Toronto The Bentway (was Under Gardiner) | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

What should be the permanent name for the park under the Gardiner?

  • The Artery

    Votes: 12 6.3%

  • The Bentway

    Votes: 83 43.7%

  • Under Gardiner

    Votes: 52 27.4%

  • None of the above

    Votes: 43 22.6%
  • Total voters
    190
modernizt said:
I still am surprised at the hate around here for the name. I think the Bentway is interesting, catchy, and is an interesting allusion to the bents that support the Gardiner above. *shrugs*
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Nobody knows what a bent is unless it's explained to them, including most people on this forum who are experts in that kind of thing. The name selection competition was quite poorly managed as well.
 
P23 said:
Nobody knows what a bent is unless it's explained to them, including most people on this forum who are experts in that kind of thing.
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The name will inspire curiosity.

As for Yonge+Rich, that condo's name is just offensive. "The Bentway" on the other hand, is more quirky than offensive. And I really do like that it has a strangeness and curiosity to it that might lead to many people investigating why it is named that and what the name means.
 
modernizt said:
The name will inspire curiosity.

As for Yonge+Rich, that condo's name is just offensive. "The Bentway" on the other hand, is more quirky than offensive. And I really do like that it has a strangeness and curiosity to it that might lead to many people investigating why it is named that and what the name means.
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Again, dunno about that. The Bentway reminds me of an old-time homophobic slur.

It certainly piqued my curiosity, but not in the way you think.
 
See, I didn't go there at all when I first heard the term. It reminded me instead of an old friend who used to say of certain people that they're "bent." Meaning that they were maybe a bit eccentric, possibly even very strange - but most of the time he meant it as a compliment. His kinda people. In other words, colourful characters.

If the name doesn't take, I'm sure some kind of replacement will arise organically.
 
Lenser said:
See, I didn't go there at all when I first heard the term. It reminded me instead of an old friend who used to say of certain people that they're "bent." Meaning that they were maybe a bit eccentric, possibly even very strange - but most of the time he meant it as a compliment. His kinda people. In other words, colourful characters.

If the name doesn't take, I'm sure some kind of replacement will arise organically.
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Or a corporate sponsor will come along and throw more money at this project so they can name it after someone. Maybe it should be the rogers Betway and they can move tbns atue of Ted Rogers from the Rogers Centre to there and put up a proper statute to someone that has something to do with the jays.
 
That's more likely, I guess. Slap some corporate name onto it. But the original name tends to stick for a long time. I remember when the Skydome was brand new, so that's what I still refer to it as. And I still think of the O'Keefe Centre rather than the Hummingbird. Depends on one's generation, I suppose - and to a certain extent, the memories one has of events attended at such places.
 
That's awful. I hope an entity like Rogers never get their hands on something like this. I'd rather it commemorate the donors.

The bentway is fine, it makes me think of a place people would go to get "bent" or stoned or something. Which is kind of an appropriate throw back to squeegee kid days.
As a member of the lgbtq community I am not offended by this name and don't really see the reference. I link the name to eccentricity and drug use. Which is edgy at the least.

Meh. I think the park is more important and exciting than a name.
 
I like the name though I think putting an explanation on a plaque in several locations would be a good idea. Count me among those who didn't know what a "bent" was. Learning something about our language gave me pleasure. The name is short, punchy, pleasurably obscure and a little quirky, IMO. I think it will pass into common usage easily and the explanation of its origin will be available to those who need or want it.
 
Let's not forget that the only reason this project came about is because of the vision and generosity of Judy Matthews, who brought the idea to the city and Waterfront Toronto, and then donated $25 million through her foundation to make it happen. And yet she had the modesty to let a contest to decide an original name occur, and not have her name slapped on it.
 
That history's not quite right.

Not to detract from Judy Matthews' faultless generosity, but she did not originate the idea, and her husband Wilmot Matthews should be receiving equal thanks for the $25 million gift. The idea for Project Under Gardiner comes from Ken Greenberg and the guys at Public Work. They took it to the Matthews, whom they (obviously correctly) believed, would be moved to be the benefactors the project needed to get it off the ground. (There would have been no point in bringing this plan directly to the City entirely unfunded.)

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interchange42 said:
That history's not quite right.

Not to detract from Judy Matthews' faultless generosity, but she did not originate the idea, and her husband Wilmot Matthews should be receiving equal thanks for the $25 million gift. The idea for Project Under Gardiner comes from Ken Greenberg and the guys at Public Work. They took it to the Matthews, whom they (obviously correctly) believed, would be moved to be the benefactors the project needed to get it off the ground. (There would have been no point in bringing this plan directly to the City entirely unfunded.)

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Point taken on Wilmot's credit. As for 'who's idea it is', Ken Greenberg and the guys at Public Work certainly have been the ones taking the idea further, providing the renderings, and refining how things should look. But for the initial idea, I think it goes to the Matthews. (Toronto Life, Toronto Star)
 
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