Toronto Star

Bata Shoe Company

Back in the 1960s, when the future was still something people looked forward to, architects never missed a chance to celebrate the Brave New World that lurked just round the corner. Their buildings soared, twisted and turned transparent as they explored the endless possibilities of tomorrow. Nearly half a century later, that future has come true. The dream morphed into a nightmare and its architecture now finds itself unwanted, unloved and in the way. So it's little wonder that North York Community Council voted yesterday against granting additional heritage status to the former Bata Shoe Company headquarters in Don Mills. The decision opens the door for the current owners, the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, which wants to build an Ismaili spiritual centre on the site. Designed in the mid-'60s by John B. Parkin, the building is the latest in a series of modernist landmarks threatened with demolition. Though few tears will be shed for Parkin's structure, the city will be diminished by its destruction.