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I asked the architect from Quadrangle what exterior improvements he expected to be made.

- Rogers and Quadrangle are considering a use for the base of the torch tower. It's coming soon..
- The blank wall under the bridge is also the topic of discussion and several options are being weighed. It won't be left blank.
- The mechanical on the roof will be covered.
- City Hall is being very helpful with permits and Rogers and the city are working close together to change the East end of Yonge-Dundas Square into a more inviting space, rather than the "ass-end" of the square. As the architect was speaking about this, workers behind him were dumping garbage into the containers there. He joked about it as an example about what's wrong presently but is being worked on.
 
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Everybody was half asleep by the time Quadrangle finished their presentation. I was of course fascinated and asked lots of questions but I dont think there was a single architecture geek in there. I took advantage of how numbed down everybody was after the presentation and won the Rogers gift basket :D

EDIT: A friend of mine who went in later in the day just told me he also asked the question about the exposed mechanicals (I bet the architect heard this a lot today lol). In his session, he was told that a corral was going to be built and they're taking it as an opportunity to make the top a little more interesting.
 
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Which included what?

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^ A CityTV hat, an OMNI mug, a couple of t-shirts from each station, branded pencils and pens (one of them made to look like a syringe to promote Mercy), an OMNI tv moleskin, a Biggest Loser towel, an Extreme Makeover - Home Edition keychain measuring tape, an OMNI tv message pad... and a pair of Dina Pugliese's used panties. :D
 
Jackpot! Congrats!

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MetroMan said:
EDIT: A friend of mine who went in later in the day just told me he also asked the question about the exposed mechanicals (I bet the architect heard this a lot today lol). In his session, he was told that a corral was going to be built and they're taking it as an opportunity to make the top a little more interesting.
Click to expand...

A corral?
 
^ It's a screen that surrounds the mechanicals to keep them from view. The materials and look haven't been decided yet. It could be anywhere from cheap fabric to grey cladding to glass. We don't know yet.
 
lol, I saw one ad for Mercy. Never saw the show. The ER type show will always have a following but right now House and Greys Anatomy rule that department. Something very different will have to come along to top them.

To elaborate on the info about the building, I had also asked the Rogers rep a question about how they planned to keep CityTV interactive since unlike 299 Queen W. they don't have significant sidewalk traffic. She said that instead of using the Victoria St. sidewalk, they're using the square with the Torch tower as the backdrop. They've been experimenting with this and are planning to increase this interactivity in the future.

She also said that just like 299 Queen West, this new building is going to evolve until they find the right recipe to make full use of its prominent location.

After the presentation, when I approached Ted from Quadrangle and asked him to elaborate on the flat wall under the bridge, he said he couldn't talk much about it because they're considering different options. So I told him what I'd heard from my neighbour (who works at Rogers) about placing displays (one with audio) showing Rogers' different channels that would be used to create a sort of "Rogers outdoors zone" that would attract people to near the station's sidewalk level studio. He confirmed that was an option.

As for the space at the base of the Torch, it's been talked about for one of Rogers' radio stations or as a Speakers' corner booth. I didn't get any confirmation about either so other options may be planned.
 
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The radio station idea at the base has been floated around internally for quite some time, I've heard that rumor before. As far as a speakers corner is concerned I'm a little more doubtful. Rogers axed all of Speakers Corner a while ago, including all producers associated with it. Granted at the time there was no more physical booth at 299. It's a possibility but that would require them to build the show from ground up again and I don't see that happening.

The closest thing to interactive that the building has right now is people walking in on a regular basis thinking we are a giant Rogers store.

Rogers is announcing their new lineup on Wednesday. Should be interesting, their lineup last year wasn't too bad but 3 of their shows got canned rather quickly (Mercy, Trauma, Accidentally on Purpose)


**Oh here's some useless trivia, at 299 a new Speakers Corner was going to be built on the old location. However once CHUM was sold all projects were put on hold. When CTV then sold CITY to Rogers there was no need to complete the new Speakers Corner. At the old location you can actually see a drain where the old booth was. The new booth was to be "flushable"
 
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