Quote:
Originally Posted by bomberjet
In terms of the building itself. Best thing would be for it to be acquired locally and have some form of government subsidy to get it moving.
Seeing as Portage Place was able to get $40 million in commitments from the City and Province, I don't see why something similar can't happen here, based on the historical significance of the building.
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As much as I am an admirer of heritage buildings, this seems like too much of a stretch. It's just not a usable building and it would be better to demolish it, in my opinion, rather than throw tens of millions of tax dollars to get it up to the point that it could be used in some marginal way. (If someone had a great idea and lots of money to execute it, then that would be wonderful, of course). They could then extend Graham through to Memorial Blvd., connecting the WAG with the busy Graham Avenue strip, and redevelop the site with something that responded to actual needs. Maybe they could even slightly re-route Memorial through the site and add some space in front of the WAG. I wouldn't do this without first having a commitment to a project that fit the importance of "The Mall" but it would probably be a more interesting opportunity than contriving to find a new use for a huge department store, as much as I love the building.