Toronto Star

Forget last year's radical plan to reinvent the Hummingbird Centre. Instead Toronto city council next month will be asked to approve a dramatically different plan, the Star has learned. The new proposal, with a price tag over $100 million, features a slender 50-storey residential tower as well as a major upgrade and expansion of the city-owned arts centre's facilities. "We've achieved a breakthrough through an innovative partnership that's truly unique," says Terry Comeau, senior vice-president of the architectural firm HOK Canada. HOK designed the Hummingbird reinvention in conjunction with the real-estate development firm Castlepoint Investments Inc., where president, Alfredo Romano, has a strong interest in the arts. The upshot: a strikingly more entrepreneurial approach to the challenge of saving the centre. The proposal has already been reviewed by the planning department. Early next month, it will be considered by the policy and finance committee. It could come up for approval by city council by late July.