Item - 2023.PB1.4

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1.  City Council state its intention to designate the property at 51 Panorama Court (the "Property") under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 51 Panorama Court (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3, to the report (November 30, 2022) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning, to be effective upon the transfer of the Property by the provincial government and that notice of intention to designate be served on the new owner following the transfer of the Property.

2.  If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

3. City Council authorize the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement under Section 37 of the Ontario Heritage Act with the owner of 51 Panorama Court in a form and content satisfactory to the City Solicitor and the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary Bill in Council authorizing the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement for the property at 51 Panorama Court.

Ana Martins, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on 51 Panorama Court - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property Under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act and Authority to Enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement

This reports recommends that the City of Toronto state its intention to designate the property at 51 Panorama Court under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value and to grant authority to enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement. 

Located in the City of Toronto, on the south side of Panorama Court, northeast of the intersection of Kipling Avenue and Finch Avenue West, and west of the Humber River and conservation area along Islington Avenue, the property at 51 Panorama Court is the former County Branch of the Hospital for Sick Children (1928-1957) and later the provincially-owned Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents (1957-2014). The property is located in Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown, a neighbourhood in north Etobicoke, which in the 19th century, was immediately north of the Town of Thistletown. Known colloquially as “Thistletown”, the now 48-acre (originally 98-acre) property is an interrelated complex containing a main hospital building (Main Building) constructed in 1927-1928 to the designs of the renowned architectural partnership of Sproatt & Rolph, as well as landscaped elements, a designed circuitous drive, and associated views.

The property was originally designed and completed in 1928 as a rural satellite branch of the Hospital for Sick Children, referred to as its County Branch, and closed in 1957. In 1957, the Government of Ontario purchased the site for use as a new mental healthcare facility for children and youth, and it was repurposed as the Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents, effectively extending the property’s use as a complex dedicated to children’s healthcare with a child-focused approach to care and treatment until it closed in 2014. The surplus property has since remained vacant.

Currently, the surplus Thistletown provincial property is being offered for sale to support Government of Ontario initiatives for creating more Long-Term Care Homes (Fixing Long-Term Care Act of 2021). The property will be sold on the open market with the requirement to develop and operate a minimum of 256 long-term care beds and recreational uses, with preference for affordable housing, veterans housing and/or seniors housing on-site.

The property at 51 Panorama Court was listed on the City of Toronto's Inventory of Heritage Properties (now the Heritage Register) on May 6, 2014. On August 25, 2014, Amendments to the Reasons for Listing on the City's Inventory of Heritage Properties to include heritage landscape attributes and landmark uses was adopted by City Council.

The property has cultural heritage value for its design value and association with the Hospital for Sick Children and Thistletown Regional Centre for its contribution to provincial mental healthcare for children and youth. The Government of Ontario has recognized Thistletown as a "provincial heritage property of provincial significance" and the property is included on the List of Provincial Heritage Properties maintained by the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Upon the transfer of the property out of provincial control and ownership, the Thistletown site will no longer be under provincial protection pursuant to Section B.3 of the Standards and Guidelines for Conservation of Provincial Heritage Properties dated April 28, 2010, prepared pursuant to Section 25.2 of the Ontario Heritage Act. The authority for heritage protection will then reside with City Council and the property may be designated by the City of Toronto under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Staff have completed the Research and Evaluation Report for the property at 51 Panorama Court and determined that the property meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act under design, associative and contextual values. As such, the property is a significant built heritage resource.

In June 2019, the More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019 (Bill 108) received Royal Assent. Schedule 11 of this Act included amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act. The Bill 108 Amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act came into force on July 1, 2021, which included a shift in Part IV designations related to certain Planning Act applications. Section 29(1.2) of the Ontario Heritage Act now restricts City Council's ability to give notice of its intention to designate a property under the Act to within 90 days after the City Clerk gives notice of a complete application.

There is currently no planning application for the development of 51 Panorama Court.  The future redevelopment of the lands will require a number of planning applications including a Plan of Subdivision (to create public roads), Site Plan Control, and a Plan of Condominium (depending on proposed tenure for the proposed uses). The property contains TRCA regulated lands and is subject to the City of Toronto's Ravine and Natural Feature Protection By-law.

A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) is required for all development applications that affect listed and designated properties and will be considered when determining how a heritage property is to be conserved. Designation also enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.