Toronto Ontario Place | ?m | ?s | Infrastructure ON

Here's the video link to the Global TV story:

http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/ontario+place+redux/video.html?v=2352363655&p=1&s=dd#video

Twenty minutes of interview chopped into 2 sound bites... that's the media. ;)

Mike Layton had sent me an email a while back suggesting he had reviewed the plan (which you may see soon on UT) but he's quoted as saying not a good idea 'cause "no transit". Obviously he didn't read it because the plan proposes an extension of the Dufferin bus.
 
Interesting proposal. Would you mind posting some clearer pictures of your plan?
 
Silence&Motion said:
I know architects are watering at the mouth thinking of all the complicated things they can do with Ontario Place to turn it into a "landmark" destination. However, I really hope the province decides to keep things simple. Why not just naturalize it and let it serve a similar function to the Toronto islands: a green oasis removed from the busy city? Our greatest greenspaces have been created when the government has kept a light touch (the islands, Tommy Thompson Park, the Don and Humber valleys, etc).
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Are you familliar with Toronto's waterfront? IF you are, you should know that Ontario Place is surrounded on all sides by parks. To the east you have Coronation Park, which sits empty most of the time. To the west you have Marilyn Bell Park, as well as parkland all along Lake Ontario. You also have parkland in the CNE by the Bandshell, as well as a brand new park going up, just north of Coronation Park called June Collwood Park. If anything, that area has too much passive parkland that just sits unused most of the time. I have never seen any of these parks full of people and I walk by there often. Why would you think this area needs more parkland? Bathurst Quay, just a short walk away also has a huge park, as does Fort York. That area has way too many underused parks.

Ontario Place needs to be kept as a major tourist attraction, not just passive parkland. Toronto has few great, major tourist attractions. We need to keep the ones we have and build on that. I also don't want to see OP, turned into a residential area. We have enough suitable places for condos. We don't need to turn our few tourist areas into condos. We all know, once residents move in, they try to shut down anything that attracts people. (people = noise) I can see a hotel here but that's it. Keep Ontario Place for leisure, entertainment, amusement, culture and for Torontonians to have FUN!
 
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Silence&Motion said:
I know architects are watering at the mouth thinking of all the complicated things they can do with Ontario Place to turn it into a "landmark" destination. However, I really hope the province decides to keep things simple. Why not just naturalize it and let it serve a similar function to the Toronto islands: a green oasis removed from the busy city? Our greatest greenspaces have been created when the government has kept a light touch (the islands, Tommy Thompson Park, the Don and Humber valleys, etc).
Click to expand...

Actually, pods/sphere aside, that isn't too far from what Ontario Place *originally* was: the Michael Hough landscaping, and even the refreshment pavilions have their analogue with what was built on the Islands in the 1960s...
 
Torontovibe said:
Are you familliar with Toronto's waterfront? IF you are, you should know that Ontario Place is surrounded on all sides by parks. To the east you have Coronation Park, which sits empty most of the time. To the west you have Marilyn Bell Park, as well as parkland all along Lake Ontario. You also have parkland in the CNE by the Bandshell, as well as a brand new park going up, just north of Coronation Park called June Collwood Park. If anything, that area has too much passive parkland that just sits unused most of the time. I have never seen any of these parks full of people and I walk by there often. Why would you think this area needs more parkland? Bathurst Quay, just a short walk away also has a huge park, as does Fort York. That area has way too many underused parks.
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I'm sorry. I didn't realize you could have too much parkland - especially along a waterfront. June Callwood park will basically be a front yard for the condos going up around it. Most of the parkland around the waterfront is bordered by loud roads and are packed in the summer time. Anyway, I don't actually think that being packed with crowds is necessarily a mark of a good park. It would be nice for downtown residents to have some space for silence - which the islands and Tommy Thompson park afford. Ontario Place could provide a similar experience on the west side of the central waterfront. Give people trees, grass and water and let them do whatever they want. We don't need to design the shit out of this just to get Toronto mentioned in Architectural Record or something.

What I do worry about is another flavor of the decade "landmark" tourist attraction that ends up costing more to build and maintain than anyone envisioned, so the government ends up building something half-assed and then shutting it down 20 years from now and we're back for another round of design brainstorming.
 
3D:

No prob. Such large expanses of glazing will probably require work in 50 years or less in any event, and it's a lot heavier and potentially leakier too.

AoD
 
It was great to get a bunch of likes for Eddie's Ontario Place Redux story, but I'll bet some UT forumers jump straight to P&C and miss the stories.

The last comment on the story was an anonymous mind your own business slag, probably from a "real" professional... but I much prefer being slagged by actual forum members ;-) so I'm posting the link to the story here. Maybe somebody missed it. Pissing off the "real" professionals is not my MO... just trying to contribute in a city that values public input above all else. :rolleyes:

Story:

http://www.urbantoronto.ca/news/2013/04/ontario-place-redux-unique-plan-unique-destination
 
We are FINALLY, going to find out what the government is going to do with Ontario Place, tomorrow. I'm excited and worried at the same time. I love Ontario Place and I hope the Liberals do the right thing and make it an even better park. I want it to be a year round attraction, with NO condos, so I hope it's good news. If the Liberals screw this up, they will not be getting my vote, come election time. Yes, for me, Ontario Place is a top election issue, so Wynn better do right by it. It's one of the few really iconic attractions in Toronto and it deserves some respect and investment dollars.
 
Torontovibe said:
We are FINALLY, going to find out what the government is going to do with Ontario Place, tomorrow. I'm excited and worried at the same time. I love Ontario Place and I hope the Liberals do the right thing and make it an even better park. I want it to be a year round attraction, with NO condos, so I hope it's good news. If the Liberals screw this up, they will not be getting my vote, come election time. Yes, for me, Ontario Place is a top election issue, so Wynn better do right by it. It's one of the few really iconic attractions in Toronto and it deserves some respect and investment dollars.
Click to expand...


It's not an issue that I would affect my vote but I agree with everything you say. Please... no condos. Looking forward to what comes down tomorrow, hopefully they can get Ontario Place reopened in time for the Pan Am Games.
 
obert Benzie ‏@robertbenzie 2m

Government will convert up to 7.5 acres of #OntarioPlace into green space. Beginnings of a new waterfront park and trail. #onpoli
 
It's always nice to have more green space, but until the city makes the area transit accessible (and with no major draw to the area other than Echo Beach concerts) this area will stay dead. I'm hoping they announce some unique features of the park, maybe drawing inspiration from Millenium Park in Chicago with public art displays and a bike garage.

EDIT: Didn't realize this was only a portion of the site! Can't wait to see the rest of the plans!
 
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