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

The architects are keen to extend the rampart as soon as funding is available. I imagine that the friends of Fort York are looking forward to seeing that happen too.

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I filmed the opening of the Fort York Visitor Centre and here it is. It also contains views of the new condos surrounding the area because, well, I am an urban development geek.
[video=youtube_share;d6eiXtLfD3U]http://youtu.be/d6eiXtLfD3U?list=UUX-Hig3SImVD5GxzlWb-IQQ[/video]
 
There certainly isn't much space left under the Gardiner that's not actively employed for some purpose or other, most of it being transportation.

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A new thread has been established for the Fort York Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge so that we can attach dataBase files to each of the projects here; the Visitor Centre, and the Bridges, paths, etc. The earliest and latest posts on the bridges have been moved to the new thread, and more will be moved later to keep it all straight. You'll find the new thread for the bridges here.

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Question for y'all: I don't know if this has been discussed, but is there the ability to expand the Fort York VC into a full Museum of Toronto? It would seem to be that the two projects would make a great deal of sense to consolidate and fund properly, but you would need (I assume) a much larger exhibition space than the current building could handle.
 
The FYVC is really not large at all - and I am not sure whether you would want to put a large building on the site given its' proximity to Fort York. There are better locations for a Museum of Toronto than this.

AoD
 
Agreed. Looking forward to seeing the Fort York Visitor Centre's displays actually installed, meanwhile…

Tomorrow, however, Fort York gets a new attraction, hopefully. The schooner which was unearthed at CityPlace recently will be moved from the Newton/Forward Condos excavation pit to somewhere at Fort York. I sort of hope that it goes under the Gardiner, installed on a new stony beach there. I'd like to see it there because that's where the shoreline of the lake was, and it would mean the boat wouldn't fill up with too much snow or be beaten by much rain in warmer months. A spotlight could also be trained on it from above for late day illumination.

We'll see where it goes…

Oh, and front page story on it here.

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Yeah, I can't imagine what exposing the wood to the elements - after being buried for so long would do to it in the long run. Wouldn't they have to treat it at some point if they want it to last?

AoD
 
Cool. I had heard that they couldn't salvage it (as per the front page story). Good to know that something can be done.
 
A schooner was unearthed about a decade or so ago now up on the beach at Southampton (my family's up there) and it was reburied in the sand because they didn't have the several million that it was assumed it would take to preserve it. They were going to have to build a tank of submerse it in resin, if I remember correctly. Not sure if fundraising efforts are continuing on in the background or not…

Anyway, we don't know about what funds have been earmarked by Concord Adex and/or Fort York yet on this. If they do intend to preserve it forever, it's not going to be cheap. Maybe we will hear tomorrow about how much money is being committed to this?

I'm still hoping for another few million to extend the Corten steel "rampart" to the east of the Visitor Centre, which isn't currently funded. In the meantime, we will see lots of landscaping progress at Fort York this year…

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Okay, so updating post #279, the boat will end up where I have been hoping, "in a prominent position" under the Gardiner in front of the Visitor Centre… eventually. The permanent spot still has to be prepared for it, so the schooner will rest closer to the Fort York Armoury temporarily.

All very good!

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From the items: (bolding mine)

Summary​
This Motion seeks City Council authority to release a total of $1,030,846.16 (made up of $604,651.16 in Section 37 funding, plus $426,195.00 in Section 42 funding) on a one-time basis to the Waterfront Revitalization Initiative to enhance public facilities, landscape features and trail connections in the area of The Bentway and Fort York National Historic Site.

Fort York National Historic Site and The Bentway are immediately adjacent to one another and are both destinations of City-wide significance. Together, the recent creation of The Bentway and the construction of the Fort York Visitors Centre have transformed the derelict lands beneath the Gardiner Expressway, from Strachan Avenue to Bathurst Street, into a busy public space, expanded parkland and a front door for the National Historic Site. These improvements benefit the nearly 80,000 new residents within a short walk, as well as the wider Toronto and national community who visit.

These funds will support the addition of new public amenities and will improve the experience for residents and visitors to the dynamic sites. The release of these funds is time-sensitive in order to permit some construction to be completed over the winter season, and to allow trail work to be undertaken on an urgent basis to stabilize a slope area at the east end of the Fort York Visitor Centre before erosion occurs. This work will also complete a number of connections identified in the Garrison Common Parks and Open Space Plan, the Shoreline Stitch, and the Downtown Parks and Public Realm Plan. These include connections from the recently opened Garrison Crossing pedestrian and cycling bridge to June Callwood Park and the waterfront, as well as connections north from Garrison Crossing to the future Ordnance Park and south Stanley Park extension.​

All good!!!

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