Sheldon Levy’s six most city-changing moments as Ryerson honcho
Sheldon Levy’s six most city-changing moments as Ryerson honcho
Sheldon Levy may be the best mayor Toronto never had. While city hall has been consumed by ideological backbiting, Levy has used his two terms as president of Ryerson University to remake the school’s neigbourhood. New facilities have opened, major construction projects have broken ground, and—at least by Ryerson’s reckoning—more than 95 per cent of the university’s grads continue to find work within two years of graduation. In a perfect world, Levy’s administrative competence would be normal—but in Toronto, at this moment in time, he has a record that any public official would kill for: he said he was going to build things, and most of them actually got built.
Last week, Ryerson announced that Levy will step down in 2015 (though not to run for mayor). Here, we look at the most significant ways Levy has changed the downtown core during his eight years in office.
See all 6 ways »
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- <strong>Ryerson Student Learning Centre, expected completion: winter 2014</strong><br /><br /><br /> <br /> This $112 million addition to Ryerson's Yonge Street frontage is arguably Levy's most ambitious undertaking. With a design by Snøhetta, a Norwegian architecture firm with a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/21/130121fa_fact_owen">big reputation</a> (they worked alongside Canada's Zeidler Partnership Architects), the building, though not without its detractors, seems as though it will go a long way towards refreshing a part of Yonge Street that has remained mostly stagnant since Yonge-Dundas Square was completed.<br /><br /><br /> <br /> The Student Learning Centre has also recently been a source of some embarrassment for Levy. As a condition of getting the City to allow Ryerson to knock down the site's former occupant, Sam the Record Man, the university agreed to hang Sam's iconic neon-spinning-record sign somewhere in the vicinity. Now the university <a href="http://torontoist.com/2013/08/the-sam-the-record-man-sign-is-almost-definitely-never-returning-to-yonge-street/">has all but said</a> that it would rather not honour that commitment.
- (Image: Courtesy Ryerson University)
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- <strong>Gould Street Closure, fall 2010</strong><br /><br /><br /> <br /> Gould Street, one of Ryerson's main pedestrian thoroughfares, got a lot more pedestrian friendly in 2010, when the city closed it to vehicle traffic temporarily. In spring 2012, the temporary closure became permanent, and now what was once essentially a parking lot is a vital gathering space for students.
- (Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6529605245/in/photolist-aWZW9M-aWZVea-aX1jM8-aWZVHv-aacLsi-aacL3P-aacL5z-aacL7z-5T3SSW-5SYwuv-5T3SMy-74Ss3x-74WmuQ-74SeLn-74Sfn4-74SrmH-74SnWr-4ojiz9-4oji9f-4o9utw-4o5rMB-4o5r24-4o5qgT-4o5roX-4o9w5L-4o5sDn-4offfT-cpXSYm-9UVBU-7Y2fzs-J8dCR-nAZVt-ek4Jeg-gNp8k-gNp95-puSLu-zL6fX-hzN7h5-i9nFR1-hZ7qHj-9UVBS-9UVBT-mDQJR-kBw3H-kBw3J-kW7wW-9UVBP-9UVBQ-9UVBR-eLgAp-m7KuG">booledozer</a>)
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- <strong>Maple Leaf Gardens, summer 2012</strong><br /><br /><br /> <br /> It took a shrewdly negotiated agreement with Loblaws and $60 million, but Levy was able to figure out a way to wedge a new sports facility onto the upper floors of the once-deserted Maple Leaf Gardens. The historic hockey venue is now once again home to a hockey team: Ryerson's Rams. And of course, Loblaws got something out of the deal, too: the bottom floor is now the chain's flagship location.
- (Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasonparis/6432058071/in/photostream/">JasonParis</a>)
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- <strong>Ryerson Image Centre, September 2012</strong><br /><br /><br /> <br /> Using funding marshalled, in part, from a federal economic stimulus program, Levy oversaw the renovation of Ryerson's School of Image Arts, which was housed in a former brewery warehouse. Diamond Schmitt Architects redesigned the building into what it is today: a thoroughly modern gallery and learning centre with an LED-illuminated colour-changing facade.
- (Image: Courtesy Ryerson University)
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- <strong>The Ted Rogers School of Management, 2006</strong><br /><br /><br /> <br /> One of the challenging things about expanding a school like Ryerson is that there's no place to sprawl: the school either grows within downtown, or it doesn't grow at all. The Ted Rogers School of Management (which didn't get its current moniker until 2007) is semi-discreetly tucked away above the Eaton Centre Canadian Tire.
- (Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/canuckistan/4573701278/in/photostream/">Canuckistan</a>)
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- <strong>Ryerson Digital Media Zone, 2009</strong><br /><br /><br /> <br /> Continuing its practice of concealing student space within commercial properties, under Levy's leadership Ryerson turned part of 10 Dundas East into its Digital Media Zone, a business incubator with ties to the university. Ryerson also uses some of the auditoriums in 10 Dundas East's Cineplex theatre as classroom space.
- (Image: Courtesy Ryerson University)
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![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/sheldon-levy-ryerson-city-changing/&title=Sheldon Levy’s six most city-changing moments as Ryerson honcho&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/sheldon-levy-accomplishments-07-624x416.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_250266" align="alignnone" width="1000"] (Image: Courtesy Ryerson University)[/caption]
Sheldon Levy may be the best mayor Toronto never had. While city hall has been consumed by ideological backbiting, Levy has used his two terms as president of Ryerson University to remake the school's neigbourhood. New facilities have opened, major construction projects have broken ground, and—at least by Ryerson's reckoning—more than 95 per cent of the university's grads continue to find work within two years of graduation. In a perfect world, Levy's administrative competence would be normal—but in Toronto, at this moment in time, he has a record that any public official would kill for: he said he was going to build things, and most of them actually got built.
Last week, Ryerson announced that Levy will step down in 2015 (though not to run for mayor). Here, we look at the most significant ways Levy has changed the downtown core during his eight years in office.
See all 6 ways »
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Ryerson; the university attended by students who fail to get accepted to UofT.
@Fernando Ryerson; the university most applied-to relative to spots available in the province.
shouldn’t really defend an uni that fails to reach top 1000 in the QS world rankings.
ya it says, “791+”, Clearly not good enough to make the list. UofT is 17. lol i rest my case.
now you’re deleting your comments and making it seem as I am talking to myself. Classy