[CanadianNational]

Off the cuff, I'd like to see something more like this.

I'd make the landbridge enormous - effectively shallowly burying lakeshore for half the length of the entire Ex site.

Stanley Barracks would get it's own narrow park from Princes' Boulevard to the edge of the water. It would follow the axis of the Barracks to honour it properly. To the east of it would be the hotel, and perhaps a Toronto Nautical Museum.

The area east of it would be broken into quadrants. One could hold a new Toronto Aviation Museum. The other three would be a mix of pavilions and open areas. The pavilions would line a new east-west surface street and new north-south connections. I think this would be important to make the site attractive in summer, and bearable in wintertime.
I'd like to see an Exhibition tower put back in to replace the long-lost Shell Oil Tower. It would be a sister to Hearn in the east, and perhaps an interesting small cousin if the CN tower. Not a bad place for a planetarium, either. It could be good to see a Museum of Toronto in this area, too.
In at least one of the southern plazas, it would be important to draw the futuristic and innovative architecture of Ontario Place northward onto the Ex Grounds. Year-round uses could be put in these structures above the retail aspects, such as varieties of live/work studios - from industrial to artistic through technological and regular.
I'd remove the pay gates to Ontario Place and have the entire area as a unified park, with a pay-per-attraction system.

Just north, I'd fill in some of the spaces around BMO Field with amenities - ones that would serve the Coliseum as well. There's just not much engrossing around it, currently. Some divergent and good places to drink, dance and eat would be grand.

All in all, the most important effect would be to make the area a desirable place to visit and linger on it's own - without any particularly special events taking place.

The plazas combined would have enough open spaces to fit a full CNE midway in them.

 

[Irishmonk]

^Be still my heart.

 

[Filip]

That is gorgeous! What a well thought out plan.

 

[CanadianNational]

A slightly different version of the same fantasy plan:
Here, the north-south street coming from the Princes' Boulevard traffic circle goes directly to the central Ontario Place bridge gate, instead of just beside it.
On the west side of the site, I've placed a huge new cluster of Ontario Place "ultra-Pods" on former Ex land, creating a small city, more or less, perhaps to be filled with year-round live-work residents. These are weatherproofedly plugged into Ontario Place and the Ex grounds by new bridges. It also functions as a new visual gateway for those entering the Lakeshore Tunnel from the west, and builds the two formerly estranged sites together. I think they could be designed as a nifty nod to metabolist architecture in mind.
Also, I've included a landbridge over Lakeshore between the western sculpture fountain, and the racecourse stands. Also, (and this might get me shot), I've extended Dufferin through the site to Lakeshore Boulevard, with a new bridge at it's foot to the lone west end of Ontario Place.

Aerial, looking west

A lovely view of the new western landbridge, restoring the great old Exhibition park area to being it's old genteel lakeside pleasure garden self. And there's the new Dufferin Street extension and footbridge.

Dufferin running from Lakeshore right north through the gates to olde Parkdale. It would ideally be a bit of a pastoral stroll to the lake. (I think I made it about twice as wide as it should be).

A rather dramatic view of what coming into the Lakeshore landbridge tunnel and glimpsing the new Ontario Place/Exhibition swingin' ultra-pods would look like. Cue the saxophone, tom-tom and flutes promo music. Wheee!

There ya go. Fun, fun, fun.

 

[adma]

There ya go. Fun, fun, fun.

Friday?

 

[Filip]

Did you take your inspiration from Belgrade's Avala tower?

 

[CanadianNational]

Wow! Nope, I didn't. But...the similarities - that's pretty funny. Theirs is a lot more graceful, though!
Good sculptural use of concrete at the base, with the ramp and the leg supports. Amazing that it was destroyed and rebuilt, as well.

Thanks for the reference.

 

[Filip]

No problem.

It was my first taste of 'towers' long before moving to Toronto. I was very glad when it was rebuilt.

 

[Automation Gallery]

A bit off topic but interesting..

CNE to split from city of Toronto, become independent fair

The Canadian National Exhibition has struck a deal with its landlord at Exhibition Place that will make it independent of the City of Toronto.

The operators of the historic 18-day fair say they reached an agreement Friday with the Board of Governors of the city-owned lakefront property.

The deal will see the CNE pay the city higher rent but allow the fair to retain any profits and invest them in future years, CNE President Brian Ashton told The Star in a telephone interview.

Ticket prices will remain the same, Ashton said. As an independent entity, the CNE will be freer to negotiate its own deals with suppliers and become more efficient, he explained.

“If we became more independent, I felt strongly that we’d be much more nimble at how we provide the CNE,†Ashton said.

The deal, which has been approved by the CNE Association and the Board of Governors of Exhibition Place, still has to go to city council March 5 and 6.

If approved, it would become effective April, 2013.

More.....http://www.thestar.com/article/1122435--cne-to-split-from-city-of-toronto-become-independent-fair

 

[DSCToronto]

This seems to be lumbering along. See: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/tx/bgrd/backgroundfile-98648.pdf

 

[DSCToronto]

More 'fixin'" @ Exhibition Place:

Request for Quotation

Call number: 217-2018
Commodity: Construction Services, Facilities renovations
Description: Fire Hall Clock Tower Exterior Restoration, Exhibition Place,
Toronto Fire Hall Clock Tower Exterior Restoration,
Exhibition Place, Toronto

Scope of work:

Work will include all labour, materials, products and services for exterior restoration, clock replacement and limited interior upgrades of the Fire Hall Clock Tower. The scope consists of full repointing of the exterior brick masonry, as well as new flashings, window frames restoration and cleaning of the limestone cornices. The existing clock at the top of the tower will be replaced with a new, illuminated clock, including all necessary electrical provisions. Work within the tower includes upgrades to the railing of the stair, the access ladder and landing. New emergency lighting, upgraded interior lighting and exterior flood lights are also part of the scope at Exhibition Place, Toronto.

I assume this is the Fire Hall