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august 2015 | 79 tyndale university College & seminary PhotogrAPhy courtesy tyndALe uniVersity coLLege & seMinAry Tyndale University College & Seminary by Jerry eberts O ne old saw of the building business is that a new construction is less of a headache than a large, comprehen- sive and messy renovation. Of course, only the second way will keep the history and character of a unique place intact. The owners of Toronto's Tyndale University College & Seminary are in the final stages of completing a massive refurbishment of an historic building, a large part of which was up until recently the home of the Sisters of St. Joseph. "The job entails updating a 1960s infirmary and home for the Sisters of St. Joseph to a university and semi- nary," says Lina van der Wel, director of marketing and communications for Tyndale. "Included in the renovation were new kitchen facilities, the creation of classrooms, a library, student lounges, cafeteria, and remodelled dorm rooms. As well, there was the installation of air conditioning in a number of wings, new fire panels, sprinkler coverage in all business areas, new HVAC in vari- ous areas, updating the power avail- able onsite, a new generator and related transfer switches, network infrastruc- ture throughout [both wired and wire- less] and the creation of new showers and dorm rooms. The final part of the project is site-work to create the new entranceway and more parking." Tyndale took over the property in April 2013, although it had owned the building since 2007. Permits were received from the City of Toronto in October 2014 and work started soon after. Interior work on the renovated structure was completed by end of June this year. Tyndale's COO, Randy Henderson, says the recent move into the facility was pretty stressful, but still one of the best parts of the project. "It took five to six months of scheduling," says Henderson. "But it went off extremely well, especially considering all the chal- lenges we had in renovating a 55-year- old building; it has been a good project." The Toronto Catholic District School Board is operating the high school in a portion of the property that is being leased from Tyndale. "We had to renovate with the high school in full operation and Tyndale [University] operating on the other side," says Henderson. "We ran the entire site on a generator for a month to complete the power upgrades, then upgraded the fire system in a 'live' building. We also kept the esthetics of the chapel while adding a new sound system and projector/screen." Van der Wel describes the building as "classical architecture of the 1950s. It is, and will continue to be unique. The inte- rior we have upgraded and modernized, keeping intact the classical style." Wayne Rosberg, senior associate architect with CS&P Architects Inc., says the project was interesting yet difficult. "Due to the age of the building, there was asbestos that had to be removed and old oil tanks; hidden gems like that. But it is such a wonderful building that the effort was well worth it." Rosberg adds that the building began its life as a large convent. At its peak, it housed around 600 nuns. It was also a Catholic girls high school. "It really is a hidden gem of a building in Northern Toronto, backing onto the Don River in a park-like setting. It was quite cloistered from the city; now it's being opened up," he says. "The chapel is very large. It's almost a cathedral. It has a Gothic feel, though with modern touches, sort of a Frank Lloyd Wright feeling. There is also some stained glass, which is very contempla- tive," Rosberg adds. Tyndale is multi-denominational, but Rosberg says the team is "happy to have the building continue as a religious insti- tution. If Tyndale hadn't taken it over, the property would have just been developed for housing. Tyndale is one of the few uni- versities that can use this as it is – with our modifications, including making washrooms barrier-free and so on." Robert Ficara, project manager for general contractor Eastern Construction Company Limited, agrees that the reno- vation project was challenging. "There were lots of unknown conditions and we expected surprises," says Ficara. Location 3377 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario owner/DeveLoper Tyndale University College & Seminary architect CS&P Architects Inc. construction Manager Eastern Construction Company Limited MechanicaL/eLectricaL consuLtant H.H. Angus & Associates Limited scheDuLing/cost/reFit ManageMent Morrison Hershfi eld totaL area 390,000 square feet on 56 acres of land totaL cost $22 million "Beyond what was planned, there were delays as we had to incorporate addi- tional items required by the City. Those were all distractions from the original intent. But we expected to be done by the end of June, after a final review by the city and fire department." Kevin O'Neill is a principal with H.H. Angus & Associates Limited. He and colleague Tim Zhu were in charge, respectively, of mechanical and electri- cal upgrades. O'Neill was responsible for installing new and upgraded venti- lation, air conditioning, replacing the central refrigeration plant, plumbing and fire sprinkler system. "We also built additional capacity in expanding areas, such as the library," says O'Neill. "There were a lot of code concerns that had to be addressed. And during all this con- struction, the high school continued." In charge of ref it management was Ted Katsoris, an associate with international engineering consultants Morrison Hershfield. The company was integral in the early days of the project in helping to choose the architect that would be such a large and important part of this team effort, according to Tyndale's Henderson. "It was a big refit," says Katsoris. "A complete process. There were some surprises during the project. Of course, you don't know what you'll find behind an old wall. But whatever we encoun- tered helped determine choices for such things as wiring and plumbing. The team had to put our heads together to keep it in play and keep costs down." "We made a conscious decision to fix this space properly," says Henderson. "We took this opportunity to fix what had to be fixed and bring everything up to code – and beyond. This is the school's permanent home, so of course we wanted to do it right." A 2:03 PM

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