Art planned for redesigned Postal Station K
The owners of a midtown landmark are about to add a landmark art installation.
City council approved on March 31 developer Rockport’s plan to select the art to accompany its redesign of Montgomery Square, the public space in front of the historic Postal Station K building at 2388 Yonge St.
“It’s basically a recipe for how to proceed,” says Mike Tucci, Rockport’s director of acquisitions and development. “The artist hasn’t been selected yet … but we hope that it’s something that complements the heritage building.”
To select an artist, Rockport has invited a five-person jury, including CEO Jack Winberg, to evaluate proposals from three applicants — photographer Adad Hannah, steel artist Cal Lane and Tracey Spiegel — and issue a contract to the lucky winner in June.
A limestone-covered art deco building originally constructed in 1936, Postal Station K was sold by Canada Post in 2012 to Rockport, which courted controversy by announcing plans to build a 26-storey residential tower on the site. The protests largely disappeared after Winberg clarified that Rockport would be preserving the former post office itself, one of only two buildings in Toronto to bear the seal of King Edward VIII, who ruled for less than a year.
The building also marks the former location of the Montgomery Tavern, which served as William Lyon Mackenzie’s headquarters during the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion.
