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timun · 05-11-2022, 02:14 PM

Hmmm, I'm very torn on this...

While I get that the 100 block of 7th Ave SW has been so sketchy for so long and the buildings along that stretch are so far beyond 'saving' that something like this plan was inevitable, but looking at the DP drawings the proposed façade along that block is a monolithic glass curtain wall that screams "#### off and go away!" as much as the derelict buildings still standing there. That's no bueno. Reminds me a lot of Penny Lane and the current Eighth Avenue Place. Crappy as those old warehouse buildings were at least they had character and that block was a busy, happenin' place. Now it's superficially "nice" but it's completely devoid of life.

I'm not a fan of the idea of ####ing around with any of the buildings on Stephen Avenue. I appreciate that they're trying to mostly save the façades at least, but these are some of the oldest buildings in the city. For example the Hudson's Block building at Centre St, the one with an ATB branch in it now, was the location of the HBC store before the current one was built in the early 1910s. I did some work in the Ashdown Hardware building next to it 10+ years ago; it's built like the proverbial brick ####house and has some lovely details inside. Both these buildings are 130+ years old, and there are so few of that age left that it's a crying shame to gut 'em and slap the sandstone back on the outside of a new build and pretend like we're really retaining the history of those spaces.

A few of these buildings to be demo'ed are Municipal Historic Resources, but I suspect council won't oppose blowing them away.

05-11-2022, 02:14 PM	#578
timun First Line Centre Join Date: May 2012 Exp:	Hmmm, I'm very torn on this... While I get that the 100 block of 7th Ave SW has been so sketchy for so long and the buildings along that stretch are so far beyond 'saving' that something like this plan was inevitable, but looking at the DP drawings the proposed façade along that block is a monolithic glass curtain wall that screams "#### off and go away!" as much as the derelict buildings still standing there. That's no bueno. Reminds me a lot of Penny Lane and the current Eighth Avenue Place. Crappy as those old warehouse buildings were at least they had character and that block was a busy, happenin' place. Now it's superficially "nice" but it's completely devoid of life. I'm not a fan of the idea of ####ing around with any of the buildings on Stephen Avenue. I appreciate that they're trying to mostly save the façades at least, but these are some of the oldest buildings in the city. For example the Hudson's Block building at Centre St, the one with an ATB branch in it now, was the location of the HBC store before the current one was built in the early 1910s. I did some work in the Ashdown Hardware building next to it 10+ years ago; it's built like the proverbial brick ####house and has some lovely details inside. Both these buildings are 130+ years old, and there are so few of that age left that it's a crying shame to gut 'em and slap the sandstone back on the outside of a new build and pretend like we're really retaining the history of those spaces. A few of these buildings to be demo'ed are Municipal Historic Resources, but I suspect council won't oppose blowing them away.