Toronto Fort York Visitor Centre | ?m | 2s | Fort York Foundation | Patkau

Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
That does basically sum up what we hear on UT all the time.
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But it isn't about "world classness" but a personal preference. Some might think arterials lined with fences or parking lots with low rise developments in the background beautiful, but others prefer the more traditional urban approach. When they also prefer contemporary architecture with this approach, it makes for an interesting paradox.
 
For the high density neighbourhood the city is creating down there, you would think that a few retail spaces would be created for at least the basic services. (a dry cleaners, a coffee shop, a restaurant and a variety store) That's just common sense. The whole point of living downtown is for convenience and not having to depend on a car for every little thing. It's just really bad city planning. That's not the way to build a green city. I just hope some of the newer buildings going up there in the future, have a few basics or at least that Loblaws gets built.
 
Well, what we are going to get at Fort York in the near future is...

- more accessible grounds, with the fab new pedestrian and bike bridge from the north side
- much more attention for the fort with the construction of the Patkau/Kearns Mancini Visitor's Centre and attendant improvements to the landscape and some buffering of the Gardiner
- many more buildings encroaching on the Fort, especially to the east (CityPlace, THCH, Whittington lands), the northwest (Liberty Village various towers), and none more so than from the south (Fort York Neighbourhood - lots more development, including at the southwest corner of Fort York Blvd. and Bathurst). Undoubtedly retail will find its way to some ground floor locations across the street from the fort, and eventually streetcars will ply the south side as well.

Will Fort York flourish amidst the increasingly dense surroundings? Historic sites butt up against contemporary intrusions into their yesteryears around the world - and Toronto's skyline has never been hidden from Fort York's location anyway - so I am hopeful that the new centre will provide the extra imagination boost that visitors to the fort will need to transport them back to the 1800s amidst the hyper-21st century urban setting.

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I think the retail argument for every square inch of the city is quite cliche. But it is rather astonishing the West Harbour City building or the Neptune phases have NO retail thus far along Fleet Street. I wonder how the residents survive without a car.

Is Bremnar Boulevard going to have retail extending all the way across the Gardiner into Fort York Boulevard?
 
So if this is a National Historic Site, why are we paying for it instead of the feds?
I sound like a Rob Ford supporter (which I'm not), but seriously, does Sydney NS pay for Louisburg? Does Halifax and QC pay for the citadels?
Why is the city paying for something happening at a National Historic Site? Especially for its bicentennial..
 
Tewder said:
Well, as said before it may be as simple as...




Adma is right. The symbolism of this project being canceled would not be missed on anybody... on both sides of the battle.
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This is one project that that should go forward with guns blazing. The site represents a big moment in Canadian history that just happens to be in downtown Toronto. A Federal government that can blithely dump a G20 on the city can surely exercise a muscle for some " found " history like Fort York.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The Feds are funding part of the project.

AoD
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Johnny- come- lately. The site has simply languished for many years . It's a wonder the place wasn't sold off many years ago to help balace some budget or other. The efforts of enhancing public space in this city will be appreciated long after glitzy towers sprouting everywhere lose their allure.
 
The fed's are not a "Johnny come lately." This is a city site, and the feds have to be asked to be involved. From what I understand, there is a willingness to cooperate and to fund programming for the bicentennial. It's the province that has shown itself to be relatively inactive. The city did shelve efforts a few years back, so if things are "late" that would likely be the reason why.
 
It's a part of national history that happens to be accessible to the nation's largest concentration. It doesn't matter whose folder it's in, the federal government should show some leadership.
 
The_Architect said:
So if this is a National Historic Site, why are we paying for it instead of the feds?
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Because, if you insist upon capitalization, it's *not* a National Historic Site. (Which, to the Friends of Fort York types out there, has been a longrunning scandal.)

Come to think of it, there's also something of a cultural "Roll Over Beethoven" sloth about Ford potentially sticking it to Fort York...you know, his voting base not giving a flying f. about Fort York except as a boring place their schoolkids go on field trips to...history is bunk, etc...
 
adma said:
Because, if you insist upon capitalization, it's *not* a National Historic Site. (Which, to the Friends of Fort York types out there, has been a longrunning scandal.)

Come to think of it, there's also something of a cultural "Roll Over Beethoven" sloth about Ford potentially sticking it to Fort York...you know, his voting base not giving a flying f. about Fort York except as a boring place their schoolkids go on field trips to...history is bunk, etc...
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Shame, but all the reason why this should be protected as a national historic site. I mean, the Rob Ford 'type' just doesn't care about anything other than the bottom line.
 
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