Item - 2019.PB3.5

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Toronto and East York Community Council that: 

1.  City Council state its intention to designate the property at 440 Unwin Avenue under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 440 Unwin Avenue (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (February 7, 2019) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Preservation Services, Urban Design, City Planning.

2.  If there are no objections to the designation in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bill in Council.

3.  If there are objections in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, City Council direct the City Clerk to refer the proposed designation to the Conservation Review Board.

4.  If the designation is referred to the Conservation Review Board, City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate staff to attend any hearing held by the Conservation Review Board in support of Council's decision to designate the property.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 440 Unwin Avenue under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. 

Located in the Port Lands on the north side of Unwin Avenue, between Leslie and Cherry streets, the property contains the Richard L. Hearn Generating Station, a coal-based generating station for Toronto's emerging post-war economy, designed by the by the Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation and completed in phases in 1951, 1961 and 1971 for the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario (now known as Ontario Power Generation).  It was decommissioned in 1983.  The Province leased the property to the tenants in 2002 until they sold the property in November 2018.  During that time, the tenant sought a variety of permits to accommodate film and television studio production as well as a demolition permit for the generating station which was issued in 2010 and subsequently expired in 2017. The building interiors were subsequently stabilized between 2014 and 2016 to host large public events such as Luminato.

The Hearn, an icon of the civic spirit underpinning the Port Lands creation in 1912, has for over 70 years been a distinctive landmark on the Toronto waterfront with its tall chimney stack.  For more than 15 years City Council has expressed a desire to protect and preserve this waterfront landmark property.  Initially, through its inclusion on the City's Heritage Register in 2003, and then through a series of Council decisions, the City reaffirmed to the Provincial Government its interest in the Hearn Generating Station's preservation. As the property was owned by Ontario Power Generation, a provincial public body, it was exempt from designation by the City of Toronto. 

The Province of Ontario recognized the cultural heritage value of the property by including it on the List of Provincial Heritage Properties following a Cultural Heritage Evaluation in 2016.  As the property is now privately owned, it is no longer subject to
 

provincial protection pursuant to Section B.3 of the Standards and Guidelines for Conservation of Provincial Heritage Properties dated April 28, 2010, prepared pursuant to Section 25.2 of the Ontario Heritage Act).  The authority for heritage protection now resides with City Council and the property may be designated by the City of Toronto under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Following research and evaluation, it has been determined that the property meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under

Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its design, associative and contextual value. 

Designation under Part IV enables City Council to recognize the heritage value of the Hearn Generating Station, to identify and protect the heritage attributes and review alterations to the site, enforce heritage property standards and maintenance, and refuse demolition.