Toronto Hotel X (was Hotel in the Garden) | ?m | 27s | Exhibition Place | NORR

Mongo said:
- Walnut Hall -- "demolition by neglect", but the city did not give permission.
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It's still a demolition. It could have been saved if someone stepped in earlier. Either way, it was neglected for a reason- redevelopment. The same goes for the Empress Hotel.

Mongo said:
- Hundreds of pre-war homes torn down to be replaced by custom homes -- you're really reaching with this one
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The problem isn't the loss of a major historic house or two- it's the gradual loss of the houses in between which gave a neighbourhood its feeling- which is expected, but still a loss.

I.e. this: http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=144+wo...=n-RFVDdS4HfxQEq94va5CA&cbp=12,224.73,,0,-9.3

Thankfully, this trend seems to be limiting itself north of Forest Hill.
 
From the National Post re: Casino - but this bit is interesting, from a Q&A with Diane Young, CEO of Exhibition Place:

Q: So, what would make for a good layout for a casino?
A: Either you use an existing entertainment precinct or you create one — and don’t expect to build a residential community around one, said John Campbell, CEO of Waterfront Toronto. And since Exhibition Place is an already established entertainment centre, it is the more obvious choice, he said. “A casino typically requires hotels and trade centres in order to be successful. Well guess what? It already has a trade centre and a hotel is coming there in September.”
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http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/0...-only-logical-choice-for-a-waterfront-casino/
 
I heard the same thing at a public consultation meeting, the site prep will begin soon after the CNE closes down on Labour Day.
 
Another piece of evidence - from the June 27th Government Management Committee meeting:

The Energy Efficiency Office in the Facilities Management Division recently completed a study of energy opportunities at Exhibition Place. There are existing but separate energy assets on site, and the study concluded that by connecting them, significant financial and operational benefits could be obtained, in part by selling excess energy capacity to a proposed hotel development.

The developer of the proposed hotel at Exhibition Place, Princes Gates Hotel Limited Partnership, is on a timeline to obtain building permits in 2012, start construction in January 2013, and complete construction of the hotel in time for the 2015 Pan Am games. The hotel developer is prepared to revise the hotel's design to source heating, cooling and water heating from the proposed distributed energy system, but requires assurance that the project will be supported by the City prior to proceeding with such redesign.

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2012.GM15.11
 
New renderings/plans from Exhibition Place:

http://www.explace.on.ca/about_us/community_meetings.php

Have to say, it's one big ICK. It looks incredibly busy, with a podium structure that is is bulky and downright Brutalist - somehow it managed to replicate the bulk of other structures in the area (Direct Energy/Allstream), without the monumentality and class. That green gable is also weird as hell. I am definitely not feeling supportive of this project now...gawd, if only they chose the Ex as the casino site and put this out of its' misery...

AoD
 
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Retro-brutalist, incoherent garbage that would barley pass muster in Niagara Falls. Back to the drawing table, gentlemen.
 
The old design was so much better...
f1a4685e4265a70d92a13e7ab5b1.jpeg
 
The landscaping and 'reconstruction' of part of New Fort York is nice, but the rest of the building is rather messy and pays little attention to the surrounding areas.
 
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sentinel said:
The old design was so much better...
f1a4685e4265a70d92a13e7ab5b1.jpeg
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+1
Should the new design get built it will be a huge missed opportunity. Buildings at exhibition place should be special and forward-thinking.

The new design is banal, anti-urban AND ugly. It reminds me of Scarborough Town Centre, but now it will tower over the Prince's gate and mar yet another Toronto vista with a generic, cheap, sh*tty stack of concrete and window-wall.

SAD.
 
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