Turn old house atop reservoir into cat shelter, Markham urges
Thornhill building has heritage value, city tells Toronto Water

Yorkregion.com
May 15, 2014
By Amanda Persico

Markham wants the City of Toronto to work with a Thornhill cat shelter to find it a new home rather than demolish a 100-year-old building that Toronto says could stand in the way of future water distribution in York Region.

The City of Toronto has been seeking a demolition permit for the old Carl Reesor James House, which dates back to 1912.

The 2-1/2-storey brick building in the Edwardian Classical style was the home of Carl Reesor James and family from 1912 to 1945. It became part of the Leitchcroft experimental farm in 1949.

The house, at 8127 Bayview Ave., is owned by Toronto.

Council voted against demolishing the house and has put out a notice of its intention to designate the building under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Toronto wants to demolish the house because there is a water reservoir beneath it, built in the early 1970s.

Toronto expects to one day build a pumping station on the property to expand the capacity of the reservoir.

In a letter to Markham, Donald Sorel, a manager with Toronto Water, said not being able to demolish the building means there is no possibility of building a pumping station to extend the reservoir’s usefulness and meet York Region’s future drinking water needs.

He also warned the building has been subject to vandalism, is infested with raccoons and contains asbestos in its walls, ceiling and roofing.

It is adjacent to Thornlea Secondary School and presents a health and safety risk to students, the letter states.

However Markham has responded by encouraging Toronto to find a tenant.

It wants Toronto to work with North Toronto Cat Rescue, a non-profit no-kill cat shelter.

The shelter is near Bayview Avenue and Hwy. 7. But the Langstaff area is slated for high density development in the coming years meaning the cat shelter will need to find a new home.

There has also been talk from both sides of Hwy. 7 - Markham and Richmond Hill - about locating York University’s new York Region campus in the Langstaff area.

The shelter will have to adopt out all of its 200 cats, pack its bags and find a new home.

The best way to preserve a building is for it to be occupied, said local Councillor Valerie Burke, who also pushed for Toronto to work with the cat shelter.

“Our best case is if there was an occupant,” she said. “This is a piece of Thornhill heritage. Markham took a strong position to preserve the building.”

Markham is awaiting response from Toronto about its objection to the building permit and bid to have the building designated for heritage preservation.