The grey recognizable dome behind the ROM on Queen’s Park that was once the McLaughlin Planetarium will be torn down to make room for a mega-cultural complex housing a Jewish museum, a 250-seat performance hall and academic facilities for the University of Toronto.
Scott Mabury, vice president of operations at U of T said the university has entered into an agreement with local philanthropists Isadore and Rosalie Sharp to raise funds for a building in which academic departments dedicated to cultural studies will be moving into.
“U of T has the opportunity to do something truly spectacular, educationally and culturally on this specific site,” said Mabury. “This is a truly iconic site with phenomenal potential given its location in that particular precinct.”
The university bought the site from the Royal Ontario Museum in January 2009 with no specific ideas for it other than to use it for educational and broader institutional purposes. The ROM had been using the building for office space and storage, and continues to do so now as U of T tenants, ever since the planetarium closed its doors in 1995 because of budget constraints.
Within the last six months or so, ideas for a Jewish museum and a cultural centre began to gel together, said Mabury who described the site as being “underutilized” currently. He expects the confluence of these institutions, including the departments of near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, classics and history, will result in collaborations with other cultural occupants in the region and strengthen the neighbourhood.
The building could be as high as 13 storeys tall which would require a re-zoning approval from the city which currently allows buildings on the site to be about four or five storeys. While a concrete dome structure will not be rebuilt, there could be plans to use technology to project a planetarium-like experience, said Mabury.
The university also envisions a new plaza at the Museum subway station entrance and moving a loading dock’s entrance underground to create an improved pedestrian pathway between Queen’s Park and Philosophers’ Walk. These changes are expected to complement the ROM’s plans, announced this spring, to enhance the entrances and space surrounding the museum.
Although the project is still in the very early stages of planning and a budget has not yet been determined, Mabury said he expects the building to cost “well under a hundred million dollars” based on past developments undertaken by the university.
Isadore Sharp, founder of the Four Seasons luxury hotel, said it could cost $150 million to build and operate the facility, and that $65 million will be set aside in an endowment fund to ensure the successful operation of the museum once it opens. The Sharps anticipate being the lead donors of $20 million.
The museum will be a separate entity from the University of Toronto with a board of directors who will likely come from the pool of people who fund the project.
Sharp said there had been talk of starting a museum within Toronto’s Jewish community for years, but finding the right location was not a simple task.
“We wanted a location where it was going to be central to the city because it tends to attract international tourism,” he said. “You think of Toronto’s cultural centre, you couldn’t pick a better site… It’s central to so many of the interesting cultural aspects that Toronto offers.”
