City of Toronto and Province of Ontario reach agreement on Foundry heritage site

@ Nita Sing
The City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario have reached an agreement in principle regarding the provincially-owned Dominion Foundry Complex, a former industrial complex of four heritage buildings known as the Foundry Buildings located at 153-185 Eastern Ave.
The Province has made a Cultural Heritage Evaluation Report and Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) public today with its vision of redevelopment of the property. The Province also shared details of the agreement with leaders of community groups. The Province has committed to conserving the cultural heritage value of the property, while also providing for affordable housing, which supports the City’s Open Door Affordable Housing Program and the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan. The plan includes the retention of many features of the site and the demolition of others.
The Cultural Heritage Evaluation Report is available here PDF .
The HIA is available here PDF.
The St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association commenced a court application to stop the demolition of the heritage buildings earlier this year. The City was a party to the application and participated in the proceedings. Through those proceedings, a court order was obtained that prohibited further demolition of the site.
The City and the Province are committed to ensuring that any future purchasers of the property respect the vision for its redevelopment. In the event that the property becomes privately owned, the City has the option to designate it under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, as well as having the future owner enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement (identifying elements of the buildings that must be retained and what changes and types of development may be allowed), as a condition of future planning approvals.
The Province and the City have committed to ensuring that any Purchaser of the Property respects the vision for redevelopment of the Property, as outlined in the HIA.

Quote:
“I want to thank the local community, City staff and the Province for working together to come to a much better outcome for the future of the Dominion Foundry Complex. The Province has committed to conserving the cultural heritage value of the property and has taken into account feedback from the community and the City of Toronto. This path forward has ensured the outcome that I always had hoped could be achieved here — we ensure more affordable housing is built and at the same time address community concerns around heritage and public consultation. I want to again thank the local community and all those who raised concerns for standing with the City to help protect this site.”
– Mayor John Tory

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