On Jan. 13, councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam put forth a motion to have the 114-year-old upscale men’s retail store Stollery’s at Yonge Street and Bloor Street West preserved as a heritage site. Four days later, the councillor was surprised to receive calls from residents complaining that the building was being unceremoniously torn down.
According to Wong-Tam, developer Sam Mizrahi’s demolition permit was issued on Jan. 16, and the construction crew was on site by Saturday morning, the very next day.
However, Mizrahi denies any correlation between the sought-after heritage designation and the demolition. “You can’t plan a demolition overnight,” he said. “It takes months of planning [and] design.”
Mizrahi has big plans for the site and predicts that it will be an iconic landmark for Toronto for the next 100 years to come. Pritzker Prize–winning architect Norman Foster, responsible for the Gherkin Building in London as well as the Hearst Tower in New York, has been tasked with the design of the new building.
“There’s a significant moral responsibility that comes with this corner, it’s one of the most significant corners for Toronto, if not Canada, in terms of commerce and in terms of retail,” said Mizrahi.
Although the councillor commends Mizrahi for seeking architectural excellence, she believes he acted hastily, without requesting the appropriate permissions from the city to occupy the sidewalk.
“We have 130 development applications in the development pipeline,” said Wong-Tam. “If every developer decided to tear down their building before approvals were granted, can you imagine what the city would look like?”
Briar de Lange, executive director of the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area has other concerns.
“We worry about the interim time and what will go on site until the new building comes through after the application process because you don’t want something unattractive,” said de Lange.
Mizrahi insisted that he has no intention of leaving the site as a “scar on the city” or as a parking lot. Although Wong-Tam has pointed out that the city’s review of the proposal (to be submitted in 30 to 45 days) could last a while.