[deerparker]

As expected, the focus was primarily on the interior. It looks great, as does the view from the 4th floor news studio.

 

[CodeMonkey]

I was looking forward to a big reveal on the end result of the exterior transformation. I don't think we'll see that if the promo for tonight's piece on the new studios is any clue.

According to my sources, a lot of change is yet to come, namely on the base of the tower and the tower itself. I'd love to see what exactly that transformation will look like.

The pdf file that show the signage for the building for a new sign on the tower itself was "approved" so they may go head with that first.

 

[MetroMan]

That PDF only shows the position and size of the signage. It doesn't represent the detailing of the cladding of the base, nor how the LED lights inside the Torch will look -- although one can surely imagine that.

It'll still be a few months before the exterior is complete but I can already see how this new building will affect the orientation of the square. What was once the back will now be one of the primary focuses of the surrounding area.

 

[syn]

^ The rotating media tower will never* happen. It was decided by the city that no significant signage could be pointed towards Dundas East because it doesn't belong in the "signage code exception zone" where almost anything goes.

NIMBY's included The Bond Place hotel who didn't want the rotating Torch shining into their rooms.

Most of the signage in Y&D Sq. would have been rejected by the city if it were proposed anywhere else but the area surrounding the square has been granted an exception. East of Victoria isn't part of it.

At least we'll see the exposed concrete covered in red trimming, the torch lit up from within with coloured LED's and a big Citytv sign at the top of the torch facing the square.

*never say never right? Eventually, Y&D Sq.'s über-commercialism will grow in all directions and we might yet see a more dynamic torch element. For the foreseeable future though: no signage pointing East on Dundas past Victoria.

I'd hope it could happen sometime. The area is already ridiculously loaded with signage, I couldn't see the rotating signage making things that much worse.

 

[MetroMan]

From what I recall at the time, it was the height of the tower that was the problem. Backlit signage at street level already exists in the area. In fact, there is a large sign on the northern face of this building.

However, I see how having a 40 foot tall sign, on top of a 5 story podium, with lights rotating in all directions like a light house could pose a problem for the hotel and apartments in the immediate area.

 

[Automation Gallery]

However, I see how having a 40 foot tall sign, on top of a 5 story podium, with lights rotating in all directions like a light house could pose a problem for the hotel and apartments in the immediate area.

I guess this is conservative Toronto, tell that to the folks in Tokyo, Hong Kong or Bangkok, and they would have a big laugh.

 

[JasonParis]

Yes, that's what I meant CodeMonkey. Citytv is now just a single station "starting from scratch". Of course they are no longer mocked as the startup news station they were 30 something years ago. They're a Toronto staple. But it's nice to see them return to their roots and start up from there.

They aren't a single station. There's City's in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg and they buy programming as a block. Moreover, they are part of the Rogers empire that holds a huge variety of terrestrial and cable holdings. They are hardly any more independent than they were under CHUM, probably less so if you look at the relative size of those companies circa 2006.

As for losing their connection with people, I don't agree. Their shows have consistently had viewer input, once over the phone and now through viewer submitted news, email comments, etc.

Yes, there's interactivity, but that's pretty common everywhere. Every channel gets "streeters" for just about every story. It's not a City thing at all anymore (even though they pioneered the concept). Save the newscasts and BT though, there's nothing on City-TV that is about the city. Nothing! Name one show? There's no modern equivalents of The New Music, Speaker's Corner, etc. They also do relatively little "live hits" from small music venues, etc. and their entertainment news that used to be very heavily Toronto-skewed is now the same celebrity babble you get everywhere else.

Do you work for CTV or Rogers?

Nope.

 

[Juan_Lennon416]

With regards to finding a new home, was 33 Dundas Street East the only location CITY had in mind or were there other locations on their list?

 

[MetroMan]

They contemplated their Lakeshore/Bathurst location where they have a large back lot. They would have built a new building oriented towards Queens Quay so you'd get a view of the lake from the studios.

While the Queens Quay redevelopment will have given them a nice home, the pedestrian traffic at Bathurst will always remain low, it seems to me.

I think The Torch building was the perfect fit, so much that many of us UT'ers were mentioning long before CTV bought CHUM that it would make a perfect TV studio if the Olympic Spirit thing didn't work out.

 

[AGTO]

Quote:
Originally Posted by AGTO
Do you work for CTV or Rogers?

Nope

Didn't think so.

 

[drum118]

There is an L seating area now with seats to the east now and hard to see in this photo.

They even paint the steel inside Red

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

I don't know if this has been addressed already, but given the red roof over the streetcar tracks, are we to assume those curves will never be used again? I'm not seeing any evidence of new overhead wire brackets. And those are the last brick-set tracks in the system, are they not?

 

[CodeMonkey]

I don't know if this has been addressed already, but given the red roof over the streetcar tracks, are we to assume those curves will never be used again? I'm not seeing any evidence of new overhead wire brackets. And those are the last brick-set tracks in the system, are they not?

They are putting the wireing back once the construction to the building is complete.

 

[MetroMan]

I don't know if this has been addressed already, but given the red roof over the streetcar tracks, are we to assume those curves will never be used again? I'm not seeing any evidence of new overhead wire brackets. And those are the last brick-set tracks in the system, are they not?

In this photo you see the brackets on the wall:

 

[ProjectEnd]

Ahhhh, colour! Beautiful, beautiful colour. I bet Shocker's a tad depressed that this battleship went all Rod Stewart on us.