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Architecture grad’s thesis looks at how redeveloping Ledo could help the homeless

‘Le Ledo’ proposal has a far different take on site’s potential, said Christopher Baziw
Ledo2
The Ledo Hotel in downtown Sudbury was recently shut down and taped off after a fire. (File)

“What is architecture’s potential to address homelessness in Ontario?” 

That’s the question Christopher Baziw tasked himself with answering when completing his master’s thesis at Laurentian University’s McEwan School of Architecture. 

Baziw, who is originally from southern Ontario, began volunteering at the Elgin Street Mission after he moved to Sudbury to complete his undergraduate degree. 

For about six years, he volunteered at the Samaritan Centre weekly while working towards his bachelor’s and eventually Master’s degree in professional architecture. 

“By the time I got around to doing my thesis, I knew I wanted to research homelessness and look at the community I was familiar with,” he said. 

“I looked at homelessness not just as the physical phenomenon of lacking a home, but as a social and legal state. Homelessness isn’t just about lacking a roof. It’s also about lacking acceptance in a city, lacking proper bylaws, and things like that. The interesting thing with architecture is that it also isn’t just a physical roof – it plays a role in the social makeup of a city.” 

His thesis project explored homelessness as a state of exclusion and he considered the implications of hostile architecture (tall fences and spikes, for example), existing prejudice and stereotypes, and how architecture can help make social services more accessible to vulnerable populations.  

It culminated in a design proposal for a new development on the old Ledo Hotel property.  

Baziw defended his thesis (successfully) in May – and about five months later, a Sudbury-based private sector group called Le Ledo Inc. announced its intention to purchase and redevelop the exact same site. 

“What struck me was that I had kind of foreseen the potential of that site to be redeveloped with what’s being planned for downtown Sudbury right now. That was part of the reason that I chose that site for my thesis proposal,” said Baziw. 

“To see the private sector take on the potential of that site – they see commercial potential, condo potential, office potential, that kind of thing. Compare that to the social potential I saw in the site to help marginalized communities – it was just interesting to see a different take on it.” 

In an announcement made on Oct. 5, Le Ledo Inc. proposed a 150,000-square-foot development on the 0.6-acre site that is bordered by Van Horne, Shaughnessy, and Elgin streets. 

The location would be transformed into a commercial development featuring a three-storey brick and glass building across the site overlooked by a 14-storey copper and glass tower. 

At $40 million, the plan would become the largest private investment in downtown Sudbury, according to the group. 

As part of their plan, Le Ledo Inc. said that they are going to provide $150,000 to a local social services agency to assist with “outreach activities.” The group’s spokesperson Chris Tammi said that the funds could be used to help the Ledo’s tenants relocate.  

Since the proposed development was announced, there were some questions posed by members of the community in terms of whether Le Ledo Inc.’s approach would be sufficient. 

Baziw, for example, said that it struck him as a “hands-off approach.” 

“It’s sort of a way of acknowledging the social potential of the site and then saying deal with it, just not on our property,” he said. 

The executive director of the Samaritan Centre across the street doubted how far that money would really go.  

“It might seem like a lot of money, but that won’t go very far. It’s really hard to get a landlord to take a chance on the clients we serve at the Samaritan Centre,” said Lisa Long.

“To displace someone, there’s a human cost to that. There’s a human cost to gentrification. It’s going to change the character of the neighbourhood. It’s going to change people’s lives.” 

Since then, however, events have taken an unfortunate turn – all 13 of the Ledo Hotel’s residents were displaced after a fire broke out in a single unit on Oct. 25. 

According to a city spokesperson, firefighters were able to extinguish the flames upon arrival, and nobody was hurt during the incident. 

“However, while they were onsite, firefighters noted a number of safety issues in the building. As a result, an Ontario Fire Marshal Immediate Threat to Life Order was issued, requiring hydro be disconnected,” said Kelly Brooks. 

