Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

[evandyk]

Kind of disappointing that they seem to just be replicating the PATH with these office worker focused retail. It's hard to know but I wonder if the length and how badly the revitalization was done, no one sees Union as a "destination" and thus it's not able to attract people to spend time in the station rather than passing by on their way to somewhere else.

I work in one of the big towers near Union, and the food destinations in Union are actually destination places to some extent. Wvrst is really good, Union Chicken has a few good things, Amano used to have one of the best pastas in the city until they took it off the menu. The new foodie aisle has nice stuff, and there's a Pilot for coffee. The food court is of course a food court, but has some interesting options beyond McDonalds. I think the mix right now is actually a pretty good set of catering to people who just want to pass through quickly, and people who want to spend an hour or two before a Leafs game or heading to the airport or whatever.

It's still a train station that most people using are passing through, so you can't really do much about that.

 

[C-mac]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but can we not do better then drywall in The Great Hall?? That's been there for God knows how many years....

Are they just going to keep it like that???

 

[EnviroTO]

Sorry if this has been asked before, but can we not do better then drywall in The Great Hall?? That's been there for God knows how many years....

Are they just going to keep it like that???

Are you talking about the Great Hall north side? Like many of the retail spaces, that hoarding / drywall is temporary. I think the plan is it that it will become a restaurant.

 

[C-mac]

Are you talking about the Great Hall north side? Like many of the retail spaces, that hoarding / drywall is temporary. I think the plan is it that it will become a restaurant.

yeah that side. There's a pic of it here:

Union Station's Great Hall | UrbanToronto

Daily Photo showing the Great Hall at Toronto's Union Station

urbantoronto.ca

I don't think that's the case because other posters mentioned that they were going to keep retail/restaurants out of The Great Hall part.

 

[EnviroTO]

I heard it was a more classy resto-bar. Leaving that space unused would be a complete waste of space.

 

[C-mac]

I heard it was a more classy resto-bar. Leaving that space unused would be a complete waste of space.

There’s lot of retail space elsewhere. They’re trying to keep it as a transport hub and keep nice and free of that kind of stuff.

They discuss it on page 1

Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

Union Station - Historic Structure Report (partial) Partial copy of the report - Section 1, Heritage Character Analysis. Posted at the City of Toronto, Union Station site: www.city.toronto.on.ca/cu...6-Carr.pdf GB

urbantoronto.ca

 

[nfitz]

I don't think that's the case because other posters mentioned that they were going to keep retail/restaurants out of The Great Hall part.

Either way - that's temporary hoarding. (how temporary remains to be seen! )

 

[C-mac]

Either way - that's temporary hoarding. (how temporary remains to be seen! )

I hope you're right because it's been there for years now.

 

[EdDrass]

I heard it was a more classy resto-bar. Leaving that space unused would be a complete waste of space.

I'd heard "an oyster bar" at one point. Last week I saw posters on walls in the East Wing heralding some kind of steak/seafood resto. If that's due for the East Wing then what goes in the Great Hall...?

For those who lean "no retail" what do you envision for the entire length of that space in the former "Ticket Lobby"?

photo: Globe and Mail

 

[EdDrass]

Is there a notification site/service where the City lists elevators that are not in service?
There's a half-floor elevator in the Bay Concourse [near Tim's] that was blocked off yesterday. Apparently working again this morning.
Other lifts have been off-line for longer periods, such as between the East Wing by the Great Hall and subway level.
They barely put up signs when that one went on the fritz every other day, so I'm not holding my breath for accurate notifications online.

 

[DSC]

Is there a notification site/service where the City lists elevators that are not in service?
There's a half-floor elevator in the Bay Concourse [near Tim's] that was blocked off yesterday. Apparently working again this morning.
Other lifts have been off-line for longer periods, such as between the East Wing by the Great Hall and subway level.
They barely put up signs when that one went on the fritz every other day, so I'm not holding my breath for accurate notifications online.

I strongly doubt they would have such a service, in general each City building has its own Manager. The TTC has this but all their elevators/escalators are centrally managed.

 

[EdDrass]

The ramp between Union Station and 25 York Street will close on February 8
gotransit.com
I have a terribly low quality clip here of the new route from the Great Hall:

A moveable sign was added in the Blue Route so that those exiting the new access from VIA Concourse can continue to the Bus Terminal with less bewilderment. Also spotted a GO employee stationed in that corridor by the doors.
I guess we can call this new link the Blue Route-VIA connector...? Doesn't quite rise to the level of a Promenade ;-}

 

[EdDrass]

I strongly doubt they would have such a service, in general each City building has its own Manager. The TTC has this but all their elevators/escalators are centrally managed.

Yes, I have TTC and GO in mind, both of which make such efforts to post updates that I wonder if there isn't a by-law or regulation compelling the City to do likewise.

 

[DSC]

A moveable sign was added in the Blue Route so that those exiting the new access from VIA Concourse can continue to the Bus Terminal with less bewilderment. Also spotted a GO employee stationed in that corridor by the doors.
I guess we can call this new link the Blue Route-VIA connector...? Doesn't quite rise to the level of a Promenade ;-}

It is a far better route than the ramp that has been closed but I do not think it is the final version - which must await the excavations below.

 

[TRONto]

I heard they have new security at Union

Coyote spotted hanging out near Toronto's Union Station

For such a massive urban centre — the fourth-largest in North America, to be exact — Toronto is teeming with wildlife... and I'm not talking about pi…

www.blogto.com