TheTigerMaster
Superstar
And as I like to point out on a regular basis:
We have a giant patch of urban wasteland in our downtown called Exhibition Place that everyone in this region forgets exists outside of two weeks in August.
Whenever Toronto is ready to stop being mediocre, I’ll be the first one on the bulldozers so we can demolish that massive waste of concrete build a great urban park there
As far as I’m concerned, we could have the worlds greatest urban park there if we spent just a fraction of Rail Deck’s proposed budget.
Exhibition Place is a 200-acre plot of land, that exists spitting distance from one of the densest residential developments in Canada, and just minutes away from Queen's Quay. It should go without saying that the City of Toronto is surely sitting on one of the most valuable plots of land in any city in North America. Yet, outside of 25-ish days a year, this site is utterly irrelevant to 99% of Torotonains.
I refuse to believe that Exhibition Place is presently generating the greatest value possible for Torotonians. That is simply not possible. If we cannot come up with a better use for Exhibition Place, that speaks more to our lack of ambition and imagination, that it does to any inherent limitations of the grounds.
Regarding the events, we can find accommodations for all of them:
Caribana
Caribana is the biggest event here. The parade runs through Lakeshore Blvd, so its route should largely be unaffected. The parade's staging grounds could be moved to Marilyn Bell Park to the west.
The Ex
The Ex would be difficult to accommodate on the Exhibition Grounds, so I would suggest simply moving the event to Downsview Park.
With Downsview Park having direct access to Line 1, the event would actually be more accessible there than it is at its current location. Visitors to The Ex would no longer have to line up for slow and overcrowded buses and streetcars to access the event. Further, this configuration would mean that commuters utilizing the 510 Bathurst and 29 Dufferin would no longer have to put up with their buses being useless two weeks out of the year, due to overcrowding from Ex visitors.
The Indy
The Indy would be the most difficult to accommodate, however if we're rebuilding the Ex's grounds largely from scratch, we should be able to find accommodations. I would imagine that the race route could remain as is, and the park could be built around it. Staging areas for the event could be moved elsewhere on the site.
If The Indy cannot be accommodated here or relocated elsewhere, I'm completely fine with retiring the event. I do not believe The Indy alone generates enough value for Torotonians to justify keeping this site in its current state.
Other Events
I used to work at the Ex, and I found the Enercare Centre to be grossly oversized for the events it hosts. Last time I looked, I couldn't find any structures in the Old City of Toronto with a larger footprint. For reference, the Enercare Centre is 1.8 square kms, and the Eaton Centre is "only" 1.3 square kms.
Personally, I'd be quite content with just demolishing the whole Enercare Centre, and tell the events that are hosted there to find an alternate space. But if we must replace the space, Downsview Park would likely be the best alternative, as it has a lot of space available, with direct access to Line 1.
What makes you say that? People travel to MTL for Mont Royale, to Vancouver for Stanley Park, NYC for Central Park, Barcelona for Park Guell and to Chicago for Millenium Park. Great parks are one of the top tourist draws in basically any great city. Toronto presently has zero great parks.
And even if it doesn’t induce tourism, there’s nothing wrong about building great amenities for locals. I can assure you Toronto, it's okay to have nice things.