A notice was posted on the entrance to the Ledo indicating that there was water from a roof leak continuously running through a live electrical panel, high voltage wiring exposed in the electrical room, and trespassing and breaking and entering throughout all areas of the building. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic lays bare the struggles of Sudbury’s most vulnerable communities, it would appear as though those experiencing homelessness or precarious housing situations are in between a rock and a hard place. 

There has been a growing chorus of voices demanding immediate action from the city to address some of the community’s concerns with the downtown core, especially following two high-profile violent incidents that occurred in recent weeks. 

Proponents have long said that investing into and developing the downtown might be able to improve the area, but some experts question whether the city’s historic approach to revitalization has been effective. 

In other words, instead of addressing the issues that occur in the downtown core, new developments seem to shuffle things around.

“An interesting example is the site where the McEwan School of Architecture is located downtown on Elm Street. It used to be a farmer’s market,” said Carol Kauppi, director of the Poverty, Migration, and Homelessness Project and professor of social work at Laurentian University. 

“We interviewed a lot of people who slept there overnight or tucked themselves away during the day. It was occupied by people in the downtown core, and then the city decided to turn that location over to Laurentian University. People who were disadvantaged and marginalized were displaced by that building.”

After the school of architecture was built, Baziw said the communities that used the farmer’s market building as a hub got pushed to the Tim Horton’s downtown and the transit terminal. 

“Within a year of that, now there’s spikes on all the ledges and a fence in that area. Now, I see people hanging out in Memorial Park behind the church or outside the Samaritan Centre where there are no signs about loitering, no security, no spikes, no tall fences,” he said. 

“The site in a way links to the last space where these people can live freely without being antagonized by others who think that they don't belong in the city. The potential of this development is that it's going to take away this last place, but then just push them somewhere else and make it someone else's problem.”

At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for vulnerable communities to access affordable and adequate housing. 

The Ledo Hotel’s current owner George Soule of 502 Holdings Inc. said that he has been struggling to maintain the property in the last couple of years. According to Soule, the Ledo has 27 rooms for rent, and they go for about $550 per month.

“I had 13 tenants in that building, and maybe eight tenants who were paying rent. In the last two years, I lost about $500,000 in rent arrears alone. Without funds coming in, it’s a struggle. I pay all the bills, and the mortgage, and I have to do the repairs with what I have left,” he said.

Soule said he was aware of the leak in the roof for “a little while,” and he was trying to scrape together the funds to pay for repairs. 

He also said that dealing with “squatters” had become a serious issue in the last few years, as well.

“There is a real problem with squatters at that building. I’ve tried to keep the doors locked, but somehow, they still get in. When I try to call the cops to help with the situation, they say that it’s a landlord and tenant issue, and that there’s not much they can do,” he said. 

Soule owns a number of other buildings in the low-rent market throughout the city, and he said that his other properties struggle with similar issues, as well. 

“It’s coming to a serious, serious problem for this rental market,” he said. 

As landlords struggle with what they feel is a lack of support, social services agencies talk about the desperate need for affordable housing. 

Kauppi said that despite the Ledo’s shortcomings, it is still an important shelter for vulnerable communities. She added that tenants who access these precarious housing situations have often been homeless in the past and they are at risk of facing homelessness again in the future. 

“Is it better that they have some type of accommodation so they are off the streets or to sleep outdoors, especially in an area where winters can be particularly harsh?” 

Ultimately, Baziw said that he isn’t against a development being built on the Ledo site – after all, he did write his thesis on it – but he would like to see the private sector start to do things a little differently. 

“I’d like to see them take that $150,000 and invest it into their own property and into a community engagement process. Obviously, to still support local social services agencies, but take on the responsibility of addressing those problems themselves rather than pushing it off onto someone else,” he said. 

“You can either build the development and ostracise this group further or you can build a development and accommodate them and make their lives easier.” 

Colleen Romaniuk is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter at the Sudbury Star. The Local Journalism Initiative is a federal program to support local journalism.


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About the Author: Colleen Romaniuk, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Colleen Romaniuk is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, a Government of Canada program, at the Sudbury Star.
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