Master Plan awaiting more land
http://www.ryersonline.ca/articles/1979/1/Master-Plan-awaiting-more-land/Page1.html
Jessica Rafuse
Jessica Rafuse is a fourth-year journalism student who is currently working as a news editor for the Ryersonian. She recently completed a six-week internship with the Globe and Mail and looks forward to pursuing a career in investigative journalism after she graduates.By Jessica Rafuse
Published on 10/24/2007
Ryerson’s residences recycle about 30 per cent less than the rest of campus. This fact has prompted a group of students to do something to change it.
Master Plan awaiting more land
Translating Ryerson’s visionary Master Plan to the streets of downtown Toronto is only a matter of time — a very long time. Ryerson keeps hitting walls that won’t easily tumble when it comes to expropriating and acquiring new land for the university to develop.
“If you’re at York, it takes zero. If you’re at Trent, it takes zero. At Nipissing it takes zero because you own the land. But this is downtown Toronto,” Sheldon Levy said.
“Everything takes unbelievable lengths of time.” Ryerson is still in the midst of trying to gain visibility on Yonge Street by expropriating and purchasing the famous landmark at Yonge and Gould, where Sam the Record Man closed shop last June.
“We’ve done everything officially with it, at the same time we continue to talk to the family, but as we sit here, we don’t own it,” Levy said. He compared Ryerson’s long wait for approval to purchase Sam’s to the University of Toronto’s three-and-a-half-year effort to build its new medical building. “It’s been a year and a half on Sam’s and counting,” said Levy.
He wouldn’t say how long it will take to finish the acquisition. Ryerson faces a unique challenge when it comes to campus expansion, as no other downtown Canadian university has as little land to work with. “The challenge is how to develop the space they need, to transform the campus when they don’t have much land of their own,” said Bruce Kuwabara, one of the lead architects contracted to envision the Master Plan. Kuwabara said developing a cohesive concept for Ryerson is important because when opportunities to expand come along, Ryerson will have a rubric to gauge how useful and complementary these acquisitions will be.
“The situation with Ryerson is fairly dynamic and it’s not a linear kind of process,” Kuwabara said. Other barriers that Ryerson continues to run into include 277 Victoria St., which is owned by the city of Toronto and is largely occupied by Toronto Public Health services. Students know the corner of Dundas and Victoria Streets as the site of a needle exchange.
While Levy has received interest from the city to allow Ryerson to develop on this site, the process has been stalled because Toronto Public Health services first needs to relocate. “Until the city of Toronto comes to the conclusion that they want to work and sell the building and therefore find the occupants other spaces, then it’s simply an idea,” Levy said. If Ryerson was able to acquire the Sears building on Jarvis, this obstacle might be ameliorated. “When the city and us (Ryerson) put the joint bid on the Sears building . . . it was a potential location for them to move people into,” said Levy, adding that while there have been discussions expressing interest in the property, “nothing has materialized.”
The Gould Street closure, which has been one of the more hopeful and low-cost prospects for the University, with goals of closing the street by the end of 2007, remains undetermined. “It’s all speculative,” Levy said, adding that it’s still uncertain where Gould Street can be closed and that the city of Toronto still needs to determine emergency vehicle routes, wheel transit routes and hear from local businesses before making a decision. “There will be lots of pressure from local businesses, especially Metropolis, for it not to be closed.”
“If you’re at York, it takes zero. If you’re at Trent, it takes zero. At Nipissing it takes zero because you own the land. But this is downtown Toronto,” Sheldon Levy said.
“Everything takes unbelievable lengths of time.” Ryerson is still in the midst of trying to gain visibility on Yonge Street by expropriating and purchasing the famous landmark at Yonge and Gould, where Sam the Record Man closed shop last June.
“We’ve done everything officially with it, at the same time we continue to talk to the family, but as we sit here, we don’t own it,” Levy said. He compared Ryerson’s long wait for approval to purchase Sam’s to the University of Toronto’s three-and-a-half-year effort to build its new medical building. “It’s been a year and a half on Sam’s and counting,” said Levy.
He wouldn’t say how long it will take to finish the acquisition. Ryerson faces a unique challenge when it comes to campus expansion, as no other downtown Canadian university has as little land to work with. “The challenge is how to develop the space they need, to transform the campus when they don’t have much land of their own,” said Bruce Kuwabara, one of the lead architects contracted to envision the Master Plan. Kuwabara said developing a cohesive concept for Ryerson is important because when opportunities to expand come along, Ryerson will have a rubric to gauge how useful and complementary these acquisitions will be.
“The situation with Ryerson is fairly dynamic and it’s not a linear kind of process,” Kuwabara said. Other barriers that Ryerson continues to run into include 277 Victoria St., which is owned by the city of Toronto and is largely occupied by Toronto Public Health services. Students know the corner of Dundas and Victoria Streets as the site of a needle exchange.
While Levy has received interest from the city to allow Ryerson to develop on this site, the process has been stalled because Toronto Public Health services first needs to relocate. “Until the city of Toronto comes to the conclusion that they want to work and sell the building and therefore find the occupants other spaces, then it’s simply an idea,” Levy said. If Ryerson was able to acquire the Sears building on Jarvis, this obstacle might be ameliorated. “When the city and us (Ryerson) put the joint bid on the Sears building . . . it was a potential location for them to move people into,” said Levy, adding that while there have been discussions expressing interest in the property, “nothing has materialized.”
The Gould Street closure, which has been one of the more hopeful and low-cost prospects for the University, with goals of closing the street by the end of 2007, remains undetermined. “It’s all speculative,” Levy said, adding that it’s still uncertain where Gould Street can be closed and that the city of Toronto still needs to determine emergency vehicle routes, wheel transit routes and hear from local businesses before making a decision. “There will be lots of pressure from local businesses, especially Metropolis, for it not to be closed.”