[shawnmicallef]

Future Mayor> You shouldn't take visitors to ANY foodcourt, in General.

Sherway is a nice mall, as malls go. That white tent-like thing is neat.

 

[shawnmicallef]

A good model of how stadiums can blend into neighbourhoods naturally, like Fenway above does, is look at UK soccer stadiums. You walk through tight, dense streets, and suddenly, there is a stadium, just built in. No ferris wheels or bullshit.

 

[BrianHawkins1]

FutureMayor:

"I personally believe it's time for a complete makeover of the Eaton Centre. It has a tired and dated look..."

I do not agree - I find it's aged surprisingly well, and is quite pleasant to walk around in (when it's not too crowded). Nice airy feel in there - good light and space on the upper floors.

"...and the food court across from Sports Check is so embrassing I don't take visitors there."

I think you generally worry a bit too much about what visitors think. Tourism is important, but this ain't Vegas.

 

[wyliepoon]

You walk through tight, dense streets, and suddenly, there is a stadium, just built in. No ferris wheels or bullshit.

If only the designers of the soccer stadium at Exhibition Place thought that way. Then nobody would have been talking about demolishing the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

 

[adma]

Future Mayor> You shouldn't take visitors to ANY foodcourt, in General.

Well, maybe you can--though more in a "mass urban vernacular" spirit. Y'know, to deliberately mix with the downtown business class, or adolescent mall trash, or what have you...

 

[shawnmicallef]

On a trip to toronto in the mid-1990s we ate at the foodcourt in Royal Bank Plaza...we thought it was neat overhearing buisiness people talk.

I also like the Eaton Centre and don't think it needs at makeover. It works just fine, inside.

 

[FutureMayor]

RENOVATE THE EATON CENTRE!

Nah, for such a major tourist attraction for the city, the place needs a total MAKEOVER! While Sherway is nice and all, it would be nice to showcase our downtown shopping mall without avoiding the foodcourt.

Just like any other major tourist attraction the Eaton Centre needs major upgrading to it's look. Can you imagine if we did nothing to improve the overall look and feel of the ROM, AGO, Science Centre, CN Tower, Harbourfront Centre, Yonge Street or NPS? We would lose tourist. So yes, I DO care what tourists think and feel in a space. If we are to compete with other international cities, our premier shopping centre needs to keep up with the times. I mean can you imagine if we didn't touch up the Yonge Street facade of the Eaton Centre?

As for not taking visitors to the Eaton Centre food court, of course that isn't the first place I'm going to take them! However,we can't be eating at the city's trendy restaurants all the time, and sometimes they just want a fast food burger and fries. If we are in the Eaton Centre and they want to go to KFC, I'm going to take them to the food court where I know there is one. However, I believe this has got to be the ONLY KFC in all of the GTA that still has full name Kentucky Fried Chicken name on it. It was officially changed to KFC like 10 YEARS AGO! Much of the tables and chairs are falling a part, the lighting is terrible and the public washrooms are just gross. Small details, but adds to your overall experience of the city.

Let's be clear, I'm not talking about changing the Eaton Centre's layout, but the over all look and feel of the place. Change or upgrade the floor tiles, put on a fresh coat of paint on the walls, renovate and expand the public washrooms, fix the payphones, upgrade some light fixtures, add more seating, and either clean or replace the glass ceiling like the one at Yorkdale Mall.


Louroz

 

[samsonyuen]

Re: St. Louis Center

I don't think the St. Louis Center is the problem, but just a symptom of the problem. The mall had two department store anchors and from what I gather, was strong when it first opened. What went wrong?

 

[building babel]

Re: St. Louis Center

Antique Kentucky Fried Chicken signs and actual payphones? Maybe if the City preserved the Eaton Centre as an ancient monument like Casa Loma it would attract more tourists. Does that big whooshy fountain still work? I can't say I've noticed it doing much lately.

 

[adma]

Re: St. Louis Center

FutureMayor, you sound like the sort of person who'd have welcomed the closure of the Times Square Howard Johnson's, because it was an ugly dated eyesore and anachronism

 

[FutureMayor]

Re: St. Louis Center

I never said I wanted to close down the Eaton Centre or the Food Court or the KFC. I'm asking for at least a modest upkeep of what is there or better yet a complete makeover.

Louroz

 

[spmarshall]

Re: St. Louis Center

I'll agree that the south food court at Eaton Centre has to be one of the worst anywhere - not enough tables (so you have to pounce at lunch to get a seat), poorly lit, stuffy, and congested. I try to avoid it between 12 and 2, even though it's the closest food court to work. Luckily there's plenty of alternatives.

The only one worse was the old Shoppers World Brampton food court. Awful food, the worst food court furniture (black rounded backless stools), it became a raunchy, smokefilled pit by the end.

 

[FutureMayor]

Re: St. Louis Center

ha, I recall that spmarshall! However, they really cleaned up the mall over the last couple of years with a complete makeover.

While, I hate the south Eaton Centre food court, I also can't avoid it as my ex use to work at the Sports Check which is directly across from it and I currently work right on top of it at 250 Yonge.

The one good thing about the food court is that it has hand sanitzer stations on the walls, however barely nobody knows they are there.

Louroz

 

[building babel]

Re: St. Louis Center

A vomitorium might be a nice touch if they ever renovate that food court.

Your "ex" ? Tell us more!

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

Re: St. Louis Center

One of the things about the Eaton Centre that I appreciate is the fact that much of the original signage, with the serif font on top of the yellow backgrounds, is still used extensively. I don't know why that stands out in my mind, but for some reason it evokes trips there (rare events!) when I was a kid in the late 1970s-early 1980s, and yellow still seemed prominent in dress, TTC vehicles (yellow stripes and numbers on the old G-cars), old police cars etc. It seems emblematic of the era.

Courtesy of Travis007 at SSC: