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Canadian National Exhibition

John Tory says CNE needs to be reimagined
Maybe by the time we get to the 2021 CNE, we will have some idea of what the province and city are planning for Ontario Place and Exhibition Place.
As I asked in another thread, could the city acquire some significant portion of Downsview Airport as part of a deal to allow the rest of it to be rezoned? It's a huge expanse of land that could be used for almost anything, including things like festivals and the CNE that need large open spaces for the midway, while the present Exhibition Place could be developed without the need to leave room for it.
 
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Sub_Human said:
John Tory says CNE needs to be reimagined
Maybe by the time we get to the 2021 CNE, we will have some idea of what the province and city are planning for Ontario Place and Exhibition Place.
As I asked in another thread, could the city acquire some significant portion of Downsview Airport as part of a deal to allow the rest of it to be rezoned? It's a huge expanse of land that could used for almost anything, including things like festivals and the CNE that need large open spaces for the midway, while the present Exhibition Place could be developed without the need to leave room for it.
Click to expand...
The Food Building can have an extra storey to allow for more space between tables and stalls.

The current Food Building is too crowded.
 
Sub_Human said:
John Tory says CNE needs to be reimagined
Maybe by the time we get to the 2021 CNE, we will have some idea of what the province and city are planning for Ontario Place and Exhibition Place.
As I asked in another thread, could the city acquire some significant portion of Downsview Airport as part of a deal to allow the rest of it to be rezoned? It's a huge expanse of land that could used for almost anything, including things like festivals and the CNE that need large open spaces for the midway, while the present Exhibition Place could be developed without the need to leave room for it.
Click to expand...

Most of exhibition place has layers of heritage protection preventing widespread demolition. The original buildings are national historical sites and cannot be demolished. Even when the music building burned in 1987 it was rebuilt to mimic the original.

That said, Exhibition Place will always be a fair ground. You cannot rip it up and put residential there.
 
The Toronto Indy finally acknowledged yesterday that the event won't happen in 2020, not that anyone realistically thought it would at this point.
Perhaps more significantly, they make no mention of returning in 2021 and instead say they are "open to exploring all possibilities moving forward", which makes you think they're not exactly certain it has a future.
https://hondaindy.com/news/610-2020-honda-indy-toronto-official-statement
 
Richard White said:
Most of exhibition place has layers of heritage protection preventing widespread demolition. The original buildings are national historical sites and cannot be demolished. Even when the music building burned in 1987 it was rebuilt to mimic the original.

That said, Exhibition Place will always be a fair ground. You cannot rip it up and put residential there.
Click to expand...

What?

"Most" of it is surface parking. Check a satteliate image. If surface parking has heritage designation then we need to suicide our society because it's irredeemable and not worth the oxygen.

You can indeed rip up surface parking and put in residential there....or whatever else.
 
SunriseChampion said:
What?
"Most" of it is surface parking...
Click to expand...
I was assuming that's where all or most of any new building would be proposed.
https://theperfectcity.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2019/03/OPX-brochure_March-2019.pdf
And even then, my first thought when I walk into the warehouse-like Food Building, Queen Elizabeth Building, or Better Living Centre is not about them being greatly unique and historic structures that must be preserved at all cost. And I don't recall there being much outcry about 15-20 years ago when the old grandstand and Hockey/Sports Hall of Fame buildings were demolished.
 
Sub_Human said:
I was assuming that's where all or most of any new building would be proposed.
https://theperfectcity.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2019/03/OPX-brochure_March-2019.pdf
And even then, my first thought when I walk into the warehouse-like Food Building, Queen Elizabeth Building, or Better Living Centre is not about them being greatly unique and historic structures that must be preserved at all cost. And I don't recall there being much outcry about 15-20 years ago when the old grandstand and Hockey/Sports Hall of Fame buildings were demolished.
Click to expand...

Exhibition Stadium was just the latest incarnation among many and not really of any heritage value. It's value as a stadium was lessened by places like the ACC et al. It was the mistake by the lake and without an anchor tenant it was not worth keeping.
 
