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Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts (Diamond Schmitt) COMPLETE

S

simply Dan

Guest
Here is a rendering of the new Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, currently under construction in downtown Richmond Hill on Yonge Street (the site of the former City Hall and heritage fire hall). I'm not sure who the architect is - this will be an excellent improvement for my hometown!

theatre_outside_a.jpg
 
Anything called the something-or-other "Centre for the Performing Arts" automatically goes to Diamond and Schmitt.
 
'Tis true..'tis true..Diamond Schmitt are the architects indeed!

p5
 
From the rendering it appears as though the building is a Four Seasons Centre-lite, from the little "City Room" down to the use of dark (black) bricks.

Unlike FSC, however, since this building only faces one significant street (Yonge), there won't be any complaints about how bad it meets the other streets (like Queen at FSC).
 
Actually, it's an umber coloured brick. Three more renderings are available at Diamond Schmitt's website. Navigate through Portfolio to Performance, and you'll find it's the 8th project.

42
 
The brick colour matches the adjacent building - rather like what KPMB have done by matching their Royal Conservatory brick to Mazzoleni Hall.

Nice to see more cultural centres being built in 905 land. Saves people from driving downtown for hours to get their fix.
 
Richmond Hill has been talking about building a theatre for a good 20 years now... I'm glad to finally see progress!
 
Richmond Hill needs to look at building an appropriate Town Hall now close by the lovely library at Yonge and Major Mac. (The library is also Diamond Schmitt if I remember correctly. A GG winner, wasn't it?) RH's temporary Town Hall is long overdue to be replaced.

forward-looking 42
 
The Central Library is from Diamond Schmitt, but as too is the Aquatic Centre- probably making Richmond Hill, one of the cities with the highest concentration of DS work..Not necessarily the worst thing to be recognized for.

However, I believe there were plans to build a new City Hall in front of the Library on the stretch of vacant land which liese directly to the south- however, I would like to see them retain a good amount of that space for a central park- maybe making the new City Hall taller, but with a smaller footprint..??

p5
 
There was a grand plan in the late 80s to build a new city centre in Richmond Hill on the lands southwest of Yonge and Major Mackenzie. A new city hall, theatre, central library, wave pool, convention centre, hotel, retail, condos, and other buildings were to be consturcted. I remember as a kid looking at the detailed models in the old public library at the time. Well, the plans fell through, of course, and what ended up being built there was the wave pool and central library - which continue to be surrounded by empty fields and parks to this day. The city hall was moved from the old downtown to more modern and larger facilities in leased office space at the Beaver Creek business park. Now the theatre is being constructed to the north - in the older downtown area along Yonge. Conventions in Richmond Hill currently take place at the Sheraton Hotel on Hwy 7. The need for a stand-alone convention centre is questionable. One would hope that in the future Richmond Hill will at least construct a dedicated purpose-built city hall on the lands close to the library.
 
re:Richmond Hill Performing Arts

^^I remember seeing something like that as well in the old library as well- but I didn't remember it being of such magnitude. Mind you I was only about 9 or so, but I do recall.

I think that Richmond Hill made a very large mistake in moving the City Hall to Beaver Creek, setting a negative precedent by showing a lack of confidence in the old town centre-not to mention that they have stood quietly by and let the old-town centre fall into disrepair and into small time developers hands, who have little or no regard for the history, ie: the corner of Yonge St. and Arnold Cres.

The bank building being one of the few remaining heritage buildings, was over a hundred years old and was a fixture in the area for just as long, is now no longer and has since been torn down.

While I would applaud a larger scale development of the properties surrounding the Central Library and Aquatic Centre, (not residential but civic development) I believe that it could only happen, if the scope of the plan were increased to include the restoration and rejuvenation of the old town centre.

The mandate of civic councilors should not only be to promote new development, but preserve and restore existing ones. However, this hasn't even been considered and the destruction of the old town continues unabated.

p5
 
Re: re:Richmond Hill Performing Arts

I think that Richmond Hill made a very large mistake in moving the City Hall to Beaver Creek
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That was always considered a temporary solution, not a permanent move. There was a pressing need for large modern facilities to house municipal offices for one of Canada's largest growing communities, so it was decided to temporarily relocate them to Beaver Creek until a permanent City Hall could be constructed near the old downtown in the future.

showing a lack of confidence in the old town centre-not to mention that they have stood quietly by and let the old-town centre fall into disrepair and into small time developers hands, who have little or no regard for the history
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Not entirely true. Town council was successful in demolishing the long-detested Fantasia strip club, re-zoning the land and approving the construction of a very well designed urban-minded high-end condominium development. Hydro and other aboveground utility cables were all buried and attractive new street furniture, lighting, paving and traffic signals were all installed to improve the look and feel of the area. There IS a municipal program for small business owners to improve the facades of their Yonge St properties (much like in downtown Toronto) - which has to date been successful in transforming the look of a number of heritage properties in the area.

While I would applaud a larger scale development of the properties surrounding the Central Library and Aquatic Centre, (not residential but civic development) I believe that it could only happen, if the scope of the plan were increased to include the restoration and rejuvenation of the old town centre.
Click to expand...

Ummm.... that IS part of the official long-term plan for the Town of Richmond Hill - evidence of this is seen in the construction of the new theatre in the old downtown as opposed to across from Central Library!
 
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