A 19th-century Toronto church could be the site of 130 new affordable units. But should it?
CBC
A plan to partially demolish a 139-year-old church has set off an uproar in a Cabbagetown neighbourhood.
But a city councillor and a housing advocate say they're in favour of the plan, arguing it will bring much-needed affordable housing to the area.
St. Luke's United Church, on Sherbourne Street at Carleton Street, has been a city-designated heritage building since 1976. But the developer that owns the structure intends to remove all but three walls and build a 48-storey apartment tower on top of what remains.
That's a far cry from the original 2022 plan for the site, which would have seen a 12-storey building set atop the church, according to retired heritage planner and 40-year neighbourhood resident Paul Dilse.
Both the old and new plans call for all but three walls and the two towers to be demolished.
"It's a landmark property; it's a significant part of a protected heritage area," Dilse said. "Everybody up to this point has said this is something worth preserving, and now we're not. All that's going to be left is three walls."
Dilse and Adam Wynne, of the Toronto and East York Community Preservation Panel, are also upset that new redevelopment plans are proceeding before the Toronto Preservation Board (TPB) has been consulted. The board's permission is required, according to city rules, before a heritage building is altered.
The board was consulted on the original plan but not the current incarnation, said Wynne, who also sits on the TPB.
The local councillor, Chris Moise, told CBC Toronto he too has had some misgivings about the project.
But he said the new building has some major advantages.
"I wasn't really happy with it, but that being said, the new application will have 30 per cent affordable housing, which is a positive," he said.
The city received about 20 letters opposing the project when it was discussed at Tuesday's meeting of the Toronto and East York Community Council, but at least one letter praised the plan.
Mark Richardson, technical lead of HousingNowTO, wrote that the tower's 440 rental units will include about 130 affordable units, as opposed to the 31 in the original 2022 layout.
"This project is an amazing constructive re-use of urban faith-based lands," the group wrote in its letter to councillors.
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