ROM with a view flayed as 'ugly' - Canadian Architecture News

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ROM with a view flayed as 'ugly'

Archiseek / Canada / News / 2005 / November 2

The tower

Neighbours of the Royal Ontario Museum last night decried plans to build a 46-storey condominium tower on the site of the McLaughlin Planetarium, calling it "dramatically out of proportion" and "ugly." "Do we need more ugliness attached to the ROM?" asked Rosie Schwartz, one of 300 residents who jammed a meeting at the University of Toronto. "This is a very bad precedent for institutional zoning." Members of the audience last night loudly heckled ROM officials as they justified the tower. Part of the ROM's ongoing revitalization project, the building would provide the museum with an additional 3,250 square metres of office and storage space. The top 40 floors would contain condominiums with an average listing price of $3-million (the penthouse would be listed for $50-million). Plans also call for construction of a reflecting pool and plaza on Queen's Park Circle, a new entrance for the Museum subway station and an improved path to Philosophers' Walk.

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