Coach House vs. Student Housing

Coach House Books, an icon of countercultural Canadian literature, is in danger of being taken over by a University of Toronto student coop, unless it can negotiate a lease soon. “It’s the first formal lease that the pioneer of small presses will have had since Coach House sprang up in 1965 as part of the wild cultural experiment that characterized Toronto’s literary sixties. It’s a lease that will likely sign off on the historic literary landmark where the early careers of writers such as Michael Ondaatje and bpNichol were nurtured, in the name of creating new residence space for students… Even if a lease is signed, the precise fate of the Coach House building, now rickety due to years of absorbing vibrations from the printing presses, is up for speculation.”