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TWRC: The Wet Rug Committee
With the city in a frenzied upsurge of residential architecture, and everyone from Harry Stinson (with his, er, quietly tasteful Sapphire Tower design) to the Donald (having hard-balled the City into allowing his Trump Tower to jump from 68 to 70 stories) leaping for a piece of the pie, Torontoist can’t help but wonder the fate of our dreaded waterfront. Whether for better or worse, its transformation will represent the biggest architectural development of our generation.
The Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation has submitted several excellent and comprehensive plans to Toronto’s City Council to create a colourful live/work neighbourhood in the desolate area between the Redpath Sugar factory at the bottom of Jarvis Street and the Don River, which would accommodate 10, 000 residents and employ 10, 000 more workers. This proposal comes on the tails of a similarly excellent one outlining a plan for parks, workplaces, and living space in the murky lagoon west of the Gardiner and north of the Don River.
The proposals appear to give due consideration to both technical points and human-need concerns. But, like everything else that touches City Council, these plans will turn out to be as useful as Jean Chretien’s collection of autographed golf balls without implementation. TOist suspects, though regretfully, that the city will need another Olympic opportunity for international humilitation to kick any major undertaking into gear (we hope you’re ready to knock Mel off his native-dancing podium, David).