Toronto Nathan Phillips Square + Spirit Garden | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

[DSC]

Relocation of hot dog vendors:

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2018/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-114114.pdf

 

[MetroMan]

All of the podium level glass is being replaced now.

The glass has a black tint with white dots.

 

[interchange42]

The glass has a black tint with white dots.

…so the tint is from a coating that reduces heat transmission (and improves privacy, if that's been a concern for Councillors whose offices are behind the windows), and the frit is to stop birds from flying into it.

42

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1093556596439990272

 

[Amare]

I hope the players didnt get delayed on the subway causing them to be late for practice due to some kind of service suspension, emergency alarm, signal problem, or some other typical TTC non-sense.

 

[salsa]

I hope the players didnt get delayed on the subway causing them to be late for practice due to some kind of service suspension, emergency alarm, signal problem, or some other typical TTC non-sense.

Why do you always have to be so negative and pessimistic about everything?

 

[Amare]

^It's called being realistic and the nature of living in Toronto these days (ie: not knowing what to expect when relying on the public transit system even for the shortest commute).

 

[pman]

Why do you always have to be so negative and pessimistic about everything?

Probably because Amare is a regular TTC user.

 

[jje1000]

Is it still possible to continue the unfinished portions of the revitalization project down the road?

Was at Nathan Phillips recently and the square already feels tired again. The forecourt facing Queen is muddy and barren, a lot of the concrete is stained or chipped, and the ambience felt downmarket and frankly unprofessional in terms of upkeep (misaligned benches, bad garbage bins, chain link closing off the pool, the Toronto sign is falling apart again).

Honestly feels like we are back at stage one all over again, and even Dundas Square feels better kept. At the very least, the forecourt needs to be replaced with a more durable material, maybe a permeable cobblestone, rather than grass. The benches and planters need to be patched and aligned, and the city should try to use more attractive barriers than the chain link currently used. These are relatively simple last-mile changes that would greatly improve the appearance of the square.

 

[TransitBart]

Is it still possible to continue the unfinished portions of the revitalization project down the road?

Was at Nathan Phillips recently and the square already feels tired again. The forecourt facing Queen is muddy and barren, a lot of the concrete is stained or chipped, and the ambience felt downmarket and frankly unprofessional in terms of upkeep (misaligned benches, bad garbage bins, chain link closing off the pool, the Toronto sign is falling apart again).

Honestly feels like we are back at stage one all over again, and even Dundas Square feels better kept. At the very least, the forecourt needs to be replaced with a more durable material, maybe a permeable cobblestone, rather than grass. The benches and planters need to be patched and aligned, and the city should try to use more attractive barriers than the chain link currently used. These are relatively simple last-mile changes that would greatly improve the appearance of the square.

This may have to wait. The space will no doubt be used to stage construction of the. DRL/Ontario Line.

 

[MetroMan]

Is it still possible to continue the unfinished portions of the revitalization project down the road?

Was at Nathan Phillips recently and the square already feels tired again. The forecourt facing Queen is muddy and barren, a lot of the concrete is stained or chipped, and the ambience felt downmarket and frankly unprofessional in terms of upkeep (misaligned benches, bad garbage bins, chain link closing off the pool, the Toronto sign is falling apart again).

Honestly feels like we are back at stage one all over again, and even Dundas Square feels better kept. At the very least, the forecourt needs to be replaced with a more durable material, maybe a permeable cobblestone, rather than grass. The benches and planters need to be patched and aligned, and the city should try to use more attractive barriers than the chain link currently used. These are relatively simple last-mile changes that would greatly improve the appearance of the square.

The original plan was to replace the grass with a concrete forecourt with trees dotted around. Instead, they kept the grass, ignoring the whole point of Plant Architect’s goal to make the Queen Street entrance more porous.

All of the work along Bay was cancelled, including the always muddy, rarely used corner of Queen and Bay which was supposed to look like this:

The renovation did accomplish some of the major goals that we now take for granted such as opening up the square again by removing the cluttered additions, the new Peace Garden on the west side, and the new stage which has become well used and an iconic element in its own right. We also no longer have the ugly skate rental building. Can you believe we had a cinderblock building in our main public square for decades?

A lot of the old street furniture was kept when the new furniture was brought in. I get the feeling that whoever is managing the square has been there for many years and has no sense of design and the importance of cohesion.

The last time I spoke about this with Councillor Wong Tam, there was an expectation that some of the elements that had been dropped would be added in future budgets.

The walkways need work, regardless of improvements. Replacing the concrete walls will have to happen at some point. Maybe at that time, they’ll replace them with glass as per Plant Architects vision.

One thing we know for sure is happening, is a new parkette dedicated to First Nations at the south western corner where a restaurant was originally slated to go. Once completed and the trees grow in the Peace Garden, we’ll have a little bit of the vision of “a square within a park”.

 

[MetroMan]

The IRSS Legacy Teaching, Learning, Sharing & Healing Space:

The turtle sculpture was unveiled today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1155857446960861184

The project will be completed in 2022.

I like the theme and its dedication to the indigenous community. I would have liked more trees, however.

This whole Nathan Phillips Sq project has been a textbook example of the effects of design by committee and how we got to the cluttered mess that saw the need for a revitalization to begin with.

Plant Architect’s main goal was to open up the square as an empty space, as intended by Viljo Revell, surrounded by a a lush forest with porous entry into the square from the surrounding streets.

The entire Bay St side got cancelled, removing that section of the “forest” and keeping Nathan Phillips Square blocked from Bay St. The lawn on Queen Street was kept instead of the open forecourt, again blocking the porosity into the square and a dead muddy mess that has always been a problem and once again ignored.

And now, on the west side, this park will be built with few sparse trees, also eliminates the forest on that side. When the Peace Garden trees mature, they’ll be lush and will encase the walkways. This new park will be a “bald spot”.

This is what happens when we get bureaucrats to execute the job of artists/architects/landscapers.

 

[MetroMan]

Here’s a full video render of the new park.

 

[MetroMan]

I spoke with someone from the city who was on site with this model and she explained that the roof of the parking garage can’t support trees. That’s strange because there are large trees immediately after this space in the Peace Garden.

I hope that they end up adding trees in the empty lawn portion of the garden.

She said that work has already begun on reinforcing the garage, in preparation for the above ground work which is expected to be completed in 2022. All the work has already received funding from the province and the city and the rest will be fundraised.

The wooden building is a healing lodge which will host ceremonies.

The turtle at Nathan Philips Square is a full scale model for the one in stone that will built on site. It’ll sit in a shallow pool.

 

[raptor]

So it takes 3 years to plant a few flowers, add a little interlocking stone, and build a sculpture (which I'll refrain from commenting on)? Typical Toronto.