Toronto Berczy Park Revitalization | ?m | ?s

[DSC]

Oh god, light poles get heritage preservation now. This city is a joke. Afraid of change.

Hello! Nobody wants to preserve light poles. The "heritage lighting" plan in St Lawrence is NOT the preservation of light poles; it has two components: the 'decorative' lighting of heritage BUILDINGS (such as St Lawrence Hall - already lit - and St James Cathedral - which will be, sooner or later. Then there is the replacement of the 'modern' acorn and cobra streetlights with reproductions of "Victorian" lights to reinforce the historic nature of the St Lawrence neighbourhood. (There are also a very small number of original gas streetlights retained for historic reasons - see example in front of St Lawrence Hall on King Street.)

 

[junctionist]

Oh god, light poles get heritage preservation now. This city is a joke. Afraid of change.

Historic examples of ornamental street lighting are protected in cities throughout the world. Toronto has relatively few examples of street lighting worthy of protection, but Palmerston Boulevard is one example.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

On a tangentially related note, I noticed tonight that the Campbell House is beautifully lit now.

 

[DSC]

Now that the Pan-Am Games is over, the renovation of Berczy Park is about to start. I understands that work will start next week, how much gets done before winter will depend on the weather.

 

[Tewder]

I'm really looking forward to this one. I love the design, it's unique and playful. It'll fast become a beloved iconic location downtown.

 

[Froggy]

That fountain reminds me of the Fontaine des Eléphants, if my hometown of Chambéry (in the French Alps where, presumably, elephants are out of context). Although only a few people know about their historical significance, they've become the symbol of the city and are affectionately nicknamed "the bottomless foursome" by locals. Not sure what people thought about it when it was built, in 1838. What can be considered as weird now can turn out just fine in the end.

 

[Tewder]

A reference to Hannibal perhaps?

 

[Froggy]

Actually it is a reference to the guy standing on top of the column, the General de Boigne. He was originally from Chambery and had a successful career in the military in India. He came back to his home town with lots of money that he used to build, amongst others, a theatre and the street from which the picture above is taken from (Rue de Boigne). So the city built that fountain to thank him for what he did, and the elephants are a reference to his career in India.

 

[DSC]

To get back to Berczy - they have started to fence off part of the Park - apparently it will be totally fenced off on 21 September.

 

[someMidTowner]

An article in the star from the weekend talks about the project: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/09/13/new-park-and-fountain-will-let-fun-flow-hume.html

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I am curious as to whether they can fit the original programme into the budget without any value engineering...

AoD

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Park is fully fenced off as of yesterday

 

[Filip]

That's really a gorgeous fountain..Looking forward to this.

 

[Roundabout]

Many of the trees have already been cut down. Apparently according to an arborist’s report determined that only eight of the 81 trees in the park are salvageable. (from http://www.berczypark.org/)

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Many of the trees have already been cut down. Apparently according to an arborist’s report determined that only eight of the 81 trees in the park are salvageable. (from http://www.berczypark.org/)

Thanks for the update - greatly appreciated.

AoD