There's been a lot of discussion about Toronto's record on heritage preservation since the process of demolishing the Stollerys Building unceremoniously began on the weekend. Opinion has been divided, to be sure, but today an important piece of the conversation has been filled in as pertains to the future of the marquee site at Yonge and Bloor. Developer Sam Mizrahi revealed today that Prtizker prize-winning architect Norman Foster will be tasked with the design of the building that will eventually rise from Stollerys' ashes.

This is big news. In case you're not up on your international starchitects, Foster is the mind behind such gems as City Hall and The Gherkin Building in London (pictured above), as well as the Hearst Tower in New York, the Reichstag Dome in Berlin, and many more. Foster has also designed a building in Toronto in the form of U of T's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy on College St. neat Queen's Park.

How much Foster's involvement changes the debate that surrounds the Stollerys site remains to be seen. Certainly the swift demolition of a historical structure leaves a bad taste in preservationist's mouthes, but should a corner as important as his one receive a truly iconic piece of architecture, it might not be worth mourning Stollerys a whole lot. Despite how beautiful the old Toronto Star Building was, for instance, few are dissatisfied with the existence of First Canadian Place. Will something similar happen at Yonge and Bloor?

Photo via Wikipedia