City Council passed a motion approving the University of Toronto’s request for a tree removal permit on Wednesday, February 19. The permit, which allows the University to remove thirteen trees and “injure” two more that surround Flavelle House, had been holding up construction of the new Faculty of Law building since the spring.
Late last month Faculty of Law Dean Mayo Moran circulated an email to “Members of the Law School Community,” indicating that construction of the new Jackman Law Building has been delayed.
“Although construction has started, for reasons beyond our control it has proceeded somewhat slower than we had hoped,” said Moran in the email.
If construction is underway, it hasn’t been obvious from the looks of it. The fenced-off area on the south side of Flavelle House has been whisper-quiet. Well into the new year there’s no sign of any workers or construction equipment. A single building permit from the City of Toronto, issued on May 28, 2013, is posted on the exterior of Flavelle House. Under Project Description it reads “Interior Alterations.”
The Faculty of Law’s Construction Blog features some evidence of destruction—including photos showing the demolition of part of the interior of Flavelle House, and removal of the elevator from the Bora Laskin Library—there hasn’t been any sign of construction per se.
In her email Moran indicated that while construction has started, she expects “that a much more intensive phase of construction will begin shortly.”
A Groundbreaking Event
The official “groundbreaking” ceremony for the new Jackman Law Building was held on June 4, 2013. The event, which according to the Construction Blog was attended by “more than 170 alumni, friends, faculty, students and staff,” featured a 42-minute speech from Dean Moran and ball caps that read “GROUNDBREAKING JUNE 4, 2013”. Photographs from the event show a select group of dark-suited alumni and administrators awkwardly pressing shovels into the grass to announce the beginning of construction.
Actual construction, however, wasn’t quick to follow.
In order to proceed with its construction plans, the architect and University officials had to secure a number of variances from the city, including the tree-removal permit that eluded them until late February.
Faculty of Law Professor Jim Phillips’ office is on the ground floor of Flavelle House. Phillips says that back in the summer he and his colleagues were warned that construction of the new building would bring heat, dust, and noise. The administration offered to move them to a building on Wellesley Street, but most professors declined.
While the Flavelle-based faculty members prepared to withstand a summer full of inconvenience, in the end the building project was hardly noticeable.
“The only disruption we’ve had was the three times workers set off the fire alarm,” said Phillips.
According to a report from Toronto’s City Planning Division, the University’s application to the Committee of Adjustment wasn’t heard until July 2013, about a month after the official start of construction. On October 10, 2013, the Department of Urban Forestry, Tree Protection & Plan Review denied the university’s application for a permit to remove the trees. According to an official at the department, such a permit can only be issued with the approval of the local city councillor.
It appears that the permit was held back after some residents had expressed concern about how the new building might affect the neighbourhood.
On July 15, following talks with the University Area Liaison Committee, members of four local neighbourhood organizations wrote to the Committee of Adjustment, indicating they would not object to the new application, “despite the controversial encroachment into Philosopher’s Walk.” In exchange for this concession, the University agreed to designate the open area beside Philosopher’s Walk as University Open Space, which will be open to the public.
The next day Councillor Adam Vaughan wrote to the Committee of Adjustment, supporting the application on the condition that the University follow through on the concession it made to the neighbourhood associations.
The concessions included making changes to its landscaping plan, satisfying unspecified standards for sun, shade, and water for developments adjacent to the University Open Space, providing benches “and other improvements” around Philosopher’s Walk, and providing an open space buffer between Philosopher’s Walk and the new building.
With the support of Councillor Vaughan, the University appealed the decision to deny the tree-removal permit. The new application was heard by the Toronto and East York Community Council on November 19, 2013, and was then forwarded to City Council, to be heard on December 16, 2013.
On December 12, four days before the upcoming City Council meeting, the University wrote to Council, confirming its commitment to providing public space between the new building and Philosopher’s Walk. Two days later, the Chair of the Grange Community Association—one of the four groups that had previously agreed not to oppose the application—also wrote to City Council. In it the association complained that the their original letter to the Committee of Adjustment was meant only to refer to the issue of public space, and that they had not discussed the matter of tree-removal. The letter suggests that the University failed to disclose its plan to remove trees from the area between Flavelle House and Philosopher’s Walk.
Council voted on December 16 to postpone consideration of the application. The motion passed with 29 votes in favour, and the item was deferred until February 19, 2014. The sole dissenting vote came from Mayor Rob Ford.
Then on February 19, more than eight months after the official start to construction, Council finally approved the motion to grant the University’s application.
After the University received the tree-removal permit, Moran told Ultra Vires that there are now no more major permits needed for the project to be completed.
“We are currently working with Eastern, the construction manager, to begin exterior demolition and construction as quickly as possible,” Moran said.
Despite the delays, setbacks, and controversies, Moran has said she and the administration, “remain confident that the Jackman Law Building will open during the 2015-16 academic year.”
Doubtless this is a measured confidence, since in the following sentence Moran says the Faculty is also arranging to remain in Victoria College through 2016 if need be.
Meanwhile the Faculty continues to advertise the new $54 million building project as a draw to current and prospective students, even as it becomes increasingly doubtful whether the current crop of first-year students, or next year’s incoming class, will ever get to enjoy the facility.
