I find the lighting at HtO a little odd. I like the lighting of the grass with various colours, but there is no light at all on the outer walkway. I would think that for safety reasons alone there should be some level of lighting on the outer walkway.
Great photos Sean. I was down there today & took a similar batch of photos not knowing they'd been posted already.
HT0 was really busy today and it looks terrific. In fact it was packed everywhere down there and traffic on Queens Quay was treacherous.
HT0 seems a little "sterile" and missing something, probably a splash pad, a hot dog vendor, ice cream vendor or something.
BTW, I'm just back from a late-night bike ride at HtO and oh what fun it is! I made myself dizzy whirling around those circles over and over again. The park is great though and I'm eager to do a further dayling inspection.
I got back from a ride to the Beaches and the Leslie Spit and went to HtO on my way back and did the same thing by twilight. Spinning around the circles is more fun than it sounds.
I really dig this park. The large banks of porta-potties probablt means something will be added. A splash pad or fountains, again, is the only thing it could use.
HTO is a bit of a let down- what with all the safety issues flagged by the city, I am surprised that even this much got built...Also have to agree with ganjavih, wouldn't it make sense when calling a park HTO, to have some sort of water element in it...?? It is however not a complete let down, from what I can tell from the images..thanks by the way!
I was down there today and it really is quite wonderful--a perfect setting to watch people, boats, airplanes and, yes, seagulls. But it's the expanse of sand and the yellow umbrellas that really make it magical and iconic. Indeed, I expect those umbrellas to be popping up in TV ads and postcards for a long time coming. This is the most hopeful new project to grace this city in years.
The walkway lights are installed along the bordwalk (the same kind used along the walkway with the nautical centre) but aren't lit. That bank of port-a-potties and port-a-sinks is a little strange. Is there washrooms being built into the firehall, or was a lack of washrooms a last minute realization? The park looks great though and anyone who didn't see the original plans would probably see nothing wrong with it. If the existing park was what was always envisioned then it I wouldn't have a problem with it either but knowing that the design won a competition and then was scaled back to what it is now seems unfortunate.
I was down there yesterday enjoyng a corona by the water, it's seems quite the bustling place on weekends. People want to be by the water. I would really like to see some more interesting artwork along there. I think that would really help the visual appeal of the new park, which I agree is a bit sterile at the moment. But things are gradually improving down there, it makes one feel almost optimistic about the harbourfront
