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

Toronto's most popular rink will be ready: city
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 16, 2010 | 8:14 AM ET
CBC News
Free skating at the Nathan Phillips Square ice rink has been a Toronto tradition for decades. (Canadian Press/Donald Weber)
The city says Torontonians need not fear — the skating rink at Nathan Phillips Square will open on schedule.

Right now, the rink looks a lot like a construction zone, as crews continue the $44-million revitalization of the square at Toronto City Hall.

But Bruce Bowes, the city's chief corporate officer, says the rink will be open later this month.

"Well, I'm sure there's lots of skeptics out there, but I'm here to say we feel we will have it opened Nov. 26," Bowes said.

Bowes says time is tight because originally the rink wasn't supposed to be part of the renovation project. New pipes are being installed to prevent soft spots in the ice.

New skate rental and changing areas won't be ready by opening day, but Bowes says temporary trailers will be used until the new building is complete in mid-February.

He confident the city's most popular rink will be open on time.

"They are looking at it closely," he said. "They know the pressure to get it finished."



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/11/16/city-hall-skating.html#ixzz15TfkWbzF
 
So the skate rental pavillion is supposed to be ready for mid February. Great. In Toronto speak, that means, it'll be ready around April or May. I wonder if it'll have a summer use other than the bathrooms.
 
MetroMan said:
So the skate rental pavillion is supposed to be ready for mid February. Great. In Toronto speak, that means, it'll be ready around April or May. I wonder if it'll have a summer use other than the bathrooms.
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I was under the impression there would be bike facilities...
So that would be a summer use, unless of course that has been changed.
 
DSC said:
The old one was cinder-block and uncovered. or unclad. (naked cinder block?) From the pics I saw this one will be covered though I suppose any expense on covering (aesthetics, bah!) may be deemed to be part of the Gravy Train and thus it will need to be done by December 1, before the Great Gravy Famine of 2010-2014 commences.
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They would have already paid the contractors for the work and materials. I don't think that will be happening.
 
An update on the cladding: black granite, frosted glass and wooden slats. Wow... I wish they'd extend the black granite to the surface of the square. Now that would be nice.
 
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Nice to see some progress but wow... this is really going at a snails pace. Are they putting up a brick every couple of days? I guess there's no rush since this won't open in time for this year's skating season anyway. They have until November/December of 2011 to have it ready.
 
^ The rink apparently will be ready, just not the pavillion. There'll be temporary trailers set up for skate rentals and changing. I'm also looking forward to skating there at least once this year.
 
Some recent footage of Nathan Phillips Square's renovations.[video=youtube;Z1YoeYkJrF0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1YoeYkJrF0[/video]
 
Does anyone have any idea if New Years Eve can go ahead here this year?
 
Yes. The fencing around the rink will be removed by then. Most of it is already gone in fact. The fencing around the Peace Garden doesn't really take up much more room than the garden itself so it won't be a problem. Once people fill the square, the fencing on the West end won't even be noticed.

Thanks for the video Torontovibe. I didn't know they were already working on the playground. Where is it moving to again? The renderings don't show details of the northwestern edge. Relieved to see the Peace Garden completely gone :D Let's see if they start working on the water features.
 
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**Sigh of relief**

It turns out, a councillor I speak with often and agree with on many issues is now on the inside of Rob Ford's clique. Michael Thompson says Nathan Philips Square is safe. Ford's not touching any of it.
 
Because he can't. Contracts are tendered, and things are paid for. It's too late for it, or he would have stopped it before it started, had it not started already.
 
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