Oct 28 2011
What Are Your Views On The Recommended Change Of Owner Of Casa Loma?
Casa Loma is a unique architectural treasure of Canada, and once the country’s largest private property. Sir Henry Pellatt commissioned 300 men to build his property, which took 3 years to finish.
Sadly, Sir Henry had to get rid of his properties including Casa Loma when his company fell into debt, after his street lighting permit was recalled by the city. With such grandeur and lots of space the property was to become a upscale hotel. Of course renovations to make the property suitable for purpose took place, but the idea of a luxury hotel never worked and 4 years later had to close its doors.
Many years later the property was turned into a museum by the Kiwanis Club, the museum displayed the life of Sir Henry and how Toronto was when he was living. Thirty thousand visitors a year come to see this extremely popular attraction, which shows that the Club had the right idea. The museum pays fees and taxes to the municipal budget and is self sufficient, which means it doesn’t take funds from the budget like many visitor attractions do.
It has been a shock therefore, to find out that the Council want to take back the attraction and have devised a new strategy to make money out of the building, even though the Club is still going strong and is very popular. It has not been confirmed yet, but it is possible that the building will go on the GTA real estate market, whereby some lucky investor will be able to snap it up. Another idea is that the Council may decide to change the use of the building into separate condos, if no buyer is interested in purchasing it.
With the previous renovations and the care taken by the Kiwanis Club, the castle is very modern and comfortable, with large rooms. The castle is not far out of the city, actually it is opposite the Forest Hill area, so it has the opportunity of easy access to city living.
All of these features would make it one of the most popular areas to live in Toronto. The property market is showing us that luxury homes is extremely popular, especially as the most expensive condo in Toronto has just been sold at a staggering $28m.
On the other side of the discussions are the public who have gotten used to Casa Loma being a tourist spot and a publicly accessible reminder of the industrial revolution in Canada. They simply argue that the tourist interest and historical value of the residence and the cultural value of the expositions inside considerably outweigh the financial interests of the City.
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