Beloved Japanese cultural building at risk of becoming condos

Members of Toronto's Japanese community are fighting to keep a once beloved cultural centre, designed by the famed architect Raymond Moriyama, from being turned into a condo.

In the 1960s, some 75 Japanese-Canadians previously exiled from B.C. financed the original Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, in order to honour their ancestry and promote community in their new home in Toronto. 

But in 2021, the building was closed and sold to developer 123 Wynford Inc. The new Japanese cultural centre moved to 6 Sakura Way, a 10-minute walk from the original site. 

Now the developer wants to demolish and reassemble the building and erect a 48-storey condo. 

Lynn Kobayashi, whose grandmother was one of those who helped finance the building, says the developers are not respecting the building's cultural significance and worries the structure won't be properly preserved. 

"As a Japanese-Canadian, I find that totally offensive," the Toronto Chapter president of the National Association of Japanese Canadians (NAJC) told CBC Toronto.

"It would totally misrepresent what the building is. It would destroy the architectural heritage. The building needs to remain intact."

She isn't alone.

City council is also against the developers' plans and has refused their application to alter the building.

In May, 123 Wynford Inc. requested to demolish and alter the heritage site for its project, which also included building a 55-storey tower adjacent to the heritage property. 

Toronto has been trying to maintain its historic buildings like those designed by Moriyama (who also designed the now-shuttered Ontario Science Centre) while also spurring building to alleviate the housing crisis. 

Developer plans to 'retain' as much of centre as possible 

123 Wynford Inc. is appealing council's decision at the Ontario Land Tribunal. Hearings began on Tuesday and are slated to wrap mid-month.

The company declined an interview while the proceedings are underway but said in a statement that "it is our intention and our plan to retain as much of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre as possible. We have approached this project from a position of reinvention and respect for the original building."

Last month, the NAJC launched a GoFundMe to raise funds to cover its legal fees during the proceedings, surpassing its original goal of $20,000. 

Moriyama-Teshima Architects said in a statement that the firm has "not been involved in these efforts and we are not able to comment at this time," but it appears to be involved in some capacity with the condo plans.

123 Wynford Inc. wrote in a statement and on its website that it has been working with the firm during the design process.

According to online records, the 123 Wynford Drive property was first sold in 2001 to the Noor Cultural Centre, a place for Islamic learning and culture.

In a statement on the JCCC's website, at the time of the deal, the centre "understood the new owner planned to keep the building intact, which was an ideal outcome at that time."

The Noor centre shuttered its doors in 2021 amid COVID-19 lockdowns, its website reads, and that's when the current developers took ownership of the site.

Neighbours have also raised concerns 

Neighbours who live across and near the building have voiced their concerns of their own, namely that the area is already densely populated with few roads leading in and out of the area.

"If there's a major disaster there, even a minor disaster, while there's been a lot of assurance by emergency services that they could handle it, the better part of 25,000 people, if they had to be evacuated out through those locations, could be at significant risk," John Cockerill, the former head of a resident's association, who lives a short distance from the centre said. 

Cockerill said he and some residents would like to see the building incorporate a public space for residents since the area doesn't currently have a community space. 

"That would be useful because at the moment there are very few places other than Tim Hortons to congregate," he said. 

The developer's proposal includes a variety of outdoor features, including an outdoor space and walkways.

But for Kobayashi, the prospect of a condo on top of a beloved heritage site doesn't make sense given that dismantling the building poses a risk to its integrity.

"It is unique. You can't just dismiss that."