unimaginative2
Senior Member
Ambitious development by lake - and no condos
Patty Winsa Urban affairs reporter
Toronto Star
Published On Thu Oct 22 2009
The Automotive Building once housed cars during the CNE. Now officials at Exhibition Place hope the renovated building – renamed the Allstream Centre – will bring a stream of steady traffic to the underused city property year-round.
Built within the restored shell of the 1929 art deco building, the convention centre is the newest feature in an ongoing master plan for renewal of Exhibition Place, which over the past 15 years has added a massive trade show centre and two sports facilities in an effort to keep people coming long after the summer exhibition folds up its tents.
Future plans also include a 26-storey hotel.
"The idea is to make the hotel a destination, to animate the place not only for the people who stay in the hotel, but the people who are there to see a show or attend a Toronto Marlies game," says deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, who chairs the Exhibition Place board.
Efforts to attract year-round visitors appear to be working. Of more than 5 million visits to the grounds last year, the 18-day CNE accounted for less than one-quarter. The rest came to attend trade and consumer shows or watch the Marlies and the Toronto FC play.
When the Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, opened in 1989, the fairgrounds took a major hit, losing concerts and Blue Jays and Argos games to the stadium.
"It left a huge hole at Exhibition Place," says Pantalone. In winter, the grounds became little more than a fast shortcut from the Dufferin Gate east to Strachan Ave. and Lake Shore Blvd.
"Some people suggested putting condos all over the place," he said. "But we said, let's go back to basics."
Those fundamentals included restoring trade and consumer shows and bringing seasonal buildings into year-round use, in partnership with the private sector.
The board then embarked on an ambitious development plan. The National Trade Centre, now the Direct Energy Centre, was completed in 1997. BMO Field was built a decade later.
Patty Winsa Urban affairs reporter
Toronto Star
Published On Thu Oct 22 2009
The Automotive Building once housed cars during the CNE. Now officials at Exhibition Place hope the renovated building – renamed the Allstream Centre – will bring a stream of steady traffic to the underused city property year-round.
Built within the restored shell of the 1929 art deco building, the convention centre is the newest feature in an ongoing master plan for renewal of Exhibition Place, which over the past 15 years has added a massive trade show centre and two sports facilities in an effort to keep people coming long after the summer exhibition folds up its tents.
Future plans also include a 26-storey hotel.
"The idea is to make the hotel a destination, to animate the place not only for the people who stay in the hotel, but the people who are there to see a show or attend a Toronto Marlies game," says deputy mayor Joe Pantalone, who chairs the Exhibition Place board.
Efforts to attract year-round visitors appear to be working. Of more than 5 million visits to the grounds last year, the 18-day CNE accounted for less than one-quarter. The rest came to attend trade and consumer shows or watch the Marlies and the Toronto FC play.
When the Rogers Centre, formerly SkyDome, opened in 1989, the fairgrounds took a major hit, losing concerts and Blue Jays and Argos games to the stadium.
"It left a huge hole at Exhibition Place," says Pantalone. In winter, the grounds became little more than a fast shortcut from the Dufferin Gate east to Strachan Ave. and Lake Shore Blvd.
"Some people suggested putting condos all over the place," he said. "But we said, let's go back to basics."
Those fundamentals included restoring trade and consumer shows and bringing seasonal buildings into year-round use, in partnership with the private sector.
The board then embarked on an ambitious development plan. The National Trade Centre, now the Direct Energy Centre, was completed in 1997. BMO Field was built a decade later.
