The Royal Ontario Museum has backed down from a proposed 46-storey condo development that would have overlooked U of T’s St. George campus. The museum, along with its partner Graywood Developments Ltd., announced the decision to withdraw its application on Monday, shortly after a public meeting that revealed near-universal dissent among members of U of T and the surrounding community.
“The ROM and its partners have taken public concerns very seriously, and will not proceed with this project as proposed,” said ROM Director and CEO William Thorsell in a press release.
The luxury condominium would have helped pay for future renovations, as well as its Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, currently under construction.
The first part of the ROM’s transformation will be unveiled on December 26, and the conspicuous crystal structure is scheduled to open in the fall of 2006.
“I had hoped that many visible public benefits would justify a beautiful exception to the rule on this site,” said Thorsell. “In the course of events, they didn’t.”
