Historic buildings torn down by Doug Ford will now be home to a parking lot

Just two years after tons of public backlash and community engagement halted demolition work, the future of a group of heritage industrial buildings in Toronto doesn't look too promising.

Not much is still known about The Dominion Foundry Site's sale and future development, but a post by The Friends of the Foundry Twitter page reveals that the site might be utilized as a parking lot for the foreseeable future. 

According to the tweet, a parking provider is now offering two-year leases on parking spaces on the Foundry site. 

The De Gasperis family seem to have no plans to develop the #FoundrySite for some time: a parking provider is now offering 2-year leases on parking spaces on Foundry property. #SaveTheFoundry pic.twitter.com/0VP3KFQA57

— Friends of the Foundry (@FoundryFriends) February 22, 2023

In October 2020, the provincial government issued a Minister's Zoning Order (MZO) for the property, which would permit three residential towers to be built on the historic site. 

Several community groups felt blindsided by the project's lack of public consultation, and expressed concern for the potential loss of the heritage site. 

In January 2021, the province went ahead with its planned demolition of the four historic buildings, but paused a few days later due to widespread criticism from local residents and community groups, who challenged the demolition in court. 

A court injunction was granted, causing the City of Toronto, the provincial government, and advocacy groups to go back to the drawing table. 

Instead of a full demolition, the new plan would retain parts of the heritage site, while other areas deemed less valuable would be demolished. 

However, two years following the controversy, some critics are puzzled as to why the province rushed to demolish the buildings only to leave the site idle. 

"We have new construction housing being built, but two years after the rapid and illegal demolition of the Foundry buildings, which the government began, they still haven't built anything despite the fact that they were rushing to build, rushing to demolish," NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam told CityNews. 

"They haven't produced a single unit of housing down in the West Don Lands."