Adaptive reuse of derelict sites, public spaces, requires cultural preservation

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In Niagara Falls, the adaptive reuse of two defunct power station buildings, once considered white elephants, got one step closer recently as the deadline for final submission of proposals drew to a close.

The Niagara Parks Commission is looking to restore the Ontario Power Generating Station and the Toronto Power Generating Station as the next stage of a major redevelopment project that saw a reimagined Niagara Parks Power Station turn into a successful tourist attraction.

The repurposed site, which opened to the public a year ago, on Canada Day, includes a light show that depicts the history of electric power as well as a 671-metre tunnel where visitors can walk to the edge of the Falls.

“The project has met all of our expectations,” says David Adames, chief executive of the Niagara Parks Commission, which operates public attractions at Niagara Falls.

Niagara Parks aims to decide in August which bidders will get to reimagine the next two buildings, majestic structures which opened in 1906 but have been closed for decades.

The commission is betting that the buildings, which once produced electric power, will generate drawing power and add to the $2-billion that is spent on tourism in the Niagara area every year.

While there’s virtually no limit to the ideas for attractions inside, there will be limits to the reimagination – the commission is requiring that any proposals preserve the stately architecture of both buildings and commemorate their historical significance.

“These are complicated projects. We are the environmental and cultural stewards of the Niagara River corridor. That includes not only the natural heritage but also the built heritage,” Mr. Adames explains.

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The buildings, which have been boarded up and off limits to visitors for decades, are ornate, palatial temples of industry and commerce that were constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. The Toronto power station in Niagara was designed by Toronto-based architect E.J. Lennox, who also designed Toronto’s Old City Hall and Casa Loma.

The designers and builders were thinking about attracting tourists even then, Mr. Adames says.

“Their notes show that they were thinking about drawing visitors who would be impressed with the buildings as well as the Falls,” he says.

The Niagara commission wants to avoid the pitfalls often experienced when developers and public-sector owners decide to make over “white elephant” sites that have been neglected or abandoned for years.

Such sites often have a mixture of public and private stakeholders with ideas and objectives that can be difficult to reconcile, often taking years to agree on.

Toronto’s historic Distillery District, which opened as a public attraction in 2003, languished for years as a collection of 47 decaying buildings, some dating back to 1832 when the Gooderham and Worts distillery was operating there. By the end of the 20th century, the site was held by a British pension fund and much of it was derelict, until partners Cityscape Development Corp. and Dream Unlimited bought it for a white-elephant price of $10-million and turned it into a major Toronto destination that includes shops, galleries, offices, dining and theatre.

Such examples show that it’s not impossible to do something spectacular with a difficult site, says urban designer Ken Greenberg, principal of Greenberg Consultants and former director of architecture and urban design for the City of Toronto.

“You just need to look at something like the Tate Modern in London,” Mr. Greenberg says.

The massive building on the Thames River across from St. Paul’s Cathedral was a decommissioned power station that stood empty from 1981 to 2000, when it was reopened to become one of the world’s most visited modern art galleries. Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron retained the building’s exterior as an industrial landmark, Mr. Greenberg says.

“Keeping the heritage of legacy buildings is better than becoming a throwaway society when it comes to buildings,” he says.

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Whether it’s for a derelict district, a disused site that is falling apart or a public park that needs a facelift, stakeholders need to start their reimaginings with a rational and rigorous process, says David Crombie, former Toronto mayor and federal cabinet minister.

He points to High Park in Toronto as a good example of what can happen when people look objectively at what kinds of attractions and facilities would work best to make a site more attractive to the largest number of people.

“It’s a big public park with a lot of old facilities that have gone through a number of renewal schemes,” he says. Since changes have been made – such as restricting car traffic and allowing parts of the area to become less manicured and more naturalized – the park is as popular as ever, Mr. Crombie says.

Rehabilitating sites goes more smoothly when the government and corporate negotiators share information with the public and are open to ideas, Mr. Crombie says. “One of the problems [with some projects] is that successive governments let decisions languish, so there’s no process at all,” he says.

The process needs to be particularly clear to the public when public lands are involved, says Robert Maguire, a Europe-based planning consultant who has also worked for Toronto’s planning department.

Putting a good one in place is demanding, but it can be done, he says.

“I led the development of 200 acres next to Canary Wharf in London, on land bought by the British government. It was an open planning process with full public consultation,” he says. “These kinds of projects should be developed in a transparent manner with the trade-offs clearly open for debate.”

At Niagara Parks, lawyers and planners will pore over performance and penalty clauses to make sure the two new buildings are reimagined on time and on budget at no taxpayers’ cost. But there needs to be poetry along with the prose, Mr. Adames says.

“It’s the dream that counts,” he says. “It has to be an idea that is grounded in a sense of place. The purpose of these stations was to harness the power of the Niagara River and we want people to feel that purpose when they come here.”