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What was once a coal-fired electrical plant is now one of Toronto’s cultural beacons and one of Canada’s most majestic industrial landmarks. Known as the R.L. Hearn Generating Station (“the Hearn”), the nearly 297,000-square-foot decommissioned plant has served as a location for various film and television productions and has most recently been known for its use in Toronto’s Luminato Festival. Located at 440 Unwin Avenue in the Port Lands area of downtown Toronto, the plant was decommissioned in 1983 and is still owned by the Crown corporation, Ontario Power Generation.

On June 21, 2016, ULI Toronto joined Clyde Wagner, Executive Producer of the Luminato Festival, and local architecture firm PARTISANS, for a development discussion and walking tour of one of Toronto’s most innovative urban transformations. Celebrating its 10th year, the Luminato Festival shone its spotlight on Toronto’s arts and culture scene between June 10 and 26, 2016. The global multi-arts festival has featured more than 13,000 artists, commissioned approximately 100 new works of art, and hosted over 3,000 performances over the past 10 years.

Wagner conducted the intimate tour through the massive space. Once called “the festival’s secret weapon” by the Toronto Star, Wagner took on the role of Executive Producer in 2014, having previously served as General Manager of the festival since 2006. PARTISANS is the Toronto firm responsible for transforming the cavernous space into an epicentre celebrating the arts. Also present on the tour were Alex Josephson, Co-Founder of PARTISANS; Martha Haldenby, Associate Director of Development at Luminato; and Nicole Hurtubise, Assistant to Artistic Director at Luminato.

The walking tour’s opening remarks were made by Wagner in an empty temporary office area by the main entrance that seated approximately 35 ULI members. After introducing the audience to the Luminato Festival, Wagner proceeded to discuss the history and background of the Hearn. He described the Hearn’s transformation is only a portion of the overall artistic and cultural vision for Toronto and went on to mention that this year’s Luminato Festival celebrates a theme of diversity and openness. The Hearn is able to reflect and support this theme as it provides a snapshot into Toronto’s industrial past mixed with its current cultural presence as a temporary cultural axis. Wagner also spoke about the current status of the Hearn when it is not being used for arts and culture-related purposes. He noted that there are active redevelopment proposals being reviewed. One of those proposals discusses turning the Hearn into a mixed-use facility, with retail and ice rinks. However, Wagner warned, “Don’t just think about ice rinks.”

The tour continued through the audience path where Wagner led the group across the Hearn and past the Music Stage as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was warming up for a performance of Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 & An American in Paris led by conductor Peter Oundjian. After walking through what felt like a maze of steel girders, the group made its first stop in the Hearn Theatre. The main theatre is over 22,000 square feet and accommodates 1,200 seats. Its aesthetics were built specifically for The James Plays, a trilogy that tells the remarkable stories of three generations of 15th century Scottish kings. Around the theatre, Wagner pointed out the shipping containers surrounding the space and the acoustic panels that have been raised throughout the building.

Exiting back through the steel staircase maze, Wagner led the group past the Music Stage and the Situation Rooms and proceeded to the north end of the building where the group made their way up the illuminated Grand Staircase to the Jackman Gallery. Within the Jackman Gallery and across the Turbine Hall were art installations. Wagner pointed out the Trove exhibition to the group. Trove: A View of Toronto in 50 of its Treasures is a special 10-year project that Wagner described as “50 of our most prized possessions if we had to pick up and leave today”. Wagner also pointed out that the illuminated temporary staircase was put in place on top of concrete pillars that held the turbines in place. He directed the attention away from the Trove exhibit to the Turbine Hall which, for the most part, is original to the plant. The Turbine Hall consists of 35-foot tall concrete plinths and spans across 900 feet and formerly served as support for the building’s eight turbines.

Also visible from the Jackman Gallery was the enormous Mirror Ball, also known as the One Thousand Speculations by Canadian artist Michel de Broin. Made up of 1,000 mirrors, it is the world’s largest mirror ball. Wagner noted that the 7.9 metre in diameter ball was being hung from a crane that was formerly used in operations at the Hearn.

The captivating walking tour came to an end as ULI members were encouraged to make their way through the public art installations to Biergarten, an open air food and beverage area just outside of the Hearn.

Hopefully Toronto can continue to #TurnOnTheHearn and keep the discussion going for the redevelopment potential of this industrial relic.

For more information about the Luminato Festival, please visit: https://luminatofestival.com/