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

the new tint on the city hall look really good from afar. It make the buildings look 40 years younger.
 
nicetommy said:
Pics taken July 1st:
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I'm sure other people have commented on this before, but those chain link fences they've put over the bases of the arches are just awful. Sadly I think they're indicative of how Toronto treats its public spaces in general. I was at Scarborough Civic Centre over the weekend and it was even worse. The whole square is filled with those "temporary" metal fences they use during parades. They had even put fencing all around the fountain to make sure no one goes inside. It looked so haphazard and half-assed. It's too bad because Scarborough Civic Centre can potentially take on new importance with all the new condos going up in the area. But if these chain link fences are how we treat our main city square, then I don't hold much hope for poor Scarborough.
 
The city definitely needs a guru or visionary in the parks department, who has some aesthetic sense, and would be embarrassed as heck at the state of some of the city's public spaces and parks. Its not just chain link fences at City Hall, its practically everything, from the sad state of repair of the benches, to the chipped beyond repair planters to the ugly garbage cans, that makes this square a total disaster. And one just has to go up the street a bit to the park behind College Park, to see that this state of disaster appears to be official city policy.
 
alklay said:
The city definitely needs a guru or visionary in the parks department, who has some aesthetic sense, and would be embarrassed as heck at the state of some of the city's public spaces and parks. Its not just chain link fences at City Hall, its practically everything, from the sad state of repair of the benches, to the chipped beyond repair planters to the ugly garbage cans, that makes this square a total disaster. And one just has to go up the street a bit to the park behind College Park, to see that this state of disaster appears to be official city policy.
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that's exactly what i said on the Aura thread and people got bent out of shape. I live near Woodbine beach which arguably is one of the flagship parks in the toronto parks system, with thousands of people visiting on weekends, and it's a bloody disgrace. it looks like no one in parks gives a crap.. sand all over the paths and the boardwalk, practically everything made of wood is rotting and falling apart, but the thing that gets me the most is that parks trucks drive along the paths with their wheels on either side and make huge muddy ruts which looks terrible.
 
Silence&Motion said:
I'm sure other people have commented on this before, but those chain link fences they've put over the bases of the arches are just awful.
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I agree but they are not new (I think they have been there for a decade.) I assume they are to stop people climbing the arches but they could, surely, be better looking!
 
DSC said:
I agree but they are not new (I think they have been there for a decade.) I assume they are to stop people climbing the arches but they could, surely, be better looking!
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Gee..people climbing, Put up a sign...anyone caught climbing gets a $250 fine. It works in other places around the world.:confused:
 
DSC said:
I agree but they are not new (I think they have been there for a decade.) I assume they are to stop people climbing the arches but they could, surely, be better looking!
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That's the point. The chain link fences look like a "temporary" fix that have been left in place for over a decade!

alklay said:
Its not just chain link fences at City Hall, its practically everything, from the sad state of repair of the benches, to the chipped beyond repair planters to the ugly garbage cans, that makes this square a total disaster.
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nstuch said:
I live near Woodbine beach which arguably is one of the flagship parks in the toronto parks system, with thousands of people visiting on weekends, and it's a bloody disgrace. it looks like no one in parks gives a crap.. sand all over the paths and the boardwalk, practically everything made of wood is rotting and falling apart
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It's not so much the neglect that bothers me. Our parks department is sadly under-funded. We'll just have to accept that they're not going to get to every broken park bench, let alone sweep sand off the boardwalks at the beach (which even I would consider "gravy"). What really bugs me is when the city or other public authorities actually intervene in public spaces in ways that degrade them (e.g. the chain link fences, or the home depot shack at dundas square).
 
And the really stupid thing is that the fences aren't any more prohibitive than a sign would be. In fact, maybe less so. If you were really intent on climbing the arches, those dinky little fences wouldn't stop you for a second.
 
Automation Gallery said:
Gee..people climbing, Put up a sign...anyone caught climbing gets a $250 fine. It works in other places around the world.:confused:
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Really? I've traveled a little bit and, in my experience, signs are useless just about anywhere where freedoms are enbraced. The majority of places would have something similar to the chain link fence. Second place would fall under those that abide by natural selection. Last would be cities that seek innovative and artistc solutions to keep people from climbing up the light standards.
 
I hadn't heard about the re-glazing. This is a really pleasant surprise... totally unexpected.

I do recall that after old City Hall had been restored that they were looking to move the resources over to do the same for new City Hall. I wonder if this is the same project or if it is part of something else.

It appears that the new glazing will reduce A/C requirements in the building as this has always been a problem.
 
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