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Superstar
Great to hear that it is still standing.Sorry for being slightly brain dead due to being away from TO for the past two years.
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Waterfront: Hearn Sports Complex
- Thread starter rdaner
- Start date
Great to hear that it is still standing.Sorry for being slightly brain dead due to being away from TO for the past two years.
unimaginative2
Senior Member
junctionist
Senior Member
Hearn is impressive. It's all brick, and those massive vertical windows which are actually made up of thousands of glass cubes. They don't build them like that anymore. See next door for proof of that.
I'd love to see it converted into something the public can enjoy.
I'd love to see it converted into something the public can enjoy.
smuncky
Senior Member
i'm not really into the idea of this being a rec centre. i think the abandoned nature of the station should be preserved through a rehabilitation of the space. i like that dark grungy look of it which doesn't fit well with what an aquatic center should be like.
we'll soon have a precedent for this sort of renewal with the old brick works site being renovated as we speak. in that project i like how they are keeping that abandoned look in some of the spaces while adding on new construction. on a smaller scale we also have the newly opened wychwood barns which were converted into art spaces.
if the canada malting silos could be redeveloped, then this site and the silos on the west end at bathurst could be great 'bookends' to the waterfront and act as cultural anchors.
we'll soon have a precedent for this sort of renewal with the old brick works site being renovated as we speak. in that project i like how they are keeping that abandoned look in some of the spaces while adding on new construction. on a smaller scale we also have the newly opened wychwood barns which were converted into art spaces.
if the canada malting silos could be redeveloped, then this site and the silos on the west end at bathurst could be great 'bookends' to the waterfront and act as cultural anchors.
shilly
Active Member
What if they gutted most of the building and turned it into a second contemporary art centre like the Powerplant at Queens Quay? Feature local artists and focus more on natural beauty. It sounds a heck of a lot better than turning it into a pool.
There have got to be better places to build a pool than the Hearn generating station.
There have got to be better places to build a pool than the Hearn generating station.
It's early to write off a recreation complex at the Hearn.
A creative architectural firm could come up with something stunning for the building, and there are a number of engineering firms out there who would be able to clean it up. No doubt feasibility studies will occur long before there is a decision to spend big wads of cash whatever the plan. Do many of you not trust the process in place that would seek to rehabilitate this building?
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A creative architectural firm could come up with something stunning for the building, and there are a number of engineering firms out there who would be able to clean it up. No doubt feasibility studies will occur long before there is a decision to spend big wads of cash whatever the plan. Do many of you not trust the process in place that would seek to rehabilitate this building?
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Whoaccio
Senior Member
Comparison's to the Tate are a bit simplistic. As nfitz points out, the Tate sits on some of the most valuable and tourist saturated land on Earth. By contrast all Hearn has is some bulk mineral storage and contaminated land. Thats not to say the site doesn't have potential, but it is a very very rough diamond. For this to be even remotely practical, the area would have to be turned into a full on residential/commercial area with no industrial component left, anywhere. Silos especially. Maybe also get rid of the Hearn's smokestack.
What about a mall/market? I don't mean Yorkdale, but something like PacMall could bring in quite a lot of interest to the area.
What about a mall/market? I don't mean Yorkdale, but something like PacMall could bring in quite a lot of interest to the area.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Actually I thought using the Hearn as an aquatic complex is ingenious - it displaces the need to build what could potentially be barn like structures on the waterfront, and I can imagine the existing building could be retrofitted to create some truly spectacular spaces for swimming.
Perhaps exposing some of the support equipment for operating a pool complex could even serve as homage for the industrial past of the building. That's on top of the potential of using waste heat from the Portland Generating Station to heat the pools - maybe even including outdoor ones like those in Iceland?
AoD
Perhaps exposing some of the support equipment for operating a pool complex could even serve as homage for the industrial past of the building. That's on top of the potential of using waste heat from the Portland Generating Station to heat the pools - maybe even including outdoor ones like those in Iceland?
