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Riverdale Hospital

Riverdale
Toronto  Ontario

Current  
Owner:   		  Bridgepoint Hospital
 
History:     Designed by Chapman and Hurst 1961 the 300,000 s.f. building is in excellent condition and easily adaptable to new uses.

Photographs and drawings of the hospital, along with other designs by Howard Chapman are currently on exhibit at the Toronto Archives Building as Part of Toronto a Work In Progress: Preserving Toronto's Architectural Record http://www.toronto.ca/archives/index.htmat

Architect Jon Van Nostrand evaluated the building and determined it could be renovated to create 200 much needed housing units, ideal for students, seniors or nurses. Other uses are equally feasible, including administrative offices for Bridgepoint, medical offices and community facilities. None of these uses are mutually exclusive, yet none have been considered by the building owners.

For more information see http://www.torarchcons.org/riv.html
 
Details:     Unfortunately, in spite of massive public opposition, the building is to be demolished after the construction of a new hospital adjacent to it to make way for a driveway and to create a new, potentially private, development parcel on the site.

The Toronto Architectural Conservancy supported the efforts of Citizens for Riverdale Hospital in their unsuccessful OMB appeal of the hospital plans. CRH continues to look for a solution that is a win for all concerned.
 
What  
can you  
do to  
help:   		 
  • Contact your city councillor and let them know you think the building should be saved.
  • Write to Minister of Health George Smitherman and ask why the project is wasting such a useful public asset?
  • Write to Minister of Public Infrastructure David Caplan and ask why he is funding a project that wastes 300,000 s.f. of useable, culturally significant space.
  • Ask Mayor David Miller to review the decision.
  • Send money to Citizens for Riverdale Hospital