ROM tower would have been an appropriate cultural marker

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ROM tower would have been an appropriate cultural marker

Archiseek / Canada / News / 2005 / November 18

The outcry and public dust-up earlier this month over the Royal Ontario Museum's proposed 46-storey office and upmarket condominium tower on Queen's Park were not surprising. Tall buildings, along with rats and American pop culture, upset a lot of Torontonians. Far more surprising, and downright dismaying, was the ROM'S abrupt cancellation of the project a couple of weeks ago. Faced with opposition from a few dozen howling "NIMBYs" (not in my backyard) and University of Toronto functionaries, and a couple of nervous donors, museum CEO William Thorsell fled the field rather than stand fast and fight for his tower. Result: Everybody loses. The museum loses an estimated $20-million in revenue from the skyscraper deal -- money the ROM needs to complete Mr. Thorsell's sweeping $230-million overhaul of the city's grandest artistic treasury, expected to reopen next year.

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