Councillor Adam Vaughan isn’t going to take this sitting down.

The city government spent $75,000 last year to buy 30 replicas of the chairs that had graced the councillor lounge at city hall since the 1960s. Mayor Rob Ford was angry about the cost. Vaughan was angry that the city bought “cheap knockoffs” rather than preserving and restoring the tattered originals, which were created by noted Modernist designer Warren Platner.

The city is now beginning the process of selling the Platner chairs. They could fetch four-figure prices. But Vaughan is displeased again: he argues the city should sell the replicas instead.

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City hall, Vaughan said, is “an extraordinary piece of architecture that was composed down to the detail of the chairs that were chosen for each one of the rooms.” The Platner chairs, he said, match nearby tables and railings and metalwork, and they should be returned to their rightful place of honour.

“To break it up? You might as well start selling the council chamber and putting a concrete box here,” Vaughan said when told last week of the looming sale. “This is about the integrity of the design, and they should not be put out for sale, and to sell them is an absolute travesty, and a complete violation for anybody who cares anything about heritage.”

Vaughan has two refurbished Platner chairs in his city hall office.

“If we have to assess everything on whether it costs too much or costs too little, then flatten this place and build four office buildings, sell two of them as condos … The gift of this composed set of furniture and interior is artistry that does not have a price tag. And anyone who puts a price tag on it is just out of touch with reality when it comes to these sorts of heritage issues.”

The sale process has not yet started. The government plans to issue a formal “request for expressions of interest” in an attempt to find a company that can “maximize the return value on the vintage furniture market,” city spokeswoman Wynna Brown said.

“You’ve got to wonder whether they might just get more money off of eBay,” said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong. “But it’s better to get some money for them instead of putting them out at the curb. Maybe they can cover a fraction of the cost of the money they squandered on the replicas.”

Informed of Vaughan’s concerns, Minnan-Wong dismissively referred to the Platner chairs as “busted furniture.” He said the city could keep a small number of “good chairs” as a heritage compromise. Last year, officials said they planned to do that.

Platner chairs are sometimes listed on eBay for $2,500 or more. City officials have not said how much they hope to get for these ones.

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