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Once a winning conceptual scheme is selected, the objective will be to expedite the design and construction processes and then into the construction, working towards having the facility completed for beginning of 2012. City Staff, the Friends of Fort York and the Fort York Foundation, are all working closely together in an attempt to make sure all funding is in-place to complete the project as planned. A second grant application has just been submitted to Canadian Heritage’s Cultural Spaces Canada program for construction funding, and staff are optimistic that the Province will be able to assist as well. In addition to the design process, which will be undertaken over the next few months, other components, such as Stage II archaeological investigations for the Visitor Centre, retaining a Project Manager, and rezoning Fort York NHS are being undertaken. The requirement to rezone the site is 183, Toronto, M5A 1N1 9 The Fife and Drum / Website: www.fortyork.ca
due to the fact that Fort York is a ‘legal non-conforming use’. Although the majority of site is currently zoned ‘G’ (parkland), the proposed retail gift shop and any café-type operation within the Visitor Centre are commercial uses that are not permitted in a ‘G’ zone. The proposal is to amend the General Zoning By-law 438-86, as amended, to permit the existing public museum and a Visitor Centre with a restaurant/café component and retail gift shop.
In June the 1813 Colours of the Third Regiment of the York Militia (see Fife and Drum, July 2007) were carefully removed from St. James Cathedral Archives and packaged for shipment to Ottawa where they will be conserved at the Canadian Conservation Institute. The York Militia Colours, along with other iconic artifacts, or sensitive artifacts requiring specific environmental conditions, will eventually be displayed within the new Visitor Centre.
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