A TRAGEDY ON KING STREET - EDIT

I love the theatre. That being live theatre. I love it all, really comedy and tragedy and farce and even musicals. Actually some of my favorite live theatre pieces have been musicals; I am dubious now about musicals on film but can more wholly accept them on the stage.

One of the things that Collette and I have always enjoyed about living in Toronto is its theatre scene. We watched the revival of it: From the (what once was) The Pantages and the Wintergarden on Yonge St to the Royal Alexandra on King St we have been lucky enough to have benefitted from the revival of Toronto's theatre culture.

One of the most exciting moments was the construction of the Princess of Wales Theatre by the Mirvishes, right down from the Royal Alex which they also own. The Princess is a beautiful theatre; wonderful acoustics, comfy seats and perfectly laid out sightlines. The Royal Alex is a lovely old theatre that oozes history and charm but it is not the most comfortable place to watch a show. The Princess is.

Or was. Or won't be.

I learned today that that stretch of King St, currently known as the Theatre District will soon be obliterated. Including the Princess of Wales. In its place ... condo's. Gigantic towering private residences designed by architect Frank Gehry. Mr Gehry is a renowned architect who has designed buildings all over the world, including the recent revamping here of the Art Gallery of Ontario.

The buildings will be huge, as high as 85 stories and as evident by Mr Gehry's past projects, they will not be subtle. The Theatre District will change. Not only will the Princess of Wales disappear but so will the attendent restaurants, bars, shops and services. Even those who have never seen a stage play benefited from the revitalization of the King St strip, it was a place locals and tourists alike responded well to.

What will it be now. A very rich building for rich people. A monstrous (if not monstrosity) development unlike anything in that area.

Toronto is suffering the same pains as many big cities; our population is swelling, more and more people all the time, most of whom are not rich or wealthy and many of whom who barely qualify as middle class, they make up this city but it seems that this is not their city.

It began, as it often does, with our waterfront. For years we heard plan after plan, study after study, model after model (all paid for of course by tax payer dollars) that featured parks and trails and grass and more boardwalks; mostly what we have gotten are hulking private residences that literally cut off the sun and make me feel that, when I want to walk my dog down to the water, I need to show some kind of ID ...

So now the dichotomy of class and income as expressed by architecture is making its way north of the waterfront.

Mr Mirvish is a business man. The Princess of Wales was never a public institution, as were none of the attending businesses. I get that, they get to do what the want with their money. But they were things that could be enjoyed by the public. Now we will be getting some sort of high tech over designed fortress.

In the past when I walked along King St I could enjoy the sun on my face, watch people enjoying a beer on a patio, make note of new shows coming .. now I'm afraid I'll be walking in the cold shadow of someone else's wealth, someone else's need to own the sky.

Business men have no obligation to consider the emotional health of the residents of a city. But shouldn't someone?

A sad day. And in an intentional theatrical pun, a Tragic day indeed.

ADDENDUM: At a press conference today Mr Mirvish declared that "I'm not building condo's, I'm building scluptures" Oh he also mentioned that he had no interest in maintaining theatres that are not constantly full. And although "he" built up the King Str strip through investing in theatre, it will now be self maintaining ... somehow without the theatre and in its place a gigantic block devouring structure that will have an art gallery, a campus of the Ontario Art College and, lest we forget, the vast majority of the space dedicated to private residence.

Mirvish thinks that this is where Toronto to go. Well, it's been going there for some time, with condo's blocking the waterfront, the gentrification of once funky neighbourhoods, local landmarks and historical structures demolished for more places to live for rich people.

He thinks we can become more like New York City. Two points: NYC has many times our population, so many people that the sheer volume can defeat the kind of remoteness and gentrification projects like this represent. And if we had a Central Park, we do not have politicians with enough balls to prevent it from becoming yet another gigantic condo

High Park, watch your back