Comment 66960

By Fred Street (anonymous) | Posted July 27, 2011 at 10:41:57 in reply to Comment 66942

The Lister Block solution wasn't a perfect one, either. Had the heritage consensus not occurred, the province would have had an out for funding, and then the funding shortfall would have been enough to bring on the wrecking ball.

The success is a fractional victory – a property saved at a per-square-foot cost far higher than originally projected, and with almost no space available for non-governmental tenants, even assuming you could located ones with a stomach for exorbitant rents (maybe as a tax write-off).

As happy as I am to have the Lister live and breathe again, the reality seems to be that it will be more or less closed to the public by 5pm and the nightly glow we've seen in recent months will vanish with the cleaning staff.

There are encouragements to be found in the story, to be sure, but it has also become a poster child for the enormous pitfalls of architectural heritage, and the pressing need for enlightened private sector investment in imaginative reactivation of this stock.

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