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Union Station for a "World Class City"

dowlingm said:
St Pancras was the subject of a very good CBC Nature of Things piece by Chris Hume. Apparently Sir John Betjeman was crucial in saving part of the station. Good luck getting the poets of this town interested... they are probably busy in Queen West hovels slated for demo and condofication, condemning Union as nothing more than the heartbeat of the capitalist edifices just north.
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Then again, said "poets of this town" would probably even condemn Betjeman as an establishment reactionary who'd likely consign a piece of truly kewl 60s silliness like the Riverdale half-round to oblivion.

For that matter, don't sell the Trampoline Hall crowd too short--in fact, they might just as well go the other extreme, by rallying on behalf of the grotty Bush sheds against the grain of those heartbeat-of-capitalism types who'd seek to replace them with something spectacular and show-stopping and St Pancras-like...
 
unimaginative2 said:
Alas, they cancelled the Munich maglev line.

I think Jaguar is referring to the Union subway station. He's absolutely correct. It is, pretty much indisputably, the ugliest and most dilapidated station on the entire subway network. Even in the renderings of the new platform, nothing seems to have been done to the existing part of the station. The new platform will have a mismatching tile wall. A total aesthetic renovation of Union should be a top priority, along with the capacity improvement projects at platform and mezzanine level.

I've always thought that granite walls would be ideal for a subway station. It's a very Canadian material, it's attractive, and it's absolutely indestructible.

p.s. in Europe, Liege is receiving quite a bit of press about its new station. I'd say that Lille recieved a fair bit for the Lille-Europe station as well.
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Yes, that is exactly what I was meaning :) Than-you for reading my comments :) It is the Subway at Union that will hopefully get done properly ;)
 
Jaguar4u said:
Thank you for that. I agree with you completely. I also got that pamphlet in the mail.

The only thing missing is improvements to the underground link that I was referring to. The transfer point from Subway to Streetcar going southbound to Harbourfront and Toronto Islands. I did speak to TTC supervisors about it, and their response was that they could not do anything to improve the conditions that currently exist. Ya, right.

I sent a copy of my opening statement in this thread to our Mayor. I hope to get a reply. From the Mayor himself.
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By the way, no one from the Mayor's office responded to my email regarding the underground tunnel transfer point from Union Subway to Streetcar going southbound to Harbourfront and Toronto Islands, being dark, dirty, smelly and very damp.

I guess I am the only person writing to the Mayor's office about the issue. I feel terrible for the residents and tourists that use that corridor frequently. :(
 
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I use it daily and don't find it smelly or that horrible to have to enter. In fact, I'd much rather that than having to enter Union via the surface. It's a tunnel, what exactly are you expecting?
 
So tunnels are supposed to be dirty, dark, damp and smelly? I don't think so! It's called maintenance and cleaning.
 
It is sad that in the brief time between the opening of the Harbourfront line and now they have had to put so many power conduits and pipes along the roof. Building design 101... have a place to run wires and pipes out of public view.
 
khristopher said:
So tunnels are supposed to be dirty, dark, damp and smelly? I don't think so! It's called maintenance and cleaning.
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The tunnel is certainly not dark. It is cleaned regularly and I don't see it as a dirty point in the system.
It is damp and smelly because of the constant flooding from pipe breaks, storm sewer overflow and general water table problems that plague Union Station. This cannot be changed by maintenance or cleaning.
 
Jaguar4u said:
I love your comments. Have you seen Grand Central Station in NYC?
That's what I'm talking about. They took a run down shack and turned it into a beauty.

Union Station has great potential. More people need to speak out more. We, at least most of us, are taxpayers, and as proud Torontonians, we should demand it.
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Grand Central was never a run down shack. It certainly fell into a degree of disrepair and was nearly demolished in the 70's but it was beautiful when completed then stunningly restored & expanded in the 90's. Union Station is so much smaller in scale but we've got a gem down there too. Improvements are under way and in the planning stages and I think we should take pride in that.
 

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Jaguar4u said:
I love your comments. Have you seen Grand Central Station in NYC?
That's what I'm talking about. They took a run down shack and turned it into a beauty.

Union Station has great potential. More people need to speak out more. We, at least most of us, are taxpayers, and as proud Torontonians, we should demand it.
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This is the first time I have ever heard GCT referred to as "a shack." I don't like the building, but it is one of the largest examples of Beaux Arts architecture in the world.
 
Jaguar4u:

Actually that (reconstruction of the two pedestrian bridges over the moat) wasn't part of the greater project per se - and it had been going on for at least a few months.

AoD
 
Ladies Mile said:
This is the first time I have ever heard GCT referred to as "a shack." I don't like the building, but it is one of the largest examples of Beaux Arts architecture in the world.
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I guess it was a shack compared to the original New York Penn Station before they knocked it down. Toronto Union Station handles more people per day that Grand Central Terminal prior to the Union Station revitalization and all day GO service on most of it's lines.
 
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