Historic Downsview hangars demolished.
Two historic hangars at Downsview Park were recently demolished.
Photo/ROB COHEN
A campaign to save two historic hangars at Downsview Airport has failed, leaving resident Robert Cohen dismayed the buildings have been demolished over the last few days.
"The hangars are down. They started (demolishing them last) Thursday, Friday and (Monday). It's toast. As a passionate Canadian, there was no reason for this," said Cohen, a member of the Canadian Air and Space Museum.
"Unfortunately, a deal couldn't be had between (Downsview) Park and DND (Department of National Defence, which owns the hangars). Why these guys didn't broker a deal is beyond me. Why two heritage buildings were destroyed needlessly needs an investigation. It is a sad story."
Cohen said the Second World War-era hangars are a significant part of Canada's aviation history.
"This is a travesty that should never, ever, ever have happened," he said.
Base commander Toronto Maj. James DeBruin said the process to "deconstruct" the buildings -- including removing dangerous PCBs and asbestos and recycling building materials -- dates back to 1994.
DND declared the buildings surplus and in 2007, the federal heritage office granted authority for the hangars to be deconstructed.
DND placed ads and contacted heritage groups to see if anyone was interested in relocating the hangars but no one expressed interest, DeBruin said.
Last fall, the issue came to the attention of developer Paul Oberman, whose Woodcliffe Properties restores historic properties such as the Gooderham flatiron building.
In December, Oberman, a pilot, told The Mirror he was driving along Allen Road when he noticed the early signs of the hangars being demolished.
"They are important to our heritage. It would be a shame to lose them," he said at the time.
"They played an important role in our war efforts."
With the help of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, Oberman began lobbying Ottawa to save the hangars. He was hoping they could be used for private aircraft in the GTA and to house an aviation museum.
"I'm only offering to buy them as a last resort, if some other method can't be found to save them," he added.
DND agreed to put the demolition on hold and hold negotiations with Oberman and Downsview Park, according to DeBruin and David Soknacki, chairperson of Downsview Park's board of directors.
DND made it clear in return for the hangars, it needed to be granted a piece of unencumbered land that wouldn't cost national defense anything, DeBruin said.
Negotiations became so intense that Oberman even found out where Downsview Park president Tony Genco was vacationing in Florida over the Christmas holidays and flew down to lobby him to save the hangars, Soknacki said.
"He is two things, very creative and very tenacious," he laughed.
Downsview Park, which has already "re-purposed" other buildings in the area, couldn't afford the tens of millions of dollars it would take to restore the hangars, Soknacki said.
The issue went to the federal ministers of defense, transportation and finance but ultimately DND decided to proceed with the demolition, he said.
According to DeBruin, the city's plans to extend Chesswood Drive and the TTC's plans for the extension of the subway line meant a suitable land swap could not be found.
"We all really work on this pretty hard to make this work. But at the end of the day, there wasn't enough common ground to meet DND's requirement for contiguous land," he said.
"From my perspective, there is no animosity or friction."
Oberman could not be reached for comment this week.
Cohen said it is ironic the hangars were destroyed so soon after the Olympic Games in Vancouver, which sparked an outpouring of patriotism across the country.
"In North York and the GTA, we have just lost another fantastic opportunity to create a buzz and attract more people to our area. These hangars had terrific significance. It could have been stellar and now it is just rubble," he said.
"It is disheartening that there wasn't more public outcry and there wasn't more public information available and the history of these buildings and the significance of these buildings (wasn't promoted) from coast to coast. It is disheartening that we didn't have strong leadership to rally citizens to do their part."