Toronto Bay Adelaide Centre | 217.92m | 51s | Brookfield | KPMB

From King and Jarvis.

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Lovely shot -- it almost makes the city seem romantic (although the romance would be significantly enhanced if the dumpy trash receptacle and streetcar cables weren't present...).
 
Ask the Diocese - it's nothing to do with the city
How do other large, significant churches in different cities -- and even smaller towns -- manage exterior lighting? Are there not grants handed out for such things? What makes the absence of lighting so unique to Toronto? It's not just our grand churches that are neglected, even Queens Park, Old City Hall, Canada Life Building, etc. are under lit. Many other grand buildings aren't lit at all.
 
The cost of Hydro has become a deterrent to exterior lighting and business in general in this province. You wouldn't know it by all the buildings lit up, but churches don't have the money for that. They have a hard enough
time staying afloat. Some LED exterior lighting wouldn't cost as much, but the initial installation would be cost prohibitive. I'm not a religious person by any means, but a beautiful cathedral light up at night is a beautiful thing.
 
bmiller, maybe your comment is professionally more informed than mine but I disagree about hydro cost being a factor. LED costs and light quality have improved to the point where lighting is becoming basically a non-issue for me as a small building owner. Install cost are expensive of course but the real problem is maintenance (replacing lights etc.). Because LED's use 10% of the hydro and last like 5 times longer they negate much of this operating cost.
 
I agree with bmiller... it's the installation costs on a church like that which would be punitive. Once it's up there, yeah, it's relatively inexpensive. But you have to get over that initial hurdle, and those big old drafty churches aren't funded like they used to be. Small wonder so many churches are being converted to condos. You see that happening more in more in Montreal, as well - once a Catholic stronghold.
 
The whole lighting thing is another case of the city not taking the initiative and do what's par the course anywhere else. Like how long have we been at this heritage lighting game? Close to a decade? Those misguided facade improvement schemes (netting us those awful EIFS monstrosities) would be better spent where it makes a difference, e.g. lighting historic buildings, esp. buildings that might otherwise not be lit up.

Anyways, back to the topic at hand - wonder what the public art piece for BA East would be like.

AoD
 
Why don't we start collaborating on writing letters to the City re issues such as this? Obviously we'll never bother to light our great building without some strong persuasion. This forum is full of knowledgeable people that understand the many facets of cities and urban life better than most; especially our City Councillors, whose creativity and imagination is the equivalent of mayonnaise sandwiches on Wonderbread.
 
Or, if you feel so strongly about it, you could try your hand at being a city councillor and working on these problems directly.
 
Why don't we start collaborating on writing letters to the City re issues such as this? Obviously we'll never bother to light our great building without some strong persuasion. This forum is full of knowledgeable people that understand the many facets of cities and urban life better than most; especially our City Councillors, whose creativity and imagination is the equivalent of mayonnaise sandwiches on Wonderbread.

Knock yourself out

Councillor Pam McConnell
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite A7
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Phone: 416-392-7916
Fax: 416-392-7296
councillor_mcconnell@toronto.ca
Councillor McConnell's website:
pammcconnell.ca
 

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