Toronto Ripley's Aquarium of Canada | 13.11m | 2s | Ripley Entertainment | B+H

I'd rather them leave the grass and trees as they are. There's hardly any green space downtown.

Toronto has a great amount of green spaces for a large city.
 
great news MetroMan !! finally there will be a continous sheltered connection from Union Station to CN Tower, they finally figured out that was a missing link ... hope we can see some sneak-preview plans soon :D

Hopefully it also provides a direct connection to SkyDome as well.

It always struck me as a gap in logic as much as a physical gap:

1. We need an all weather stadium and we need it downtown
2. We want to connect it to the transit hub so we will build this cool covered walkway over the tracks right to Union station.
3. oops why don't we end the covered walkway a few hundred yards away from the stadium then people can really enjoy the weather we are protecting them from!

Every year the auto show uses the dome for some of the exhibits and we/they put up really ugly looking temporary shelters to get people inside without getting wet/freezing....and to remind us of this horrible mistake in design/planning.
 
The SkyWalk will continue to be connected to the CN Tower. In fact, it will be even more so. Currently, the SkyWalk opens to a path lead down to the tower's front plaza. With this plan, it will lead directly into the building without going outside. The CN Tower's base will become a true PATH member.

It's a great pity that there is no PATH link from the CBC/Simcoe Place on the north side of Front Street to the Convention Centre on the south side. That link, added to a better indoor connection from the Skywalk to the CN Tower, would really connect things properly and greatly increase the connectivity in the south-western downtown. Does anyone know whether the problem is 'only' $$ or whether there are huge sewers, pipes or ?? blocking what seems to me to be a no-brainer link?
 
I received a response regarding this project and it looks like the part that counts - the retail buildings surrounding the plaza and the tower's base - have no design or commencement date because there are no tenants yet.

What is supposed to begin construction in the Spring is the reconfiguration of the plaza.

This is sounding like a low profile project that'll turn out to be a bunch of boxes. It's hard to believe that our city's icon -- the tallest free standing structure for 30 years -- can't attract tenants...

Hopefully the densification of Bremner Blvd. changes that.
 
Why don't they put their own stuff in? A touristy store/gift shop, a restaurant, maybe some sort of small museum about the CN Tower and Skydome that can be included with admission to the tower.

It's amazing that we can have the will to build the world's biggest tower and then 30+ years later, we're barely willing to invest in a couple buildings to support it.
 
There is a sign up in front of the grassy area to the SE of the tower stating that an application has been made to amend the relevant bylaws to allow the construction of an aquarium. The map shows that the aquarium would take up that whole grassy area, and there would be a commercial pavilion north of the fish jumping fountain.
 
There is a sign up in front of the grassy area to the SE of the tower stating that an application has been made to amend the relevant bylaws to allow the construction of an aquarium. The map shows that the aquarium would take up that whole grassy area, and there would be a commercial pavilion north of the fish jumping fountain.

Wow...thats new news.:)
 
Wow...thats new news.:)

And good news as well; however I always felt an aquarium project would be best suited a little bit further south along the waterfront. Besides the obvious connection to Lake Ontario, it serves as an attraction to the waterfront - an area that is somewhat devoid of attractions at the moment (albeit changing with new projects such as qq restoration, slips, sugar beach). I always felt that this is the real reason for our disconnect to the edge of the city. Not the physical barriers of the Gardiner or CN Rails, but rather that there really isn't much there to attract us. An aquarium along the shore would be a huge boost to this strip and help make it more of a destination in a few years. I can't think of many more big projects that fit better along the waterfront than an aquarium, and it just shouts potential for that 'iconic building' along the waterfront we all have been waiting for.
 
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The CN Tower is not the best place for an aquarium. It needs to go on the waterfront. Our waterfront has no major attractions and I think that's kinda sad. We need at least 2 blockbuster attractions on the waterfront to really bring it to life. A major aquarium and a top rated museum or art gallery would do the trick. Harbourfront is great but it doesn't have the kind of attractions that bring in the crowds. People mainly go for a stroll or to get something to eat. We need to step it up. An aquarium at The CN Tower is a missed opportunity for the newly emerging waterfront.
 
The CN Tower is not the best place for an aquarium. It needs to go on the waterfront. Our waterfront has no major attractions and I think that's kinda sad. We need at least 2 blockbuster attractions on the waterfront to really bring it to life. A major aquarium and a top rated museum or art gallery would do the trick. Harbourfront is great but it doesn't have the kind of attractions that bring in the crowds. People mainly go for a stroll or to get something to eat. We need to step it up. An aquarium at The CN Tower is a missed opportunity for the newly emerging waterfront.

I think that the CN Tower is still considered the waterfront, unless your talking about building something by the waters edge, if that is the case i cant see them building anything other than the area of East Bayfront, Ontario Place or the South Etobicoke waterfront. I will take the CN Tower location anytime.
 
From what I remember, the waterfront plan includes the CN Tower as a part of it's plan. It wanted to have an easy straight line of access to the waterfront from the tower.
 
An application to amend the official plan and zoning By-law has been made by Urban Stretegies Inc. to permit 16, 265 square maetres of mixed commercial uses including an aquarium

File # 09 189702 STE 20 OZ
 

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Oh, good. Our annual aquarium announcement. I was waiting for it.

TORONTO PLANS TO OPEN $60 MILLION AQUARIUM
February 26, 1997
Ripley Entertainment plans a $60 million aquarium near the lakefront's Ontario Place featuring "tens of thousands" of fish from around the world, company President Bob Masterson announced Tuesday.

Aquarium dilemma; It's a tough business, U.S. experts say And local proposal lacks key elements
24 January, 2005 -The Toronto Star
How do you turn several thousand fish into one white elephant? It's not a magician's trick.

CHASING THE OLYMPICS, TORONTO CONSIDERS A NEW WATERFRONT
November 7, 1999
News Toronto Bureau
Canada's largest city may soon undertake a massive redevelopment of its waterfront that would include a new transit line, an aquarium, museum, parks and a floating hotel.

York will have new museum dedicated to underwater creatures
Toronto Freeman and Expositioner, July Number, 1806.
Town's new "aquariamme" to hold live sea creatures such as octopuse and possibly even a mermaide; To be open to publicke for viewing; Fees upon entrance are a shilling! To be located on water at Front Street.

^This is hilarious.
 
I agree that right down on the water is the ideal place for the aquarium, but this is a safer bet for the company proposing it together because there's guaranteed traffic there already. Putting it down on the waterfront as the first attraction of its kind is a bigger gamble. You have to hope that people will come down just to see it.
 

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