A Toronto architecture firm wants to build residential units on top of a Royal Canadian Legion in Bala
The legion members are all on board
It’s no secret that Ontario continues to face a housing crisis. One Toronto architecture firm has put forward an interesting proposal to help resolve it.
According to the CBC, WZMH Architects has designed a plan to build 128 rental units on top of a Royal Canadian Legion branch in Bala, in Muskoka. It’s a creative and perhaps unexpected proposition, partly inspired by developers in Toronto building on top of pre-existing structures. (Developers are in discussion now regarding 48-storey builds on top of the historic Filmores Gentleman’s Club and on St. Luke’s United Church.)
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“It will have a new restaurant, bar and ceremonial space,” said Maryam Madsen, a senior designer at WZMH. “We also talked about using local materials like wood and stone, so that it reflects Muskoka.” Nearly 30 per cent of its units would be made into affordable housing and 20 per cent would be accessible.
The president of the Bala legion branch, Dennis Mills, said the proposal has his support as well as the support of local legion members, who unanimously agreed to the design. “There are 1350 legions across Canada, in large cities, small communities and hamlets,” Mills said. “And many of those legions have excess land, and they all could be there to help in the revitalization of affordable housing right across the country.”
According to the CBC, the architecture firm hopes to start building this year.
Related: The province wants to pause affordable housing requirements near transit hubs
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
