On Monday, August 30th, Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Association will host a public mayoral debate at St. Lawrence Hall to discuss the state of heritage in Toronto in 2010. The debate will be moderated by former Chief Planner for the City of Toronto, and Adjunct Professor of City Planning at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, Paul Bedford.

Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Association have run a series of community consultations throughout the city which will result in a report of what Torontonians see as significant issues relating to heritage preservation. The information collected through the consultations and public input will be used to develop a heritage report card, with key issues being raised at the debate. The report card will also be accessible to the public and media in the fall.

A new website allows people in Ontario communities to report heritage buildings and sites they feel are at risk.

This Place Matters documents heritage at risk and buildings that matter using an interactive map, photos and videos. A project spearheaded by Lloyd Alter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, the website is in beta mode and will include mobile networking capabilities in the near future.

To report a building at risk, click here. 

In August, Heritage Toronto, in partnership with the Toronto Historical Association, will be hosting a mayoral candidates' debate on heritage issues.

In anticipation, we want to hear from all those involved in the heritage community to get your views on the state of heritage preservation in Toronto. Do you think the city's current system provides adequate protection of the city's heritage and, if not, how could it be improved?

We have held several meetings across the city with representatives of historical associations, museum boards, resident groups and others involved in the heritage community. We are now inviting all of our readers to send us your views.

A summary of these consultations will be prepared, and used as background information for the debate. We will also circulate the report to the media.

Only one item of significance was dealt with at the May 21st Toronto Preservation Board meeting - a revised application regarding 34-38 Hazelton Avenue (St Basil's School). This building is located in the Yorkville Hazelton Heritage Conservation District (HCD), and had been originally considered at the March meeting, when the Board recommended refusal of a proposal to alter the property and build an eight-storey condo. At that meeting, the local heritage community had successfully opposed the application.

Subsequently, the proposal was revised to address some of the Board and staff concerns, and it was this item that was on the agenda, with a staff recommendation that it again be refused. However, since the agenda had gone out, the proponent had brought forward another revised proposal which was presented to the Board, but since staff had not had a chance to review there was no recommendation.

A couple of critical items were dealt with at April's Toronto Preservation Board meeting last week. In both cases, the Board voted to support the staff recommendation to refuse approval to demolish or significantly alter designated buildings. Detailed staff reports can be found on the city website at:

www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/pb/decisions/2009-04-23-pb23-dd.htm

In the first case, that of 10 and 14 Prince Arthur Avenue, the staff recommendation was to refuse an application to construct an 8-storey building within the East Annex Heritage Conservation District which would have incorporated the designated building at number 10 and demolished 14 Prince Arthur.