David Mirvish and Frank Gehry have proposed a triple-tower condo development on King Street West. I've seen some outrage on Twitter and elsewhere that the Princess of Wales Theatre would have to go to make this possible. Losing the Princess of Wales Theatre is the least of my concerns...
I'm far more upset that we'd lose four century-old buildings along King Street West. These include the Eclipse Whitewear Company Building at 322 King St. West, the Anderson Building at 284 King St. West, the E.W. Gillett Building at 276 King St. West and the Reid Building at 266-270 King St. West.
The past couple of weeks, I've been looking at century-old buildings on King and Queen Streets. I love them... and wish Toronto had preserved more of them. On my recent trips to Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin it was the preservation of old buildings that captured my heart. Toronto is part of the new world, but we do have beautiful old buildings, and I hate the thought of tearing down four of them for yet another condo.
The Princess of Wales Theatre is getting all the press, but it's only been around since 1993 and other venues will sprout up to support our theatre scene. But once we tear down the Eclipse Whitewear Company Building, Anderson Building, E.W. Gillett Building and Reid Building, there's no turning back.
I hope David Mirvish and Frank Gehry build their condo somewhere else. And, if you are a newbie when it comes to putting money in pre-construction condos, here are some things to know before investing.
