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The New North Toronto C. I.

the redevelopment of North Toronto Collegiate Institute 2003-2010

Contents:

  1. A short history of the building (updated Dec 2005)
  2. Towards TDSB Approval
  3. The Feasibility Study
  4. The Design Process: towards rezoning
  5. The Design Process: continued . . .
  6. Post Design, Pre Construction
  7. Construction (to summer 2010)
  8. Demolition of 70 Roehampton (February 2011 to …)
  • May 2007 – The Tridel Sales centre opens & sales are going very well. A new page in the development opens
  • April 23, 2007 – Design Team Meeting
    • The architects (CS&P) have been meeting with departments in the school to finalize the plans for specialized instruction areas. Plans with the final locations of walls etc have been completed.
    • Section 37 provisions include
      1. $400,000 contribution towards a (future) pool with a 3 yr sunset clause
      2. public accessible walkway
      3. green roof – a living roof (not accessible to the school) will substantially decrease the water runoff during rainfall, will have a cooling effect in the summer, and once established will not require watering (although this will be determined by the final type of green roof installed). Also it will look great!
      4. public art – these will likely be “gateway” features. Very general guidelines will be released in May (maybe June at the latest). A long list of artists will be short listed for a competition. Only 2 alumni artists showed interest.
    • Revised Schedule:
      1. NTCI construction documents – current – July 2007.
      2. Sales Office on Broadway opens! – May 2007
        Look at the model in the sales office. If you peer into the courtyard you will see the original Broadway entrance and Roehampton entrance restored.
      3. rezoning – June 19th council mtg
      4. Building Permit Application – October 2007 to as late as April 2008
      5. Tender – April 2009 – June 2008 (or earlier depending on sales)
      6. Construction – July 2008 to July 2010
        Although if sales go well construction could begin as early as late November, though more likely in the spring… Note that for construction to begin, the “Math Wing” must be taken down. A loading zone for receiving and very limited (10 spaces) parking will remain. The TDSB must look into parking for the teaching staff. Classes may move from the Math wing to free rooms if construction begins before July 2008.
      7. Occupancy – July 2010 – at the latest we hope….
      8. The existing school would then be taken down carefully to preserve the brick etc for the historical elements of the school. The field would be ready by summer 2011.
      9. 2012 is NTCI’s 100th anniverasary!
    • Discussion on artificial turf – The turf is not in the budget. There were serious discussions about ways to obtain a turf field which seem promising. There were also not so serious references to the possibility of a dome to cover the field.
    • Discussion on Pool – although Tridel must put aside funds ($400,000) towards at future pool, this seems extremely unlikely to go ahead in light of current City of Toronto discussions regarding TDSB pools. Currently, there is no capital budget to build one and more importantly no maintenance budget to keep it running. The pool is estimated to cost $5 million (2006 dollars) to build. Everyone feared that the sunset clause on the $400,000 Tridel section 37 money would expire with no future NT pool.
  • January 23, 2007 – Tridel spoke at the School Council Meeting: (notes from Minutes):
    • Tridel is very open to parents’ input and thoughts.
    • There will be a full-size football field (almost full size – full length – sorry) and a theatre.
    • Construction is anticipated start in September 2008 and it takes 20 to 24 months to build. Construction must happen within 11 (14 months – correction) months of Tridel selling the first condominium unit.
    • There are two condominium buildings planned for the site. One condominium building has 24 floors with 175 units and the other condominium building has 27 floors and 275 units. The units are between 600 and 1900 square feet for the most part.
    • The school will be built to accommodate 1200 students.
    • There are plans to address safety concerns during construction and Tridel will be open to hear about issues (eg. Noise and dust).
    • Concerns about the model of funding a new school via selling part of current land to build condos etc. can be directed to our School Trustee – Josh Matlow.
    • There is a North Toronto Collegiate Redevelopment Web Forum at ask@tridel.com

      Follow-Ups

    • Status of pool?
    • Integrity of current school structure during blasting, construction?
    • What are the parameters/agreement regarding timing of moving to the new school?
  • January 16, 2007 – Article in The Toronto Star

