"Bill Greer was always there for us. When we had to deal with important matters, important whether they were large or small, Bill, on call, always showed up. Any city that can have people like Bill Greer serve it for so long is a city, hopefully, that can work hard to deserve him." — David Crombie, before presenting the Heritage Toronto Special Achievement Award to Mr. Greer on Oct. 15, 2007.
It makes me sleep better knowing architect William Newton Greer is out there fighting the good fight for architecture in this city.
Since becoming chief architect for the Toronto Historical Board in 1976, when the province's Heritage Act was a mere two years old, the 82-year-old's determination, enthusiasm and guiding hand have been responsible for the conservation of the Music Building at the CNE, Osgoode Hall, the Arts and Letters Club, Whitney Block, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the heritage elements of BCE Place, the former Toronto Stock Exchange (now the Design Exchange) and Spadina House. That's to name just a few — as an architecture writer, I can't tell you how many times I've been reading a report on a heritage home or commercial building and up pops Mr. Greer's name.
On a drizzly yet colourful autumn day, Mr. Greer and I took a stroll around his favourite Toronto neighbourhood, Wychwood Park. Toronto's first residential Heritage Conservation District, it took 10 years for the bucolic, self-contained area to achieve designation in 1985 due to "a lot of back-and-forth" between the residents and the city, he says. "Council didn't want to do [HCDs] at all — they just thought it was a real pain — but these people asked for it so they agreed."
Architect Bill Greer on a recent stroll through Wychwood Park, his favourite Toronto neighbourhood.
Related Articles
The impetus, as always, was the threat of development. If insensitive builders had been allowed to take advantage of maximum densities, the lush, park-like setting would have been forever compromised; anyone who has taken a stroll along the area's private roads understands immediately that the trees, generous setbacks and other natural elements — such as the pond — are as important as the many Eden Smith-designed houses. As it turned out — with Mr. Greer's guidelines restricting scale, architectural style and materials used — homes built after the designation made this pilot project a model for subsequent HCDs to follow.
"My theory is that all of the houses in Wychwood Park, whether you like them or not, are all part of the layerings of history in the building and the expansion and the subdivision," he says.
We stop to admire the oldest house here, built in 1874 by landscape painter Marmaduke Matthews after he'd purchased 10 acres north of Davenport Road with the hope of establishing an artist's colony. As we walk by the pond (created by the damming of Taddle Creek), Mr. Greer tells me the story behind one of the newest, architect Ian MacDonald's award-winning modernist gem. Fascinating as these stories are, I'm more interested in learning about Mr. Greer's history, but I let him continue in his soothing voice (which sounds like a cross between American actor Jimmy Stewart's and English actor Jonathan Pryce's) because, like practically every Canadian architect of his generation, his modesty prevents braggadocio and I have to sneak in personal questions when he's not paying attention.
Mr. Greer was born in Kingston, but his father, a doctor, moved the family to Toronto to become a district medical officer when he was six. He attended the University of Toronto during the war years when legendary professors Eric Arthur and Anthony Adamson were instilling the importance of both modern and heritage architecture to the student body. After graduating in 1948, he did a two-year graduate course in product design at the Institute of Design in Chicago: "My time in Chicago was fascinating because I spent a whole year with Buckminster Fuller," he says.
He returned to Toronto and joined the respected firm of Shore & Moffat, and during his 22 years there he helped build York, Waterloo and Brock Universities. After that, he went out on his own and did a lot of "adding kitchens to the backs of houses," which he didn't find very fulfilling, so he began his 15-year involvement with the Toronto Historical Board (now Heritage Toronto). "They were still listing buildings by pencil on a list; I mean it was pretty primitive," he says of those early years. But there was also "a real sense of teamwork" between all of the various departments at City Hall.
"Working in heritage, you just have to get people to work together," he says. He illustrates his point by telling me about the time he counted all of the people directly involved in a heritage conservation project and came to the staggering number of 160: "That includes from lawyers right to the craftsmen," he explains. "There's so many decision makers and I feel that an architect, in every way, is the person that brings all these things together."
Today, this heritage soldier is still bringing people together as a private consultant, working on projects as diverse as the MaRS development at the corner of College and University, the Windsor Arms Hotel and the aforementioned BCE Place, which he considers "the best example of conservation in the city."
"I'm very proud of all the things I've been involved with; I feel that I've contributed to the community," he finishes. "My name may not be attached to them but I don't mind that at all."
Readers' note: Shortly after giving Mr. Greer his Special Achievement Award, Heritage Toronto announced that they would be renaming the Architectural Conservation and Craftmanship Award, the William Greer Architectural Conservation and Craftmanship Award.
Dave LeBlanc hosts The Architourist on CFRB Wednesdays during Toronto at Noon and Sunday mornings. Send inquiries to dave.leblanc@globeandmail.com.
