Toronto Star

Abraham Lincoln was right: you can't fool all the people all the time. That was made abundantly clear when the Pugly Awards were announced yesterday. The nearly 10,000 Torontonians who voted in the online competition named the Toronto Police Service's new 51 Division headquarters as the best new building. They also chose Plazacorp's Wellington Square (800 Wellington St., east of Strachan Ave.) condo development as the worst. Who could disagree? The cop shop, designed by Michael Moxam of Dunlop Architects, is one of the best examples of how a century-old industrial shed, in this case a former Consumers Gas plant at the corner of Parliament St. and Eastern Ave., can be incorporated into a thoroughly modern, elegant and even beautiful complex. Despite being hidden away in a long-unloved neighbourhood, 51 Division makes both the city and the police look good.