Toronto Bathurst Quay Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | Kearns Mancini

Its historic and you know what that means in this city: knock it down and use bits of it in a 3 story podium for a point tower. And call it "The Malting Silo", cause you want to 'respect' the history. Everybody wins!!! ;)
 
No, call it Faulty Towers to commemorate the fact that it's structurally unsound and can't be saved ... and build a low rise shantytown at the base for all the fear-of-heights NIMBYs to live in until it collapses on them.
 
Ed spent three summers in the basement cleaning grain dust and he's not happy today.
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It probably wasn't for nothing even if it were to be demolished.
 
casaguy said:
Toronto scraps museum project, plans to raze site instead


maltco.jpg

photo by casaguy
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I love the idea of the museum at Old City Hall. It's much more central than the silos and it's high visibility and accessibility should help in it's success. I'd hate to see the silos torn down so instead of spending $8.4 million to demolish them, why not spend the same amount to fix them up and turn them over to Public Works to store salt and sand, etc. That would be fairly close to their original use. BTW, beautiful pic casaguy!
 
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Northern Magus said:
It's sad (and almost unbelievable) that these heritage structures might actually be razed.
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If they are not razed they will just fall down (unless we spend BIG, and scarce, bucks to fix them). We actually have other - very similar - silos, in far better condition, at the bottom of Parliament Street right beside the Parliament Street slip so I really think (with some regret) that the Canada Malting ones should just go. Now let's ensure Waterfront Toronto and the City do something with the ones at Parliament!
 
Are there figures available on the cost of rehabilitating the silos? Also, couldn't they simply be rebuilt in the exact same spot? It's not like they're complex works of architecture.
 
West8/DTAH's proposal for the Western waterfront actually had a great use for the silos: to filter and clean the water from the lake.

The site would function by pumping water in from the inner harbour and filtering it into the silos through a "living machine" (biological water treatment), then through a stage of UV exposure at the top and releasing the water back into the harbour.

HTO Park, Sugar Beach and even the wave decks could actually become places where we could go swimming in the lake.

I realize this is an expensive proposition but a swimmable inner harbour should be a priority for Waterfront Toronto who's goal is to create an active and beautiful waterfront. Thus this would fall under their scope.
 
That just makes way too much sense- so it'll never happen here. Aesthetically I'm not all that fond of them so I'm not exactly boo hooing their demise. Seems a waste to build another condo on the site though- why not just add another themed green space to extend the boardwalk and music garden.
 
MetroMan said:
West8/DTAH's proposal for the Western waterfront actually had a great use for the silos: to filter and clean the water from the lake.

The site would function by pumping water in from the inner harbour and filtering it into the silos through a "living machine" (biological water treatment), then through a stage of UV exposure at the top and releasing the water back into the harbour.

HTO Park, Sugar Beach and even the wave decks could actually become places where we could go swimming in the lake.

I realize this is an expensive proposition but a swimmable inner harbour should be a priority for Waterfront Toronto who's goal is to create an active and beautiful waterfront. Thus this would fall under their scope.
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That's my favourite idea for the site so far.
 
That would be quite an investment for what would only be useful for a small part of the year. And it would still be sketchy swimming in the harbour given the random stuff people throw in there unfortunately.
 
Isn't swimming in the harbour illegal and not because you may grow an extra eye and flippers
 
MetroMan said:
West8/DTAH's proposal for the Western waterfront actually had a great use for the silos: to filter and clean the water from the lake.

The site would function by pumping water in from the inner harbour and filtering it into the silos through a "living machine" (biological water treatment), then through a stage of UV exposure at the top and releasing the water back into the harbour.

HTO Park, Sugar Beach and even the wave decks could actually become places where we could go swimming in the lake.

I realize this is an expensive proposition but a swimmable inner harbour should be a priority for Waterfront Toronto who's goal is to create an active and beautiful waterfront. Thus this would fall under their scope.
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This is probably the smartest and best idea I've ever heard regarding our waterfront. You think it will ever happen?
 
Let's face it, there really isn't a better site in the city suited for a museum of Toronto's history than old city hall. As one of our grandest architectural gems, it deserves to be used for a purpose the public can enjoy rather than as a stuffy courthouse. I'm thrilled that the city won't be renewing the lease after 2016.

As for the malting silos, I don't really understand why they can't be restored. In the article, the cost of restoration is pegged at around 20 million, which literally is chump change in a city with an 8 billion dollar annual budget. You can't tell me that there isn't any money for it. If they demolish it, they're still going to wind up spending 10 million and be left with nothing afterwards.
 
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