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

Torontovibe said:
Maybe it's also time to replace those ugly fence barriers on the arches. It would be nice if they found a more attractive and creative way to stop people from climbing those arches.
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Yeah, a little sign that says: Do no climb. If you do, you're on your own. Besides, there's nothing up there... just Charles Darwin.
 
I'd prefer to see nothing placed at the base of the arches. Anything there distracts from their elegance, as they rise out of the ground. Maybe just cover them in margarine; that way no one will get very far?
 
Or cover them with some sort of climbing vine, that might look nice and would make it unappealing to skateboarders looking for a smooth surface to ride on.
 
The stage is now above ground. The workers on site confirmed what I had heard earlier that they're ahead of schedule because of the mild winter and that the stage will probably be ready for this summer or even late spring.

Forms for the sides of the stage itself are being assembled and a pour should occur in the next couple of days. The next step will be the platform and steps and then the assembly of the canopy pillars some time in late March, early April.

The space behind the garden ramp does indeed appear to be an opening to the garage below. I have a suspicion that it might be directly above the new bike parking station. I don't know how much natural light can get in through there, but I'll investigate.

The built up ledge around this ramp looks ideal for a pond at first glance but there doesn't appear to be any water proofing done so it is more likely that it may be filled with soil and plants instead.

Some photos:




 
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This member motion is coming to City Council on March 5/6. Though both proposer and seconder are among the TTC Five this actually sounds quite sensible.

Recommendations
Councillor Vincent Crisanti, seconded by Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, recommends that:



1. City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to undertake a review of all facilities and maintenance practices for Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square and identify steps to ensure the property is kept in a respectable state of cleanliness and repair.



2. City Council direct the Chief Corporate Officer to incorporate as part of the review:



a. how comparable historic municipal buildings and public squares are maintained in other jurisdictions; and

b. options for street furniture elements to better match the design of City Hall.


Summary
Toronto City Hall is the seat of Canada's sixth-largest government. The surrounding property, including Nathan Phillips Square, is our City's most significant and prestigious public space. The City Hall building itself is one of Canada's most remarkable pieces of architecture and one of the world's most significant municipal buildings.



Unfortunately, the state to which Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square are cared for is well below standard. As a government, we invest millions in municipal licensing enforcement to ensure private citizens keep aesthetically pleasing properties. We employ professional planners and urban designers to ensure properties meet certain standards. Yet in the case of our own headquarters, we are unable to lead by example.



The area at the southeast corner of Nathan Phillips Square is a trampled mud field. Old bicycles are chained to our rusty fences. Cigarette butts litter the ground. Riot barriers are stacked either in open view or clumsily tucked in under the walkway that leads to the green roof.



The wire mesh garbage and recycling bins do not actually hide the garbage; they display it to anybody walking by. Barriers have been placed in front of the arches over the pool in Nathan Phillips Square as a makeshift deterrent to people climbing up the arches. In short, this does not look like an inviting place to be.



Inside City Hall, there are signs and stickers plastered seemingly in every corner warning people not to smoke or take a dog inside, the portable risers are stored in one corner of the rotunda and the building's beautiful teak has been scratched, buffed and chipped in many places.



This is inexcusable. Toronto City Hall is a work of art and the property surrounding it is a treasure for all Torontonians. We must begin to treat it that way.



(Submitted to City Council on March 5 and 6, 2012, as MM19.1)
 
Good post DSC, it's great to see these problems finally identified, good on Councillor Crisanti. He missed the ramshackle curtains in the windows along the east side of the building. This should be adapted with no problems.
 
It's remarkable to read such a frank, detailed, and accurate appraisal of the city's practices when it comes to maintaining Nathan Phillips Square coming from councillors. Those are all issues identified in this thread many times, and they're quite significant in terms of the quality of the space. We can complete the most ambitious renovations and spend tens of millions of dollars doing it, but if all those small details identified above don't get addressed, any effect that the square might have on people will be greatly diminished to Toronto's detriment. Of course, many of those issues aren't just problems at NPS, but it matters most at what should be one of the jewels of the city's collection of public spaces.
 
I welcome this motion but it appears that Councillor Crisanti is unaware of the NPS revitalization project. Several of his complaints are already being addressed. The muddy grass is being reconfigured into walking paths with grass only in areas where people aren't expected to walk through, benches and garbage bins are being replaced with street furniture consistent with the look of the square, and chain link fences and crowd barriers will be removed when the new storage space under the stage is finished. For City Hall itself, the entire glazing has been replaced and from what I understand, this spring they will begin cleaning the concrete façades of the building.

I'm glad that some other elements were brought up that hadn't specifically been mentioned in the revitalization project. Those barriers at the foot of the arches definitely need to go and I'm glad this motion points them out. Maintenance is also a problem that this motion will address.

Maybe this motion will speed up some of these items and hopefully it drives City Council to adopt a stance that prioritizes the look of our community square and City Hall as an important task in its mandate.
 
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condovo said:
Nary a mention of homelessness here. Guess that's one problem in the square that's been solved to everyone's satisfaction.
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Are you saying homeless people shouldn't be allowed to park their shopping carts here every day (my own politically incorrect view) or are you saying Toronto should be the world's first city to eliminate homelessness?
 
I applaud this. It's nice to see a frank acknowledgement of how we are dropping the ball in terms of our housekeeping and appearance, rather than the constant defensive apologies we are used to seeing (refer to shabby public realm thread for examples).

As for grass in NPS do we really need it? let's face it, it is destined to look like poo. If it's being used 'ornamentally' it should be edged to prevent people walking on it, treated like any other planting. Grass is for walking on, lawns are not!
 
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