Toronto First Parliament Site | ?m | ?s

I agree with Lyphe. I enjoy the width and breadth of the walkways plus once this area is developed with more residents this area will be very alive. I also enjoy the general elbow room one has there. Meanwhile I went to buy a new computer at Staples and then get me car washed at the Big Wax and the whole of the two blocks were fenced off and the businesses gone! I knew this was happening but didn't realize how soon. I did find the new Staples location but as for the Big Wax?
 
I did take my car there a few times, but the lineup was always too long! Now my car is still caked with mud from going apple picking a few weeks ago, but not sure where to take it.
 
Cool thing about The Big Wax was the sweet deal on washing Smart cars. Always appreciated that. As for Staples, I don't mourn its passing. Ugly place anyway, good riddance. Only ever went there out of dull quotidian necessity. Not exactly the kind of experience I coveted!
 
Cool thing about The Big Wax was the sweet deal on washing Smart cars. Always appreciated that. As for Staples, I don't mourn its passing. Ugly place anyway, good riddance. Only ever went there out of dull quotidian necessity. Not exactly the kind of experience I coveted!
I doubt anyone (even the owners) saw Staples on Front as attractive but it WAS useful. The replacement store on Richmond is less convenient (for me) and certainly MUCH smaller.
 
It's probably not more than a 2-3 minute walk from the front door of the old one to the front door of the new one. It can't be that much less convenient!
 
For that matter, all Staples stores are wretched. Necessary evils, I guess. We go to the one at Gerrard Square nowadays. Quite a different layout than the one that just closed at King and Parliament, but we manage.

I have artist acquaintances who live across from the site in question. I'm not sure they're entirely happy that Staples has closed, given what's coming. They live in a stunning boutique gem of a building and they're a bit nervous about how tall things are becoming in their vicinity. Plus ça change.
 
I did buy an office chair from the Corktwown Staples last spring, which I rolled home on the sidewalk on a dolly. Would have been marginally harder from the new location. Other than that, I'm not sure what I'd go to Staples for.
 
DE6B6717-DE19-4262-BE85-0556EB983397.jpeg
9C5B02D6-A56C-4090-859F-BA0D887FBC7B.jpeg
0899C164-FD01-402F-AF0A-2C8763447BCB.jpeg
 
Metrolinx are conducting a survey on how best to commemorate the site. See: https://blog.metrolinx.com/2021/11/...-the-ontario-line-subway-station-in-corktown/

Interesting survey though best way might just be to name the station First Parliament!

From said survey:

“This site’s legacy belongs to everyone and the new subway station will deliver an important new landmark to the Corktown neighbourhood,” said Malcolm MacKay, Ontario Line program sponsor.

How can an underground subway line deliver an "important new landmark"? What's so landmarky about the station entrance- which isn't designed as some architectural tour-de-force pavilion (nevermind the rest the development programme for the site)? That's trying to sell the project for what it isn't - Metrolinx is so annoyingly BS*tty sometimes.

AoD
 
Last edited:
From said survey:



How can an underground subway line deliver an "important new landmark"? What's so landmarky about the station entrance- which isn't designed as some architectural tour-de-force pavilion (nevermind the rest the development programme for the site)? That's trying to sell the project for what it isn't - Metrolinx is so annoyingly BS*tty sometimes.

AoD
I did the survey... there's a lot of history to absorb in a few screens, but I did my best.

We've lived a very short distance from this location for almost 20 years, and we have no plans to move. I have to say I am thrilled at the idea of there being a subway station there, one that we can make use of in the future, as we get older and don't want to walk to Yonge or rely on surface transit to leave our neighbourhood without a car. It would also help the Distillery District become much more accessible to the greater GTA population, especially since most of the surrounding parking is vanishing.

So I have to say I'm somewhat puzzled by all the knee-jerk opposition to this proposed project and the fact that it includes some additional condominiums. I hate sprawl. This is the city center. It's a big lot, most of the subway station will be underground, and there is no more sensible place to create more density than here. If the condos help make this development financially viable, it's a reasonable tradeoff. The neighbourhood has changed a ton in the past decade or two, but mostly for the better. Most challenges have stemmed from the fact that new infrastructure tends to lag the population growth a bit: and there is no better urban infrastructure than a subway.

That said, I also feel like Toronto's history is under-celebrated, and I liked the city's First Parliament plan. I hope/believe that some of it can be incorporated into the new plan, with some reasonable compromises. Ideally I would like to see some additional park area extend a bit north of the current soccer field, and in my dreams, some exposed archeological foundations of the First Parliament buildings, if any exist that are worth exposing -- we've come across those in parks and squares in Europe and I would love to see that idea implemented here as well. I don't see why some of this couldn't be incorporated into the subway entrance or condo courtyards or similar.

As for some of the other plans that predate the subway -- like the new library -- I hope that people are flexible. I'm happy to have a new library located elsewhere in the neighbourhood if it means we get a subway.

Naming the subway station First Parliament Station or Parliament Station is not a bad idea, though I was kind of liking the idea of Corktown finally landing on the map -- I'm not sure many Torontonians have any idea where it is.
 

Back
Top