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

A Transit Store for Toronto Union Station-Good idea!

Sean,Wylie and I42: A Transit Store for Toronto Union is a good idea! This Transit Store could have GO,VIA Rail and TTC fare media and memorabilia.
I remember the TTC had on my last long Toronto visit in 1990 a store at the Bloor & Yonge Subway Station. This Transit Store could also double as sort of a historical display for all three agencies to educate riders on their histories.
I remember that stores of this name in the Washington,DC area-they sold fare media and had info for all transit agencies in that area.

As for model trains-Washington Union once had a location of the Great Train Store-which dealt in all things RR-especially model trains of all types. I do not know what is there now - I heard this company no longer exists. A shopping mall at a RR terminal is almost a perfectly logical place for a model train store! LI MIKE
 
http://www.toronto.ca/union_station/revitalization.htm

The Recommended Approach to Revitalization

* A new retail concourse beneath the existing Bay, VIA and York Street concourses of approximately 12,500 square meters (134,500 square feet) and a new upper level transportation concourse area of about 11,700 square meters (126,000 square feet).
* Leasing the new GO concourses to GO Transit in place of its existing leased space.
* Selecting of a head tenant to lease and operate all commercial space in the Station.
* $176.590 million in state of good repair and heritage improvement work be undertaken over the next 20 years.
* The City of Toronto funds and manages the state of good repair, heritage and transportation components of the Station, and constructs the shell of the new retail area.
* The City retains ownership of the Station and leases the transportation concourses directly to the transportation tenants, while all commercial space (retail and office) is leased to a head lessee to operate.
 
I was there, and I really wish that the presentation was less "plannery." I understand how to read the display boards and the other materials because I'm studying to be an urban planner, but Joe Commuter probably wouldn't notice if you showed him the plans upside down.

Where's the concept artwork?

Maybe I'm just ranting, but I worry that blueprints alone won't get people excited about this plan. People shouldn't have to go to Steve Munro to get a better understanding when the city should have provided it for us.

Having said that, I am glad that they are putting the retail in an area which doesn't interfere with passenger flow. Even a lineup at Dairy Queen in the GO concourse can cause pedestrian congestion.
 
I went to visit the display and chatted with the city worker there. It's an interesting plan. I don't have anything against the idea of building a mall below the concourse, but this doesn't tell me anything about the kind of restoration that the station will be getting, or the kind of architecture that we'll see in this expansion. I hope it's not just a depressing, low-ceilinged mall with a depressing, low-ceilinged boarding area on top. As a built form, this is fine, but I reserve judgement until I see a more final design.
 
Unimaginative summed up my impressions.

As a layout, the plan seems excellent and does a great job of distributing passengers. Right now we have a "VIA area" consisting of the great hall, VIA concourse, and VIA arrivals and a "GO area" consisting of the GO concourse. The plan would see the station transformed into a ground level, concourse level (for boarding the trains), and retail level, with the only specific VIA area being the VIA concourse. There would be east-west through corridors on all levels and north-south through corridors on concourse and retail levels. Front Street access would take you in to the ground level, with ramps down to board trains from the concourse level while subway, PATH, and Bremner access would take you in to the retail level, with ramps up to board trains from the concourse. So pedestrian flows are well segregated.

There was a video which showed the plan in 3D and also showed previous 2001 and 2004 UPG plans which I hadn't seen before (with both obviously trying to pack way too much retail in to the concourse level). They told me it should be online tomorrow.

I asked about the moat, and they want to make it indoors along the north edge with skylights in the gaps.

Overall, a good layout and I really think it's the best we can do without completely rebuilding the station. But unfortunately it still doesn't give any idea of what it would look like or what the finishes may be.
 
the slides are on the website at http://www.toronto.ca/union_station/revitalization.htm . The last slide is pretty interesting with the side shot.

overall i think the plan is great... it definitely makes the station less confusing in my opinion. and really, a state of good repair is what we need for union station, the building is beautiful already, only needs some updating. hope this one actually comes to something.
 
I think the idea of making the grand hall a bigger part of the station is an inspired idea. I hope this plan is seen.

I also enjoy the component designed to bridge the waterfront with the CBD. The mall/retail section is designed to help the flow of people from the waterfront cross the rail paths. Once all the construction is finished in the former badlands, this retail level will have a steady flow of people aside from commuters.

What is missing? I recognize that this plan is only for the rail portion of Union and not the TTC or bus depot. However, it would be ideal for the whole to be more comprehensive in scope to include considerations for expanded underground streetcar/LRT platforms, additional subway tracks/platforms for future lines and the integration of regional bus terminals from greyhound, GO and other bus lines in the same location. But that's probably too out there.
 
The last slide showing cutaway/Bay Street entrance is displayed incorrectly-- should be reversed (ie. mirror image); today's Toronto Star displays it correctly; city's website still shows it in reverse.
 
I love how the Miller administration took Mel Lastman's last big mistake called UPG, managed to cancel a heartbreaking deal of giving away the station to private interests for 100 years in exchange for the wrong type of "upgrades", and now turns around and presents an honest proposal that puts transit first, uses the station as a bridge to the waterfront, pays for itself with the retail complex below and manages to keep the station in the city's hands.

Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Clap clap clap.
 
Scrapping the Union Pearson plan is one of Miller's big achievements. It would have been a disaster, and one that would've been very difficult to fix with a 99-year lease. I'm not ready to give this plan an endorsement yet. While the circulation plans seem decent, it remains to be seen whether these places will be attractive or just more of the same low-ceilinged warrens.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
The presentation with a 3D illustration of changes to the station is now posted:
http://www.toronto.ca/union_station/pdf/3dstills.pdf
Click to expand...

That's the movie I mentioned only as slides instead of being animated.

I would draw attention to slides 15-18, which are the former 2001 and 2004 (UPG) plans. 2001 looks what I assume Penn Station must look like... stairwells to tracks wedged between as much retail space as possible. The UPG plan is better but is seriously jumbled.
 
I am not sure how the stairs for GO are going to be organized eventually, but the way they looked in the plans seems like a complete mess and detrimental to wayfinding.

AoD
 
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