City council gets behind a plan to turn Toronto's former seat of power into a museum.
Councillors voted on Thursday to study the idea of re-making Toronto's iconic Old City Hall into a tourist destination that can display some 150,000 artifacts in the city's catalogue.
The motion passed, 35-3.
There's been talk for decades about establishing a museum to tell the stories of Toronto's past, but this opportunity is unique because the provincial government is expected in 2021 to move the bail courts that occupy the historic building to a new facility across from the Superior Courthouse on University Ave.
Councillors like Josh Matlow are enthusiastic about the idea of showcasing Toronto's history in a structure that was completed in 1899.
"There's something very special about ... the museum being a showcase for who we are," Matlow says.
"We have so many artifacts hidden away from public view -- that's not right."
Old City Hall provides roughly 406,000 square feet of space.
The city expects it could rent out up to half of it, while a quarter of the space would be set aside for the museum.
It would be home to 'an extensive collection' of historical objects, that could include outfits from Eaton's department store catalogues, and decades-old baseball programs from the former East York Little League.
However, Etobicoke councillor Stephen Holyday doubts the city has the means and the know-how to pull off this venture.
He invokes the ballooning cost of the renovations to Toronto's central transit hub when laying out concerns that a museum at Old City Hall would "bleed money."
"I think about this as 'Union Station North,'" says Holyday.
"There's an example of another facility that essentially is surplus to us ... there's space in there that we're looking for an answer as to how to fill it up."
The work to improve Union Station was initially estimated in 2009 to cost $640 million over 6 years, but numerous and ongoing setbacks mean that construction is still not complete, and the latest estimate pegs the cost at just over $800 million.
Holyday contends that a preliminary proposed adult admission of $16 would not be competitive with similar attractions around the city.
City staffers say such a ticket price would 'compare favourably' to places like Casa Loma and the Royal Ontario Museum, which charge $30 and $20, respectively.
Holyday recommended the city instead study other options for the available space, like converting it a convention hall or possibly working with a university or college to find another suitable use.
The councillor's motion was rejected in a 17-21 council vote.
A final plan for the project is due in the middle of 2019.
Construction isn't expected to begin until 2022.