Toronto Lower Don Lands Redevelopment | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

Wasaga Beach was promised a major waterfront redevelopment with a monorail:

Globe and Mail article - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070816.wwasaga16/BNStory/National/Ontario/

August 16, 2007 at 3:38 AM EDT

Two brothers who started out with an ice cream parlour in Wasaga Beach 17 years ago are poised to radically transform the popular resort community with a $350-million development.

Dov and Armand Levy's plan includes seven hotels, several condos, retail shops and services, 10 themed restaurants, a variety of upscale bistros, a conference facility, a full service spa, and an indoor amusement park that would offer skiing and snowboarding year round.

A monorail will connect the 10-hectare (25-acre) project, to be built by Blue Beach Avenue Corp., with parking on the perimeter.
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To accommodate the potential visitor crush, for the project’s proposed 400,000 square foot shopping plaza and indoor theme park, is a monorail to help bring them in from an 8,000 spot parking lot approximately three kilometres away.http://www.dcnonl.com/article/id24066
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"It's supposed to be a New Orleans theme," said Patterson about the project, adding Main St. would be replaced with Bourbon St.http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/281579
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"It was almost like Disney has decided to move to Wasaga Beach, and who would say no to that?" asked Trudie McCrea, manager of the Wasaga Beach Chamber of Commerce who attended the unveiling of the plan on Monday night.

...They hope to have the entire project completed within five years.

"I'm nervously excited about it, because it is a huge, huge development," Mr. Patterson said. "It's a major change to the community, but for the most part where they are developing is already developed. It is just old."

The mayor noted that, for instance, the developers have purchased a rundown old mall area that will be gutted and turned into a New Orleans-themed retail area.

He said the Levys have lined up investors to fund the project, and that town officials have met with them....

...The mayor said minor rezoning would be needed for the project. Council would only have to approve the sale of the land and the minor rezoning, he said. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070816.wwasaga16/BNStory/National/Ontario/
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Wasaga Beach Developer Bankrupt
April 26, 2010

Bad news for anyone in Wasaga Beach looking forward to a 500 million dollar development at Beach Area's 1 and 2, and for businesses at Beach Area 1.

Mayor Cal Patterson says that Blue Beach Corporation has declared bankruptcy...http://www.radioowensound.com/news_item.php?NewsID=23788
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I was cycling around the PortLands today and noticed that someone (TEDCO - now Portlands Company - , CN or ??) has recently been working to rehabilitate the old rail line that runs from the rail yard at the Don River and then just west of Leslie Street and then along Unwin Street and ends up close to the late-lamented Rochester Ferry terminal. They have put in lots of new ties and gravel and there are two rail repair cars on it on south side of Unwin just east of Cherry.This line has not been used for well over a decade so why are they doing this? Maybe the monorail will morph into a steam train line? There is no mention of the rail line in the Toronto Portlands report at http://www.tplc.ca/files/TPLC_Corporate Plan low res_2010.pdf
 
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I agree that Ontario place/Exhibition place would be an ideal location. The Portlands is the wrong place for that.

Can we improve on the Ferris Wheel?

Forget about the traditional spoke design. Make it an hydrolic lift on a track. Pack the cars tight. Very little energy would be needed to run it and very few motorised parts. The cars can be built quite cheaply since they need no power supply. Loading and unloading of the cars would be easy. Just push them off the track at transfer locations. You can build it huge. Maybe 200 meters? One circle takes 60 minutes.

You can have a few different gondola styles. Small 4 person units, some open air. 12 person tourist cars. Build a number of gondolas large capacity. Maybe 20 people. Turn them into restaurants. Have them Food Truck style. Mabe build 40 person conference cars for presentations.

It would always look different depending upon which cars it is carrying. Could someone toss up a render?
 
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spider said:
How about a few Hockey Rink gondolas?
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Well aside from size weight and energy requirements I think it would be an interesting idea.
Maybe just blueline in...

You could really make the gondolas quite flexible.

Have a suite gondola for overnight stays like a hotel. Room service at the load point.
Sport/entertainment suites with comfy chairs and big screen tv's. Movie suites with first run movies.
Adventure suites where you can ride on the outside on a rockwall.
 
