It’s a miracle: a condo project in downtown Toronto comes off the rails in the face of local opposition. The ROM’s 40+ story tower has apparently been withdrawn following a public meeting last week. While it would have raised $20 million for ROM, it would have been an eye-sore compared with the rest of the neighbourhood. It’s amazing someone as tactful and diplomatic as ROM CEO William Thorsell would have backed such a controversial plan.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) took a bold architectural move when it commissioned Daniel Libeskind to design the new “Crystal” building. Regardless of whether you like it, the “Crystal” makes a statement by shaking up the status quo. The ROM, however, is threatening to make a huge mistake with plans to build a 40-storey condo on the site where the planetarium now sits. For all kinds of reasons, this condo project stinks. First, it arguably violates the terms of the gift the ROM received from industrialist and philanthropist Col. Sam Mclaughlin, who wanted his donation to serve public space. Next, it threatens to “violate” the landscape by dominating Queen Park’s Crescent and nearby UofT. Granted, the ROM needs $20-million to complete its expansion but CEO William Thorsell and the board has miscalculated Toronto’s willingness to accept yet another condo tower. There will, no doubt, be huge local opposition to the project and there are suggestions that prominent supporters are already threatening to walk away. If the ROM is smart and finds some creative inspiration, they’ll heed to the wishes of the community and reload strategically and financially.
