Walking on the east side of the Harbour Castle Hotel is a horrible way to end a trip to Centre Island. Take a look at that building. It's ugly, dirty and in need of repair. The walkway is like a loading dock in the Portlands, NASTY! I hate just walking by it. There has to be a nicer way to end a trip to such a pleasant place like the Islands. I think that whole area needs an overhaul, including the hotel, conference hall and the condos, as well as the park. It all adds up to one big, unfortunate mess.

Why spend all that money on Queen's Quay and not fix that mess between Yonge and York Street? Mistakes from our past can be changed.
 
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Could it be integrated into a Yonge slip development? What is happening with that, anyway? In my view that parking lot in Harbour Square Park is also something that should vanish. Preferably the whole area would be thought as a whole: the York slip would have a footbridge to the Harbour Square side, the traffic flow would be increased to the park and terminal, that horrible parking structure would be converted into something like retail (though I know that isn't really possible), and there would be a bridge over the Yonge slip to the new park on the other side.
 
Planners need to do something innovative with Harbour Square Park. The space could be animated with new uses and frontages in the buildings that surround it like Harbour Square condos and the Westin. Right now, all those buildings do is turn their backs to the public space with parking garages and the Westin's blank-wall podium.
 
Here's my dream scenario for the ferry terminal site:

1. Tear down the Westin Harbour Castle Convention Centre (the squat, beige box on the north side of Queen's Quay)
2. Build a new high-rise hotel on the site that doesn't include a giant driveway on Queen's Quay
3. Tear down the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, which, despite being a little more interesting than a concrete slab, is so poorly designed at street level for the pedestrian heavy site it's offensive.
4. Build a new ferry terminal and expand Harbour Square park. Open the site to the street. Tear up the concrete on that ridiculous parking lot. It would be one of the city's most visited spots.
5. You could let the gyro place stay open, so long as they gave up the parking spots.
 
That's way beyond the scope of the current project - though I am sure the Westin (esp. the convention centre) will get redeveloped at some point.

AoD
 
From the WT October Board Meeting CEO Report:

Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park Innovative Design Competition
The City and Waterfront Toronto have entered into a delivery agreement to complete this project on behalf of the City of Toronto. The scope includes management of the Design Competition to procure a design team, a design refinement period, completion of a Master Plan, and working drawings for a first phase of landscape enhancements to be implemented in 2016. The draft RFQ was shared with – and gained support from – a working group comprised of local and island residents, businesses, City staff and Councillor Pam McConnell’s office. The RFQ will be issued at the beginning of November 2014, with shortlisted candidates announced by the end of December 2014. The RFP, or Competition period, will begin in January with a preferred design selected by the end of March 2015.

http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/ceo_report___public___october_22_2014_1.pdf (p. 8)

AoD
 
From WT website:


Innovative Design Competition Sets Stage for Revitalization of Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park

November 4 2014 | Area: Central Waterfront Topic: design excellence, parks & public spaces,


Toronto, November 4, 2014 – The world’s most talented and creative design professionals are invited to develop bold new concepts for one of the waterfront’s most important gateways. An Innovative Design Competition, launched today in partnership with the City of Toronto, will set the stage for the revitalization of the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park.

The primary goal of the design competition is to produce a unifying and inspiring Master Plan which can be phased in over time. The vision for the area will result in a welcoming gateway to the Toronto Islands – one of the City’s most unique and cherished parks – with amenities and infrastructure to support the approximately 1.3 million visitors who use the ferry each year.

“The dedication of the Toronto Island ferry docks terminal in memory of the late Jack Layton creates a new imperative to remake this important gateway,” says Councillor Pam McConnell, Toronto Centre - Rosedale. “It presents an exciting opportunity to develop an inclusive process that promotes outstanding park and building design, reflects the needs and aspirations of the park and ferry users and the larger revitalization of the waterfront.”

Communication and engagement with the public will be an integral part of the Design Competition. A Stakeholder Advisory Committee comprised of local residents, businesses and neighbourhood groups will meet at key points during the competition process and will provide advice and feedback to the project team, the design teams and the competition jury.

The Design Competition will follow a two-stage juried process which includes a pre-qualification stage and a competition stage. During the pre-qualification stage, which begins today, design professionals from Canada and around the world are invited to submit proposals outlining their qualifications. At the end of December 2014, five teams will be invited to move on to the Design Competition.

