Take a last look while you can, because the D.M. Rutherford Family Conservatory is about to be demolished.
Last week crews began preparatory work for “the careful deconstruction” of the historic campus building. Deconstruction itself will take between four to six weeks.
This comes after a contentious few months of back and forth between the city, which wanted to grant the conservatory heritage designation, and the university, which wanted to tear it down.
Though city council voted in favour of designating the conservatory, they ultimately agreed to let the university demolish it if steel from the frame was salvaged and incorporated into the commemorative garden which will replace the building.
According to a post by the university, the deconstruction is the “first step in realizing the next life cycle of the Conservatory through the creation of a commemorative garden.”
The design of the commemorative garden will be produced by those in the landscape architecture program.
“Led by students, the discovery phase of this process will take place this winter and spring and will include an opportunity for the University and broader community to share their input, memories and stories to help inform the brief for the design competition,” the post reads.
The student design competition will launch in the fall, and elements of the top three student designs will be used by a consultant team as the basis for the final design, expected to be completed in spring 2026, with construction beginning that summer.
Further updates will be posted online.