AoD
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Next Tate Modern? Good grief. The Tate Modern works because it's a very short walk from many major destinations. It's right across a pedestrian bridge from St. Paul's Cathedral. It's on the bank of the Thames, and is a short walk to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge in one direction, and the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster in the other. It's walking distance to a half-dozen tube stations, and close to Waterloo and Blackfriars train stations.
About the only thing walking distance from the Hearn power station is a Canadian Tire and the Rochester ferry terminal.
Can you imagine what the powerstation that now houses the Tate Modern would like like if it was in Battersea rather than Bankside?
Nfitz coming correct here. There are plans in the works for Battersea though. A new plan just emerged from Raphael Vinoly Architects.
p5connex
Active Member
I propose that it be made into a power station. The building is definitely large enough to fulfill this requirement, no? Man, that would be awesome.
p5
p5
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CapitalSeven
Senior Member
Dumb Dalton's crew really blew it on this one. Not only did they refuse to consider retrofitting the old plant as a natural gas facility, but they sold the new plant with conceptual drawings showing something sleek and nautically elegant, and then put up what is possibly the ugliest thing constructed in the city this decade. One fanticizes about the Greens somehow winning a provincial election, renaming the new plant after Dalton, and then blowing it to bits it a few days later.
I second the ideas about a facility using the waste heat from the Portlands plant - that has to be what they are thinking. It could be a real showpiece for the new Lake Ontario Park, and would go someway to redeeming the blunder-on-the-lake next door.
I second the ideas about a facility using the waste heat from the Portlands plant - that has to be what they are thinking. It could be a real showpiece for the new Lake Ontario Park, and would go someway to redeeming the blunder-on-the-lake next door.
rdaner
Senior Member
Waterfront: Sports Complex
ON THE WATERFRONT
The Hearn is Toronto's top site for long-awaited four-pad ice complex
Feb 27, 2009 04:30 AM
Mary Ormsby
Sports Reporter
This may be hockey's biggest power play.
The decommissioned Hearn power plant is the city's top site to build a long-overdue, four-pad arena to anchor a planned sports complex on the eastern portlands, Toronto Mayor David Miller said yesterday.
"It's an extraordinary possibility," Miller said. "The Hearn is unused and it's a huge opportunity to put a sports node there to create a real centrepiece. It's massive and it's a way to re-use that really interesting building."
The mayor also said the estimated 10,000 GTA female hockey players, often squeezed out of affordable ice by boys' and men's leagues, will receive priority access to the arena, which could be ready by 2012 if the province agrees to turn the Unwin Ave. property over to the city.
"The whole reason to do this is for women and girls," said Miller, adding that boys and men would be accommodated, too. "There's a huge demand (by hockey players) and not nearly enough ice and that's why this is important to do and worth doing."
The Toronto Rock are one of several potential private partners recruited by the city who are keen to invest in and use a new arena.
"It would be a great thing for lacrosse in the area," said Rock president Brad Watters, whose National Lacrosse League team does not have a local practice facility.
However, before a shovel goes into the ground for a $34 million arena, the city must acquire the property from the province, since it's owned by Ontario Power Generation. OPG has given a long-term lease to Studios of America, so the city must first resolve that deal with the film company. "We've approached the province in a very preliminary way and there are a few challenges," the mayor said. "But I would think we would be able to get over those."
If the Hearn land can't be acquired, a second location is west of the old building and north of the shipping channel south of Lake Shore Blvd. and east of Cherry St. Testing is being done on the shipping site, with the worry that bedrock may be too deep or the area too contaminated by pollutants.
The arena was originally a Waterfront Toronto project which was given $20 million from the federal government in 2002. The city of Toronto will foot the balance. The project was delayed repeatedly, with the last estimated completion date set at 2010 – but it didn't get past the planning stage. The city stepped in last fall and offered to take over the project.
"It was intended, in the end, to be a city recreational facility so it makes sense for us to take the lead on building it,'' Miller said.
ON THE WATERFRONT
The Hearn is Toronto's top site for long-awaited four-pad ice complex
Feb 27, 2009 04:30 AM
Mary Ormsby
Sports Reporter
This may be hockey's biggest power play.
