Toronto Esports Performance Venue and Hotel | 112.23m | 30s | OverActive | Populous

We have a new front page story up on this following its latest visit to the Design Review Panel. All of the moves in the last batch of photos on the previous are explained! The Panel is a little happier… but not entirely, and they explain why.

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The DRP is spot on about the public path.

AoD
Yup. Surely they could just bridge over the path: it should be perfectly clear that the path continues straight through, and if you stick two sets of doors at either end of an atrium in the middle of it… lots of people will become befuddled...

...I mean, there are a lot of people out there barely functioning already. Doors and an atrium won't help.

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Yup. Surely they could just bridge over the path: it should be perfectly clear that the path continues straight through, and if you stick two sets of doors at either end of an atrium in the middle of it… lots of people will become befuddled...

...I mean, there are a lot of people out there barely functioning already. Doors and an atrium won't help.

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Not only that - but the atrium will be a private space - and there should be a reasonable expectation of this is a public linkage that won't be "gatekept" by some private party. The hotel tower and the exhibition hall needs better separation so that it doesn't turn into an unpleasant canyon, and actually provide a better indication for the view termini (hence destination) of that path.

AoD
 
Stupid question: Is that brown box supposed to hosting a stacked parking lot? It's rather jarring otherwise.
 
Stupid question: Is that brown box supposed to hosting a stacked parking lot? It's rather jarring otherwise.
Looking at the various renderings, I think it's supposed to be wooden slats over glass, sorta like what has been done with the horizontal metal bars on the podium of The One. The parking garage looks to be underground based on the overhead map shown in the article, which shows an entrance tunnel south of the surface parking lot.
 
I want to hope Toronto has something special that would support this, but I’m also pragmatic and wondering if there’s anything architecturally noticeable about this that might suggest they could convert to a casino.

Y’know, with a Premiere Ford and a “strong mayor” system at the helm, anything’s possible
 
Any update when construction could start?
As mentioned previously, two years after OverActive Media announced this proposal, they're apparently still clinging to some faint hope of attracting a "50 per cent equity partner" in the project, while they continue to lose millions of dollars. I would guess it's probably going to be Live Nation Entertainment who decide what eventually happens regarding any new construction or rebuilding of a large music venue at Exhibition Place or Ontario Place. If they haven't already bought into OverActive's proposal by now, I would doubt it's going to happen.

Edit: July 2020 was the earliest mention of it I could find, so just over two years ago, not two and a half.
 
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As mentioned previously, two and a half years after OverActive Media announced this proposal, they're apparently still clinging to some faint hope of attracting a "50 per cent equity partner" in the project, while they continue to lose millions of dollars. I would guess it's probably going to be Live Nation Entertainment who decides what eventually happens regarding any new construction or rebuilding of a large music venue at Exhibition Place or Ontario Place. If they haven't already bought into OverActive's proposal by now, I would doubt it's going to happen.

I concur. I do not see this ever getting built.

It is a fantasy project that appears good on paper but in reality would never actually work. There is simply not enough for an e-sports venue in Toronto and making it dedicated to e-sports would be stupid.

You could of course make it a multi-purpose venue but that would not solve much. It would likely be used more for other purposes than e-sports,
 
I concur. I do not see this ever getting built.

It is a fantasy project that appears good on paper but in reality would never actually work. There is simply not enough for an e-sports venue in Toronto and making it dedicated to e-sports would be stupid.

You could of course make it a multi-purpose venue but that would not solve much. It would likely be used more for other purposes than e-sports,
I'm curious here as the linked reports say the intent has always been to produce a multi-purpose venue, and they note e-sports is intended to be only a minor, though consistent tennant. They give reasoning that there is a lack of indoor venues of this particular size in the City and expect the facility will be able to be used for any purpose needed. Is that consistent with their design? Could it be used for anything? Which venues would they compete against? Maybe Massey Hall?
 

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