OPG said the tenant’s lease permits it to demolish the vast structure.
He said the city has no power to refuse the demolition permit, and is merely waiting for a road damage deposit before it will issue the permit to the wreckers.
“We’ve been given advice that the Ontario Heritage Act is not applicable to a provincial agency,” Mr. Barbini said. “It’s in the hands of the province.”
Related
OPG, which is provincially owned, insisted yesterday that it has not applied to demolish the Hearn, but that the application came from Studios of America, a company with a lease on the Hearn that lasts through 2024. OPG said the tenant’s lease permits it to demolish the vast structure.
AND WHAT MAY BE MOST IMPRESSIVE OF ALL
IS THE INTERIOR OF THE HEARN
photo by Sean Galbraith
Madis Pihlak, an associate professor of architecture at Penn State university in Harrisburg, Pa., wrote to say that one of his student groups is worked on plans for a training centre in the structure, adding, “the Hearn is an amazing building that should not be demolished.”
And William J. Phillips, a retired electrical utility engineer in Nova Scotia, noted that Nova Scotia Power is converting the Water Street Thermal Station, a smaller version of the Hearn on the Halifax waterfront, into a new corporate HQ, set to open next year. “The Hearn should not be demolished and in my view a rink is only one of many interesting possibilities that the building offers.”
And William J. Phillips, a retired electrical utility engineer in Nova Scotia, noted that Nova Scotia Power is converting the Water Street Thermal Station, a smaller version of the Hearn on the Halifax waterfront, into a new corporate HQ, set to open next year. “The Hearn should not be demolished and in my view a rink is only one of many interesting possibilities that the building offers.”
photo by Toni Wallachy
Heritage Toronto, an arm’s-length city agency funded mainly through donations, has entered the fight to save the enormous Hearn Generating Station, a listed heritage building in Toronto’s port lands.
Read more...here
photo by Toni Wallachy
One of the city's most prominent industrial structures may be demolished
The R.L. Hearn Generating Station is under threat of demolition. The City of Toronto received an application to demolish the building in August, but Heritage Toronto was only recently made aware of its submission.
Hearn was featured in our heritage photo exhibit, Building Storeys, in February this year. Industrial heritage is often seen as gritty, and not as "valuable" as other types of heritage, but it is a key part to Toronto's growth as a city. Hearn has had a prominent place on our waterfront for many years, and serves as a reminder of our waterfront's industrial past, and should be preserved with a new purpose to bring it into the future.
The City of Toronto has recognized the historical importance of Hearn and it is listed under the Inventory of Heritage Properties.
read more at Heritage Toronto...here
City Council consideration on December 16, 2010
| Preservation of the Hearn Generating Station at 440 Unwin Avenue - by Councillor Paula Fletcher, seconded by Councillor Adam Vaughan See the results...here Could it be that Ward 30 Councillor, Paula Fletcher, was absent for this vote? |
Building Date: 1949-51, 1959-1961 Architects: The Stone and Webster Engineering Company Current Owner: Ontario Power Generation Location: 440 Unwin Avenue
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