Queen West Fire: The Cleanup and Support

Sooo, how long before a condo is announced..

Any bets?

Christopher Hume likes unassuming 2 to 3-storey buildings. That's what I hope returns to that location.

Every single blog entry about this has had people making ridiculous claims about it being corporate sabotage or arson to make room for condos.

Crazy conspiracies that the fire was an attempt to get around the recent heritage site declaration.

Except they don't realize that the declaration disallows developers from putting up condos or home depots even if the existing buildings were burnt to the ground. Any buildings that get built in its place must maintain the "social and architectural heritage of the area.

We won't see condos and we won't see a Home Depot expansion. I wouldn't be surprised in a years time to see Dukes back at the same location.

Show some respect for the people who lost their homes and belongings.

I wish they could rebuild the heritage buildings. It's done all the time in other parts of the world. Why not here?

Just like there's no replacing the 600 yr old wall that was burned down in Seoul, there's no replacing heritage buildings here.

We can restore the area with newer buildings that simulate that heritage, but they will not have the history that comes with the ones that were lost.

Warts and all

The city can also waive or reduce developing fees to get rebuilding under way quickly in the case of heritage sites, assuming the new structure meets their criteria.

European cities rebuilt so much after they were bombed. Look at Warsaw, some districts had 90% of their centuries old heritage buildings reduced to rubble. In fact, Warsaw's Old Town is almost completely rebuilt, yet is still a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We shouldn't rebuild everything, but it makes more sense in this context than putting up a glass wall, or something with only vague references to the heritage buildings. It's about rebuilding down to the style/colour of brick, window placements and everything.

See this for some inspiration: http://www.davesag.com/poland/index.html
Most of that is less than 100 years old.

We walked by Friday night ... very sad :(

Just call me cynical, but I still think condo will go up there.

And no, I don't think condo developers started the fire, but are dancing with glee at the thought of all that open land.

""Every single blog entry has.. people making ridiculous claims about it being corporate sabotage .. to make room for condos.""
..^^^ Those people should be careful what they wish for !! Good photos btw, you've convinced me to pay my respects in person.

I highly doubt they'd allow anything taller than 5 stories. I'm thinking they'll try and recreate a similar style to what was there before. 2 to 5 story brick buildings (But I'm thinking they won't go shorter than 3 when they rebuild. Might as well get the extra floor in there). Storefronts on the bottom, apartments on top. Perhaps a few buildings with second floor businesses.

And I'll admit, those apartments are unlikely to look like they did before. Now that the buildings won't be firetraps, the rent is almost certainly going to increase. Perhaps a few existing renters will be grandfathered in, but I think they'll try to squeeze in a few more units than were there prior and will probably be out of the price range for the people living there before.

The facades will slightly resemble that of the building dukes was in. Perhaps with an angled roof though. They'll keep things more consistant than they were before. Perhaps changing the brick colour and the height of some of the buildings.

Show some respect for the people who lost their homes and belongings.
Posted by: Ryan L.
-Yes, no need to ask any more questions, Ryan L has assured us that he knows exactly what will replace these buildings. Ryan L., pleasse explain to me how demanding answers is disrespectful. Also, Ryna, I had mentioned earlier that some of these people were refused insurance because they were told their buildings were "firetraps". You just said, whatever buildings they do build there, most likely won't be firetraps. so, do you now agree that the buildings that were there before were firetraps, and if they were, why were people allowed to live or build a business there?
If you think for one moment, they are going to build anyhting that the people who were ther ebefore will eb able to afford, I have some land in New Orleans I'd love to sell you.

Rebuilding historic sites is a crime in my understanding. Each building has a history and this history is lost when the building gets destroyed. Don't we have a culture that is worth expressing through architecture? Can't we rebuild neighborhoods and create the same atmosphere with modern means?

rebuild structures have no soul.

markus