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From: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...2154&t=TS_Home
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Battle over a logo at new opera house
Naming rights cost hotel boss $20M
Insists on tree-shaped corporate brand
May 11, 2006. 01:00 AM
MARTIN KNELMAN
ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST

Behind the scenes of Toronto's long-awaited opera house — nearing completion at Queen and University — you might hear the strains of a Rossini-like comic aria concerning a tree.
The building happens to be named the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. And Isadore Sharp, chairman and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, which gave $20 million for naming rights in perpetuity, insists the sign on the University Ave. side has to include the company's branding tree logo.
Some beneficiaries of the Four Seasons gift have been whispering disgruntled comments about making the opera house look like a convention centre with huge trees plastered on all sides.
"Jack has voiced negative views about the tree," Sharp said in a phone interview yesterday, referring to architect Jack Diamond. "He asked us to reconsider. We agreed to talk about it."
According to the veteran hotel tycoon, his company has made major modifications. "We've told the opera company we don't need to have the huge sign on the Queen St. side as originally planned."
Indeed, Sharp is willing to settle for the small tree logo on one side of the building instead of signs on three sides of the building as earlier planned. And the single remaining tree logo will not be nearly as large as originally envisioned.
But Sharp is adamant that whatever its size, the logo tree on the University Ave. side of the opera house is a necessity. Without that trademark tree, he explains, "Four Seasons" is just a generic phrase that could refer to Vivaldi or any number of things that have nothing to do with his luxury hotel chain.
"Frankly, I don't see what the fuss is about. What really matters is that Toronto is getting one of the world's great opera houses, for which Richard Bradshaw deserves a lot of credit. And June 14 is going to be a great night for the city."
Bradshaw, general director of the opera company, and Diamond both declined to comment on the tree logo tussle.
As far as Sharp is concerned, his company's $20 million donation has to work both as a commitment to the community and as an investment that can be justified in business terms.
That tree logo is what seals the deal and establishes instant public awareness of a link between the hotel company and the opera house.
"It's quite a light, subtle sign," says Sharp, "but I can't help it if some people consider it crass. I'm not looking for credit, but we came along at a time when the opera company urgently needed a lead donor, and we gave them what they asked for. In the four years since the deal was made, we have reduced the size of what originally looked like a huge sign on Queen St., and we're not asking for much. In fact, I think we're really settling for second billing."
By that he means that the Canadian Opera Company will also have its name on the building, although exactly where and how is not yet clear.
"The matter of signage is very complicated," says Wendy McDowall, director of the capital campaign for the opera house, "and we have had a lot of discussions with all the parties involved, including the Four Seasons, trying to decide what works best and serves everyone's interests."
Sharp said he looks forward to attending the June 14 gala. At the post-concert $2,000-a-plate onstage dinner, the Four Seasons will have several tables for its top executives.
June 14 is also the date the opera company is due to receive a hefty cheque from the Four Seasons — which has been paying its $20 million in instalments.
By then, in the tradition of classic comic operas, this much ado about a tree image may have found its happy ending.