Toronto History Music Venue | ?m | 2s | Live Nation | IBI Group

From their opening night:

From the article...

"Still, the process of getting into Drake's new venue in The Beaches left a sour taste in the mouths of some attendees, who criticized History for being unprepared to handle the opening night rush."

...you know, he's gotten himself in a bit of trouble with the Astroworld business over that:


/sigh
 
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It is worse than a Big Box store - it gives all the feels of a warehouse - with the loading dock doors facing the street. Not that it was any better before - and at least they got rid of that tacky awning. Mind you, I am sure the locals would have less issue with this atrocious block of nothing than say if you want to tack a mid-high rise residential building or two on this site.

AoD
 
The cladding could be forgiven.....IF.....

1) The building had either of some real windows (deeply tinted would be fine); or faux windows using opaque/reflective glass; you need some visual breaks in that facade!
2) The building had backlit displays at street level promoting upcoming events (could be over-sized posters, or displays more similar to HBC's Queen St. Windows (ie. use of mannequins or sets etc etc.)
3) The building featured a good quality streetscape, a couple of large tree planters holding 2-3 trees each with large soil volumes, framed up in contrasting material to the cladding, and incorporating seating. These could also help frame the entrance.
4) The building had a proper marquee
5) Finally, can we please teach developers/architects to do a roofline treatment! (it does not need to be a faux historical cornice) just decorative edging of some sort that acts a coda on the rising wall.
 
I'm pretty sure the washrooms and some other back of house stuff are arranged along the Queen St side. Windows would be a non-starter, but some video billboards of upcoming shows might be a nice touch. Or I could even see that cladding as a backdrop for some large metal relief letters with venue's name (maybe backlight them for nighttime effect?).

The inside of the venue is quite nice. I hope it succeeds, as much as the exterior could use some reconsideration. The bigger problem killing the streetlife along there is the near-total lack of streetlife though. There's really not a lot of options nearby to grab a before/after drink. Or, the limited options that are there are completely overwhelmed whenever something's going on nearby. Another 5-6 bars would be a welcome addition.
 

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