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  • Thread starter billy corgan19982
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Presumably the garage is part of the supporting structure, no?

I haven't been inside here since I saw "Gravity" last winter, it's looking so much better now. Back then there was a flurry of construction on every level from the ground up (didn't go below) and the food court appeared to be nearing completion. They've come a long way fixing this mess, as someone suggested a few pages back hopefully the exterior signs will improve and evolve over time - not too long I hope.

Thanks for the pics ksun.
 
I think I prefer the exposed ceiling over the new ceiling. The new dropped ceiling just makes the building feel so cramped and claustrophobic, especially downstairs by the TTC entrance. Definitely not an improvement IMO.
 
I still think it is foolish to not have an entrance to the subway or the Path from Gould St. and the new Ryerson Student Learning Center.

If they did get rid of the parking lot, I hope they improvise some way to accommodate that.
 
JasonParis said:
I think the garage is basically an independent building and 10 Dundas E simply surrounds it (even from above).
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The garage is totally independent of rest of the complex. Steel columns where place at various location to support the building above it in the parking structure and you can see them if you look close. Have photos going back to 2006 including videos.

It took close to 15 years to build this eye sore with 3 different contractors doing the work.

The entrance to Dundas station was poorly thought out by all parties including the PC garage.

The food court has never achieve its goal to the point that there are empty spaces there now from fail business.

The best thing that can happen here is the whole block is torn down and rebuilt right. TTC needs to be on board to expand the station platform and area to the point a new north entrance is built at Gould that been talked about for the last 2 decades.

There is nothing stopping having a similar setup, but in a different format with 2 towers on top of it. One would be at Victoria/Dundas and the other at Yonge/Gould. Parking would be underground.
 
^ and with your calling this complex an 'eye sore', drum118, you are being too kind. It's a botch job, a dog's breakfast, or worse.

The least encouraging part: it appears that piecemeal development of the block will ensure that this thing will stay as-is or maybe even worsen. The condo / retail (if it happens) proposed for the site of the former Empress hotel will make sure of that.

The block bounded by Yonge, Victoria, Gould, and Dundas is valuable and would be perfect for an epic development, perhaps a grand hotel or whatnot. The present land use (a parking lot?) is really under-reach. I think the city would benefit if the whole block was torn down and redeveloped, yet again. That would amount to a miracle, considering the ghastly amount of money that went into 10 Dundas E.
 
TonyV said:
^ and with your calling this complex an 'eye sore', drum118, you are being too kind. It's a botch job, a dog's breakfast, or worse.

The least encouraging part: it appears that piecemeal development of the block will ensure that this thing will stay as-is or maybe even worsen. The condo / retail (if it happens) proposed for the site of the former Empress hotel will make sure of that.

The block bounded by Yonge, Victoria, Gould, and Dundas is valuable and would be perfect for an epic development, perhaps a grand hotel or whatnot. The present land use (a parking lot?) is really under-reach. I think the city would benefit if the whole block was torn down and redeveloped, yet again. That would amount to a miracle, considering the ghastly amount of money that went into 10 Dundas E.
Click to expand...

That's not going to happen for one main reason: the AMC (now Cineplex) has a stupidly long lease. Something like 25 years left. FutureShop had the second longest lease but there's a chance that BestBuy might consolidate its brands and abandon this space given that they have a store a stone's throw away. However, with the huge investment in cinemas that was put into this place, Cineplex isn't going anywhere.

The best that can be done is being done and I'm happy with the compromise.
 
My impression is that Ryerson University is also very very happy with the current arrangement. The school speaks highly of using the AMC theaters and of how innovative a solution it is at every given opportunity.
 
I don't think Ryerson would object to being a partner in a brand new mega-facility if the opportunity were to arise. Putting that parking underground would free up half of the city block for real classrooms and dedicated Ryerson University media facilities. The tenant contracts, specially the theatres are the real road block, one that I don't think can be undone without investors with really deep pockets.

If we allow ourselves to fantasize about it, a major hotel chain in partnership with a shopping mall developer could probably come up with the money and quick enough turnaround to put Cineplex out of business for only a year before re-opening. Ryerson could potentially gain public funding but the bulk of the financing would have to come from private interests. Would a hotel chain be enough though? You can't put condos on this site. Would a shopping mall developer see interest in competing at an intersection where there are already 2 other shopping malls?

I think that we're stuck with this place remaining here for a couple of decades.
 
Now if only they can find a way to fix the pedestrian flow! It's my least favourite part about the place. Trying to get to the basement when you enter the lobby from the ground floor doors is so difficult. You have to cut across a sea of people. Or you enter from the new revolving door on the west side of the lobby, but then you have to get past all the people outside. Doesn't help that the city put one of those signs in front of the place, which are supposed to help tourists, but actually are just giant ads and block the flow of people outside, in front of one of the busiest entrances downtown.
 
MetroMan said:
That's not going to happen for one main reason: the AMC (now Cineplex) has a stupidly long lease. Something like 25 years left. FutureShop had the second longest lease but there's a chance that BestBuy might consolidate its brands and abandon this space given that they have a store a stone's throw away. However, with the huge investment in cinemas that was put into this place, Cineplex isn't going anywhere.

The best that can be done is being done and I'm happy with the compromise.
Click to expand...

The main reason is that it's a 500,000 square foot building. It would need to sit nearly empty for two decades having going through several rejuvenation schemes before anyone would consider demolishing it.
 
maestro said:
The main reason is that it's a 500,000 square foot building. It would need to sit nearly empty for two decades having going through several rejuvenation schemes before anyone would consider demolishing it.
Click to expand...

I don't understand why we need to demolished an existing building... it is not a well functioning building but improvement and beautification is always possible. If we want to replace the whole, the whole process will probably take 10+ years, is it even worth it?
It is not like there is no retail space to be developed near dundas Square. Atrium on Bay is a disaster as well. The world's biggest book store will be redeveloped. Plus there is a huge lot on Dundas East just past Victoria. I think it is imperative to make this particular building perfect - it is not like everything else nearby work quite well.
 
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