“Design competitions play a key role in the transformation of Toronto’s waterfront,” says Christopher Glaisek, Vice President of Planning and Design, Waterfront Toronto. “The innovative ideas that stem from competition submissions help raise the level of planning and design in our city and provide an opportunity for public conversations to unfold about key waterfront sites.”

The teams selected to participate in the Design Competition will take part in an intensive 8-week design exercise that kicks off with an extensive waterfront orientation session in January 2015. At the end of the 8-week design exercise, the teams will present their proposals at a public exhibition for a distinguished jury of design professionals and members of the general public. This major public exhibition, planned for early March 2015, will give Torontonians an opportunity to review the design approaches and provide feedback to the jury.

As a gateway to the Toronto Islands, the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Harbour Square Park is a unique waterfront site with historical significance. It occupies prime waterfront space at the end of two of Toronto’s most important streets – Bay Street and Yonge Street.

Once a recommended approach – or combined approach – is selected by the competition jury, the design team will move forward with a Master Plan for the area. The Master Plan will include a phasing strategy to prioritize work. Pursuant to Toronto City Council approval, the Capital Budget includes funding for an initial phase of work. Going forward, the Master Plan will be used to guide additional budget requests and to ensure that revitalization efforts move forward in a coordinated manner.

The Governments of Canada and Ontario and the City of Toronto created Waterfront Toronto to oversee and lead the renewal of Toronto’s waterfront. Public accessibility, design excellence, sustainable development, economic development and fiscal sustainability are the key drivers of waterfront revitalization. For more information, please visit www.waterfrontoronto.ca.
 
Yes! And the scope extends all the way from York Quay to the strip right beside Pier 27! This project needs to be more than just "good" (like what we've seen at the Harbourfront Centre Canada/Ontario Square) - it needs to push the boundaries of excellence.

I am quite glad to see WT use an engagement model similar to that of the original QQ redesign.

AoD
 
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DSC said:
Once a recommended approach – or combined approach – is selected by the competition jury, the design team will move forward with a Master Plan for the area. The Master Plan will include a phasing strategy to prioritize work. Pursuant to Toronto City Council approval, the Capital Budget includes funding for an initial phase of work. Going forward, the Master Plan will be used to guide additional budget requests and to ensure that revitalization efforts move forward in a coordinated manner.
Click to expand...

2030, after all is said and done
 
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Automation Gallery said:
2030, after all is said and done
Click to expand...

Got to start somewhere, and besides, money doesn't grow on trees. I'd rather them taking them to do it in phases then doing a cheap design on the cheap.

More info from the WT site, including additional documents:

Project site: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/ferry_terminal_design_competition
Site overview: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/201430_jlft_pq_map_1.pdf
Backgrounder: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uplo...ckground__jlft_design_competition_final_1.pdf
Factsheet: http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/uploads/documents/fact_sheet___jlft_design_competition_final_1.pdf

AoD
 
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DSC said:
You would rather see a tent erected next year? Surely a good idea to have plan and do things properly once! ("If you don't know where you are going you will never get there")
Click to expand...

Oh come on, things dont have to take long to be perfect, i have seen municipal mega-projects in many european cities done quick and proper from when first mentioned
Here in TO everything takes forever just too much red tape, the process of approvals can take 3-5 years..lol
 
The east side of the Harbour Castle is dirty, ugly and just a terrible area to walk in, so if that is part of the plan, I am very happy to hear that. It's also good that they are redesigning the park right from Queen's Quay, where you enter the park. I wish they had some food stands along there, so people could buy something before going to the Islands. I'm very much looking foreword to this and hope they go for a design that is bold and original. A flash of colour wouldn't hurt too.
 
As I don't use or meet a ferry very often, one of the things I've never figured out, is if you can access the ferry terminal from the east side of the Harbour Castle (or through the Harbour Castle). I always end up walking along Queens Quay from the east, past the parking area on the east side of the Harbour Castle, past the Harbour Castle to Bay, and to the ferry terminal.

It always seems like I've walked around 3 sides of a square. Am I missing something? If I'm not, hopefully this is something that get's rectified in the new design.
 
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