    School site would include condos
    Toronto Star – Toronto,Ontario,Canada
    A developer’s proposal to demolish and rebuild North Toronto Collegiate and
    construct two condo high-rises on the same site has the support of the
    local …
  • (Sorry I have lost some content here)
  • October 2006 – Call for
  • September 25, 2006 – Design Team Meeting
    The budget was passed by the TDSB for the school in June; however, the synthetic field was NOT part of that budget. The estimated cost of this turf field is $1 million. There are several approvals necessary before zoning approval including the section 37 agreement (which may include “public art” and hopefully pool funding) and the city approval of heritage details. Feedback on the project has been good from City Hall to date. There have been no further pool sub-committee meetings since May 16th (It is thought that the TDSB is the largest operator of pools in North America; yet there is no ministry funding for these pools.)
    The architects will once again be meeting with staff and students regarding the final design details beginning in October.
    The Tridel sales office is being constructed on the NW corner of the field and should be opening in the new year…
  • September 12, 2006 – The Zoning and SPA approval date has been revised to February 2007. The main points are as follows:
    • Working Drawings for the School and Underground Facility: October-February 2007
    • Zoning and SPA Approvals: February 2007
    • School and Underground Building Permit application: February 2007
    • Condominium Permit Application: April 2007
    • School and Underground Permit Approval: May 2007
    • Construction: June 2007-June 2009
  • June 28, 2006 – As we leave for the summer, the basic floor plans are mostly set. Meetings have continued with most of the NTCI staff including teachers, secretaries and caretakers. Tonight was the TDSB meeting for approval of the project…
  • June 15, 2006 – During the staff meeting TDSB architect Sheila Penny reminded us that the building (at a projected $47 million) was very expensive. Most schools of this size would be $32 million, but this site has a variety of challenges. Additional costs include site issues such as the “downtown site”, underground parking (2.6 million), demolition of the existing building (1.8 million), heritage (0.7 mill), the need for a 4th floor (most schools would have 2 or 3 floors), future expansion issues, theatre (auditorium), possible pool, track. The track should be fully functional in the fall of 2010 – if a pool is added to the design this would delay the track by another year at least.
    Another major cost issue is the almost $1 million GST on the project. See this
    June Toronto Star Article    .
  • June 8, 2006 – Sorry I missed the June 8th community meeting.
  • May 25, 2006 – Design Team Meeting…
    1. The project was submitted for rezoning in December.
    2. The project timeline has been moved forward:
      – Currently – rezoning application in progress
      – there are a number of studies in progress, but City seems generally favourable
      – Currently – Development of Program and Sketch Plans
      – June – Site Plan Application submission.
      – June 8, 2006 – Public Meeting (hosted by City) at NTCI
      – September 2006 (hopefully) – rezoning approval
      – September 2006 – Tridel begins presale of condominium units
      – January / February 2007 (hopefully) – site plan approval and building permit application.
      – April 2007 – Project goes for Tender and received in late April
      – May 2007 – TDSB Board Approval
      – June 2007 – Construction Begins (digging in the summer)
      – August 2009 – moving day!
      – September 2009 – school begins on Broadway…
      (This is the optimistic timeline – based good presales on units. The regular timeline would see the project going for tender in October 2007 and construction beginning around Christmas 2007 with completion in December 2009.)
    3. Sustainability:
      – The project looks like it may achieve GOLD Leeds certification.
      – Radiant Heating and Cooling, Natural Ventilation, High Performance Building Envelope, Heat Recovery Systems
      – Co-generation and Geothermal seem to have been ruled out.
    4. Pool Subcommittee:
      – There are 2 ideas being pursued at this time: (open to other possibilities)
      – 25 m pool – capital cost estimate $5 million
      – 50 m Olympic Training pool
      – both concepts depend on the long term maintenance agreements with perhaps the City of Toronto.
    5. NTCI Foundation – Heritage Room:
      – fundraising efforts may begin soon (based on the timeline above pending TDSB approvals of program and sketch plans (June) and tender (April 2007))
    6. Project Planning:
      – after several meeting with departments over the past month, more detailed sketches have been presented.
      – Enter parking lot from Broadway down to level P2. Loading zones on P2 level.
      – Teacher Parking (75 spaces) on level P1 (same level as gym).
      – Ground level – administration, guidance, music and drama.
      – Second Floor – Library, Staff Room, classrooms.
      – Third Floor – classrooms.
      – Fourth Floor – science classrooms.
      – possible pool under field – entry near foyer of Auditorium.
    7. Other Issues:
      – Principal Ashley Waltman is retiring – but will remain on the design team.
      – Vice-Principal Michael Ferguson will be at Forest Hill C.I. next year.
      – More to follow?

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All information on this page has been entered by Mark Kinoshita (NT staff & grad ’82)