Why a Ferris Wheel? How about a 200 metre Zipper ride

zipper_ride_ki8q5299_116.jpg
 
Lets get some sort of Frank Gehry project down there - doesn't matter whether its residential, commercial or institutional. It would create a focal point.
 
The Fords and their 'ideas' for the Port Lands: very scary joke.

Doug fancies himself a visionary. His brother gets elected and now he gets to play god with Toronto. I'm all for ideas, but the Ford's ideas belong in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. circa 1985
 
DSC said:
I was cycling around the PortLands today and noticed that someone (TEDCO - now Portlands Company - , CN or ??) has recently been working to rehabilitate the old rail line that runs from the rail yard at the Don River and then just west of Leslie Street and then along Unwin Street and ends up close to the late-lamented Rochester Ferry terminal. They have put in lots of new ties and gravel and there are two rail repair cars on it on south side of Unwin just east of Cherry.This line has not been used for well over a decade so why are they doing this? Maybe the monorail will morph into a steam train line? There is no mention of the rail line in the Toronto Portlands report at http://www.tplc.ca/files/TPLC_Corporate Plan low res_2010.pdf
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That rail line is being repaired? Very odd. My best guess is they are prepping it for a one (or two or three) time use for something that has to arrive by ship will then be sent up to the rail yard and sent off to wherever it ultimately needs to go.
 
Jonny5 said:
That rail line is being repaired? Very odd. My best guess is they are prepping it for a one (or two or three) time use for something that has to arrive by ship will then be sent up to the rail yard and sent off to wherever it ultimately needs to go.
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I do find it odd the rail line is being repaired and as it is not cheap to do this so it must be for 'something'. I have been cycling around the area for almost 10 years and do not think the rails have ever shown any signs of use in this time.
 
Rob Ford's meddling with the Port Lands is definitely concerning given the projects he's suggested so far. The Port Lands are presently empty and full of decay but scenic. With docks, canals, channels, and beaches, the area represents a unique landscape in the city that should inspire the most ambitious city-building plans. If we plan an urban district along the shipping channel, with continuous public space at the water's edge, it could be beautiful and unique. Hearn is also an unforgettable industrial building considering its scale and late Art Deco details. Shopping and a ferris wheel can be fitted into any good plan for the area save for complete naturalization, but shouldn't be placed at odds with existing plans and the desire for a dense, vibrant, and beautiful district close to the downtown core.
 
Can somebody please tell me why Doug Ford is in PRIVATE talks with a developer, in a ward which is not his own? He was elected to represent Etobicoke, so what right does he have to go behind the back of the democratically elected council member of that ward? I just think that's so wrong. If I was Bussin, I'd be fuming. Why is she not going ballistic that this guy is not only taking over her ward but doing it behind closed doors?

Doug really seems to think he owns this city.
 
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If I was Bussin, I'd be fuming. Why is she not going ballistic that this guy is not only taking over her ward but doing it behind closed doors?
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If you were Bussin it would be none of your business.
 
junctionist said:
Rob Ford's meddling with the Port Lands is definitely concerning given the projects he's suggested so far. The Port Lands are presently empty and full of decay but scenic. With docks, canals, channels, and beaches, the area represents a unique landscape in the city that should inspire the most ambitious city-building plans. If we plan an urban district along the shipping channel, with continuous public space at the water's edge, it could be beautiful and unique. Hearn is also an unforgettable industrial building considering its scale and late Art Deco details. Shopping and a ferris wheel can be fitted into any good plan for the area save for complete naturalization, but shouldn't be placed at odds with existing plans and the desire for a dense, vibrant, and beautiful district close to the downtown core.
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I don't understand why Ford has to interfere with the existing plans when he can easily shift the mall/ferris wheel south of the Ship Channel alongside the Hearn. That would mean that the WaterfrontTO's plans would remain untouched and an entertainment centre could arise around Cherry Beach. Of course, it wouldn't be the Toronto Port Authority/Ford's way of thinking, I suppose.
 
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