14 July 2007
Developer to Proceed Despite Complaints
The John Street Roundhouse.
Toronto Ontario - The private developer that intends to
turn part of a historical roundhouse into a furniture store said yesterday it will go ahead with plans regardless of growing opposition
at city hall.
If the city wanted to build a bigger railway museum inside the CPR John Street Roundhouse, it should not have signed a deal that allows
retail use inside the historical structure, Michael Clark, vice-president of State Building Group, said in a press release.
"Retail in the roundhouse was approved in 2001," Mr. Clark said. "Following a RFP [request for proposals process], a
lease was executed for the restoration, reutilization, and tenanting of the roundhouse."
The City of Toronto acquired the roundhouse near the Rogers Centre in 1997 and has been trying ever since to have it remodelled without
spending public money.
As part of the deal between State Building Group and the city, the developer became the tenant for 18 of the roundhouse's 32 bays, many
of which still house locomotives. The rest of the bays, once used for servicing rail engines, are leased to Steam Whistle Brewing.
State Building Group agreed to restore three of its bays and turn them into a railway museum. The company also has agreed to sublease
its part of the roundhouse to Leon's Furniture, which plans to build a retail store there. But Adam Vaughan, the city councillor for
Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina, is leading a movement to derail that deal.
Mr. Vaughan, who said he has the backing of the mayor's office, has introduced a motion to stop all negotiations and agreements with
State Building Group. The motion will be put before city council next week, as Mr. Vaughan is preparing a legal challenge to the deal
between State Building Group and Leon's.
The councillor, who has the backing of Toronto Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey and of former Toronto mayor David Crombie, would like
to see most, if not all, of the roundhouse turned into a railway museum. "My job is to represent the wishes of my
constituents," he said. "They don't want a furniture store there. They want a rail museum to be a rail museum... to be as
fully a rail museum as possible."
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