A Bridge To Fair

From link.

sun-may-24-pic-1-bathurst-bridge-over-rail-yards-ttc-rail-grinding-car-1964.jpg

Though officially titled the Sir Isaac Brock Bridge (in honour of the British army officer and hero of the War of 1812, a dedication done through the efforts of the late local historian Stephen Otto), this landmark structure will be closed to all vehicular and streetcar traffic starting Monday. All bridge superstructure and deck rehabilitation as well as TTC track, overhead and pole replacement, plus road resurfacing is to be completed by year's end. In this 1964 view from the Transit Toronto collection the TTC's W-28 Rail Grinder makes its way south on Bathurst St. to Fleet St. and the waterfront. W-28 was built in 1917 as a passenger streetcar for the Toronto Civic Railway. It was acquired by the TTC, converted to a work car and retired in 1976. It is presently part of the operational fleet of the Halton County Radial Railway (see HCRY.org)Archive photo / Transit Toronto

As a kid growing up in a much quieter Toronto, the approach of the annual Canadian National Exhibition prompted two emotions.

The first was anticipation (remember the free food samples, playing with the adding machines and do-it-yourself paper school book covers) and the second was a sense of impending anxiety since what followed each fair was a return to school.

Now I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy my stint in public school — first a few years at Palmerston near Honest Ed’s place at Bathurst and Bloor Sts., then a few more at John Fisher further afield in north Toronto — but I was pretty sure back then making popcorn at Pat Tobin’s Alhambra Theatre or playing ball hockey on the little side street we lived on was a much better use of my time. Oh, except for some pleasant discussions with Miss Staples (who had a little blue Austin car and came back to John Fisher one fall with a new name, Mrs. Thompson, because, as I found out later, she got married) and a towering Mr. Garton. Both were, as I recall, neat teachers without first names.
Click to expand...

For this youngster, and admitted streetcar buff (I even made my own streetcars out of Dinky Toys, match sticks, string and Plasticine, a modeling medium consisting of calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids …Yikes! Who knew?), the best way to get to the CNE was to ride the Bathurst streetcar into the Eastern Entrance just north of the Princes’ Gates — a structure that was renamed from its original Diamond Jubilee of Confederation Gate title to one that honoured Edward, the Prince of Wales, and his brother Prince George, the Duke of Kent, who accompanied him on his 1927 visit to Canada.

The trip high over the railway tracks south of Front St. with the image of the rides and buildings off to the west flashing through the steel girders of the old Bathurst St. bridge was always a thrill.

Years later I traversed that same bridge on my way to my job as the CNE’s new Special Projects and Centennial Manager (thanks Dave Garrick). My first year in that position I saw the Spanish Pavilion (aka the 1907 Transportation Building) burn to the ground as well as the TTC go out on strike. We all thought CNE attendance would plummet, but it didn’t. People loved the EX and got there any way they could
Click to expand...
 
Permanent closure of CNE a ‘very real possibility’ after $6 million loss

Sept 3, 2020

The CNE is reporting a loss of $6 million after cancelling this year’s fair due to COVID-19, casting the future of the event into doubt, the executive director said Wednesday.

Unless governments step in to help or the CNE is able to win leasing or licensing concessions from the City of Toronto, it’s possible the historic fair won’t be able to operate past 2021 — and it if can’t open next year due to COVID-19, it may not have a future at all.

“That is a very real possibility,” said executive director Darrell Brown, adding that he doesn’t believe governments won’t step in to save the fair, which has been operating annually since 1879.

Brown said the 18-day event generates more than $128 million in annual economic activity for the province and $93 million for the city.

“My message…to the federal government, provincial government and municipal authorities is that it’s a no-brainer when you look at the economic impact of the fair,” Brown said.

The fair is forecasting a drop in revenue of more than $35 million in ticket sales, sponsorships, and income from 700 vendors and exhibitors who were expected at the event this year.

The CNE is in the process of securing a loan under the federal Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) to remain afloat.

www.thestar.com

Permanent closure of CNE a ‘very real possibility’ after $6 million loss

Executive director Darrell Brown said the 18-day event generates more than $128 million in annual economic activity for the province and $93 million for the city.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

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