The decommissioned Hearn power plant is the city's top site to build a long-overdue, four-pad arena to anchor a planned sports complex on the eastern portlands, Toronto Mayor David Miller said yesterday.
"It's an extraordinary possibility," Miller said. "The Hearn is unused and it's a huge opportunity to put a sports node there to create a real centrepiece. It's massive and it's a way to re-use that really interesting building."
The mayor also said the estimated 10,000 GTA female hockey players, often squeezed out of affordable ice by boys' and men's leagues, will receive priority access to the arena, which could be ready by 2012 if the province agrees to turn the Unwin Ave. property over to the city.
"The whole reason to do this is for women and girls," said Miller, adding that boys and men would be accommodated, too. "There's a huge demand (by hockey players) and not nearly enough ice and that's why this is important to do and worth doing."
The Toronto Rock are one of several potential private partners recruited by the city who are keen to invest in and use a new arena.
"It would be a great thing for lacrosse in the area," said Rock president Brad Watters, whose National Lacrosse League team does not have a local practice facility.
However, before a shovel goes into the ground for a $34 million arena, the city must acquire the property from the province, since it's owned by Ontario Power Generation. OPG has given a long-term lease to Studios of America, so the city must first resolve that deal with the film company. "We've approached the province in a very preliminary way and there are a few challenges," the mayor said. "But I would think we would be able to get over those."
If the Hearn land can't be acquired, a second location is west of the old building and north of the shipping channel south of Lake Shore Blvd. and east of Cherry St. Testing is being done on the shipping site, with the worry that bedrock may be too deep or the area too contaminated by pollutants.
The arena was originally a Waterfront Toronto project which was given $20 million from the federal government in 2002. The city of Toronto will foot the balance. The project was delayed repeatedly, with the last estimated completion date set at 2010 – but it didn't get past the planning stage. The city stepped in last fall and offered to take over the project.
"It was intended, in the end, to be a city recreational facility so it makes sense for us to take the lead on building it,'' Miller said.
junctionist
Senior Member
That's exciting and unexpected news. They really sound serious about the plans. Hearn really deserves to be reused.
I hope it won't be surrounded by a huge parking lot. The building is so big that part of it could be used for parking.
I hope it won't be surrounded by a huge parking lot. The building is so big that part of it could be used for parking.
barrytron3030
Active Member
lisa rochon had an article about this a few weeks ago. it's likely somewhere in the architecture section of this forum.
this is interesting for sure and would do great things for the area; not to mention preserve a classic building.
do you guys think this new complex will play any role in the Pan Am Bid?
this is interesting for sure and would do great things for the area; not to mention preserve a classic building.
do you guys think this new complex will play any role in the Pan Am Bid?
jn_12
Senior Member
Toronto really does need more arenas.
The thing about a four-plex is that you really do need the parking. Whether we like it or not, hockey bags are big and more than a pain to haul on public transportation. Also, kids in hockey carry their own bags (or at least they should. If my coaches ever caught my parents carrying my bag, even when i was 6, I would have been in trouble) and I can't imagine a kid hauling his stuff on the TTC. Hockey families tend to have the Soccer-mom mini van to go from arena to arena. These are essential when you consider that any Rep team might travel an hour or two to get to the game. If you want this arena to be used by Rep teams or for tournaments you need the parking. It's absolutely essential for public arenas.
The thing about a four-plex is that you really do need the parking. Whether we like it or not, hockey bags are big and more than a pain to haul on public transportation. Also, kids in hockey carry their own bags (or at least they should. If my coaches ever caught my parents carrying my bag, even when i was 6, I would have been in trouble) and I can't imagine a kid hauling his stuff on the TTC. Hockey families tend to have the Soccer-mom mini van to go from arena to arena. These are essential when you consider that any Rep team might travel an hour or two to get to the game. If you want this arena to be used by Rep teams or for tournaments you need the parking. It's absolutely essential for public arenas.