David Mirvish has dropped plans to tear down the Princess of Wales Theatre and that’s good news for Toronto theatre lovers.

Indeed, in retrospect, I’d say the notion of demolishing this theatre, as per plans announced two years ago, was the worst idea Mirvish ever had.

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Now, in the hopes of winning approval from the city for an epic plan to create a huge new King St. W. complex of condo towers plus a podium with art galleries and restaurants, Mirvish and architect Frank Gehry have scaled back their original plans (made public in October 2012).

Mirvish may be disappointed he had to modify his megaproject but, for anyone who lives in Toronto and cares about theatre, it’s a lucky turn of events.

The previous iteration of the project became a major controversy in the city because of the 80-plus-storey height of the three towers, and the question of whether Toronto could cope with the resulting infrastructure and traffic issues.

But how come hardly anyone at first (including me) expressed distress about the pending destruction of a cultural showpiece? Maybe we were so excited about the prospect of new Gehry buildings downtown that we got carried away.

Even so, it seems ironic that the man who built the theatre just over two decades ago would consider demolishing it for the sake of realizing a new megaproject, even if as the owner he had every right to do so.

It’s even more ironic when you consider why his father, the late Honest Ed Mirvish, started the Mirvish theatre business half a century ago. It was because his wife, Anne Mirvish, was a theatre lover and anted Ed to save the Royal Alex, which was sentenced to be demolished and converted into a parking lot.

What was David Mirvish thinking when he decided to reverse history by tearing down the sprightly younger sister of the Alex?

And why weren’t Toronto’s cultural leaders mounting a campaign to change his mind and save the theatre? Why weren’t there spirited demonstrations on King St.?

The answer is that Toronto is a place where hockey fans can express their feelings while holding nothing back, but cultural consumers are too quiet and well-behaved for our own good.

Never mind. A revised plan was to be unveiled Tuesday evening during a public meeting at Metro Hall. And taking down a theatre is no longer part of the plan.

Originally the Princess of Wales was built to accommodate the 1993 Canadian premiere of Miss Saigon, co-produced by Mirvish and West End king Cameron Mackintosh. It has been the perfect place for many big musicals and it features spectacular, mood-elevating murals by the superb New York artist Frank Stella.

It’s true that Mirvish has since acquired an even larger theatre, now renamed the Ed Mirvish Theatre. After being restored and reopened as the Pantages by Garth Drabinsky, it became the home of The Phantom of the Opera, which ran for 10 years.

But after the collapse of Livent, ownership changed and Mirvish wound up buying it, as a result of which he now owns and operates four Toronto theatres, including the historic Royal Alexandra and the Panasonic.

Even if one or the other of his large theatres is sometimes dark, it has become clear that Mirvish, Toronto theatregoers and show producers all benefit from having both the 2,000-seat Princess of Wales and the 2,300-seat Ed Mirvish available.

A four-storey building of historic interest will also be spared the wreckers’ ball. The size and scope of the podium will be reduced under the new plan. And instead of three towers, there will be two, which will be on the short list of Toronto’s highest buildings.

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Recently the Princess of Wales has been the venue for Les Misérables and The Lion King. Over the years it has had long runs of Beauty and the Beast, Chicago, Hairspray, Da Kink in My Hair, Lord of the Rings and War Horse, all of which helped make Toronto the second-best theatre city in North America.

Personally, I am looking forward to many more great nights at my favourite Toronto theatre.

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