Metronome Canada - Canada's Music City

MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday, November 6, 2008

METRONOME at the ROM

The Toronto Society of Architects (TSA) has selected Metronome as part of an exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum. 'Unbuilt Toronto: The City That Could Have Been' showcases juried images of significant unbuilt projects from a competition organized by the TSA in partnership with the Institute for Contemporary Culture. The curatorial panel of architects, educators and urbanists based their selection on design excellence and the significance of impact had the project been realized.

"We want to bring projects to light so as to best understand whether Toronto dodged a bullet or missed an opportunity," says TSA's vice-chair Phil Goodfellow. "As we engage in discussion about current and future conceptions of the city, these projects are not only timely but relevant."

Metronome previously won eight awards including both the Ontario Association of Architects Award of Excellence and the Canadian Architect Award of Excellence for the design by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects and it was selected for exhibition at the Union of International Architects conference in Barcelona, Spain and the School of Architecture at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

The first-of-its-kind 'music city' was conceived to integrate, educate, celebrate and promote Canada's music community, to transform the Canada Malting silos on Toronto's waterfront and to be an international symbol of Canada's cultural self-determination. The non-profit project established unprecedented support from across Canada, including substantial contributions from the music, construction and media industries and from Lead Sponsor Panasonic. Metronome was set back when a request for $12.5m in matching Provincial/Federal SuperBuild funding was declined and it was further set back by a city staff proposal to use the site for a local initiative.

‘Unbuilt Toronto: The City That Could Have Been’ is on display in the Royal Ontario Museum’s Hilary and Galen Weston Wing, Level 2 from Wednesday, November 5, 2008 to Sunday, January 11, 2009 and is free with admission to the ROM. For more information visit www.rom.on.ca/news

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – FALL 2008

METRONOME: Canada's Music City is the award-winning, first-of-its-kind initiative that will transform a monumental heritage landmark, celebrate Canada's contributions to the world of music, strengthen a vital Canadian cultural industry and be a dynamic catalyst for Toronto’s waterfront renewal.

The non-profit initiative has established unprecedented support from across Canada including over six thousand companies and individuals who are helping to create this dramatic symbol of Canada’s cultural selfdetermination.

Two hundred and forty-five Media Patrons (TV, radio, print, billboard) from across Canada have donated $5.7 million in advertising space.
Panasonic has committed $5 million as Lead Sponsor.
Twenty-six constructions companies have committed $4.3 million to help build METRONOME.
Awards:

Ontario Association of Architects “Award of Excellence” (for design)
Canadian Architect’s “Award of Excellence” (for design)
Applied Arts “Award of Excellence” (for logo – out of 4,200 entries)
Selected for exhibition at the Union of International Architects, Barcelona, Spain
PPAC ‘Crème de la Crème’ “Award of Excellence” (for merchandise collection)
Selected for exhibition at the School of Architecture, Dalhousie University, Halifax
Outstanding Achievement Award for Voluntarism in Ontario 2003 (for founder)
2003 Canada Day Achievement Award from City of Toronto (for founder)
Scroll of Recognition, 2005 Volunteers of the Year Awards (for founder)
Selected for exhibition by the Toronto Society of Architects at the Royal Ontario Museum
Sixty-two m usic industry Founding Patrons from across Canada donated funds and services to launch the project.
The 20-member Project Team includes many of Canada’s leading accounting, legal, engineering and design companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, Gowlings Lafleur Henderson, Read Jones Christoffersen and Smith and Long Ltd.
Thousands of artists support METRONOME including Oscar Peterson, Loreena McKennitt, Maureen Forrester, Randy Bachman, Anton Kuerti, Jann Arden, the late Domenic Troiano, Paul Anka, The Four Lads, Michael Burgess, Jane Bunnett, Michelle Wright, Tom Cochrane and The Diamonds.
The 12-member Creative Team for M3 – METRONOME MUSIC MUSEUM who have donated professional services to create the preliminary plan includes Design Workshop 2, Pilchner Schoustal Associates, Cystane, Imagenius 3D Studios, Istvan Fujkin and Berkeley Design and Communications.
The preliminary plan for M3 – METRONOME MUSIC MUSEUM was launched in April 2005 at www.m3prelude.ca
Partnership with the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the National Library of Canada in Ottawa.
Partnership with Colliers International regarding office, restaurant and boutique hotel components of METRONOME and sponsorship representation to selected clients.
METRONOME won the City of Toronto’s “Proposal Call” to reuse the Canada Malting site and has the continuing support of senior members of Council and Mayor Miller.
The Tourism Investment Study by Cameron Hawkins and Associates for the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario recommends METRONOME as a “priority attraction”.
The City of Toronto’s Millennium Task Force enthusiastically endorsed METRONOME as “an important and unique legacy project for Toronto”.
A comment by Jennifer Grant, Museum Consultant, about the plans for M3 – METRONOME MUSIC MUSEUM:

“The design plan and exhibition proposals truly exceeded my expectations. METRONOME MUSIC MUSEUM brings new ideas and innovations to the Canadian museum community. It gives Canada new identity within the international music community, as it is not only a different kind of museum within a Canadian context, but also a different kind of institution within the context of music museums worldwide. The interdisciplinary approach to the displayed content ensures that there will be ‘something for everyone’. The discourse presented is rich and multi-layered.”
A comment by Oliver Berliner, grandson of Emile:

“I’m delighted with the plan for METRONOME MUSIC MUSEUM. I think you’d be wise to stress that the endeavor will be the recipient of the Berliner memorabilia and archival artifacts from the Emile Berliner Collection.”
A comment from former Mayor of Toronto Mel Lastman:

“METRONOME CANADA is an unprecedented opportunity to nourish, develop and promote Canada’s culture and to showcase our ever-growing music industry while fostering tourism and economic growth for Toronto and for Canada.”