After being blindsided by the sale of the former Hearn Thermal Generating Station, the Toronto Preservation Board has voted to begin the process of giving it heritage designation. But Studios of America, which owns the former coal burning power plant, is protesting the move.

Ontario Power Generation announced Thursday that it had sold the plant to its long-term tenant, Studios of America Limited Partnership, noting the film company exercised the right to purchase laid out in its lease.

Toronto fire warned the public there is a need for life safety provisions after "serious deficiencies and breaches of the Ontario Fire Code" were found at the decommissioned site.