Perhaps the wrong thread to post this but Metro Hall basement is currently going through some major renovations. Almost all the retail units have been gutted.

I have photos to upload but I keep getting an error saying "file size is too large" even after compressing them.

File size for upload is capped at 3mb.
 
SPA has been submitted for the Fire Station / Child Care Centre, renovation + addition.
Architecture by Diamond Schmitt and Salter Pilon:
View attachment 647946View attachment 647947View attachment 647948View attachment 647949View attachment 647950

Ugh, this looks terrible. I've always enjoyed the little parkette here. I get that fire stations are needed downtown but for a giant concrete pad (and surface parking lot!!) to take up the space of a park in a part of town already deficient of green space, is egregious.
 
Ugh, this looks terrible.

True.

I've always enjoyed the little parkette here. I get that fire stations are needed downtown but for a giant concrete pad (and surface parking lot!!) to take up the space of a park in a part of town already deficient of green space, is egregious.

However, remember the trade here, this is a replacement station for 260 adelaide:

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Not exactly a looker either......

It's being replaced by a 61s tower with affordable housing, which is the subject of this thread:


In turn the parking lot just to the north:

1760987613165.png


Is being turned into a park, which is the subject of this thread:

 
True.



However, remember the trade here, this is a replacement station for 260 adelaide:

View attachment 689743

Not exactly a looker either......

Its being replaced by a 61s tower with affordable housing, which is the subject of this thread:


In turn the parking lot just to the north:

View attachment 689744

Is being turned into a park, which is the subject of this thread:

Thanks for the summary, I'm aware of all those details but this new park was going to go ahead independently of the fire station relocation. They're different parcels. When Wawatesi was announced, it was to address the deficiency of green space in the neighbourhood. The fire station could've stayed where it is though I would've loved it if the park went all the way to Adelaide instead.

When I heard of a Metro Hall fire station, it made sense both for the location and to reenergize the use of Metro Hall but it's just so terribly executed. Does it need surface parking for cars? Could it not retain trees on either side? A lack of trees is not for visibility because those 2 pavillions already block sight lines. Besides beautifying, trees help mitigate noise.

An earlier rendering you shared showed trees. See this is fine:
1617908745718-png.311400


What's happening to the dog-bunnies?

rabbit-dog3.jpg
 
It’s ridiculous that they couldn’t at least make the garage doors and fire station signage symmetrical to compliment the original architecture. Is this still a Diamond Schmitt project? It looks like a random home renovation contractor’s work.
 
^Wasn’t Farmboy rumoured to be going in there?
Yeah based on a signage rendering that was part of an application in 2019. Obviously a lot has changed since then. Personally I'd love for them to put a Farm Boy in the concourse but it's been so long I don't think we can still assume that the Farm Boy and LCBO (because that was the other major tenant) from that rendering are happening.
It’s ridiculous that they couldn’t at least make the garage doors and fire station signage symmetrical to compliment the original architecture. Is this still a Diamond Schmitt project? It looks like a random home renovation contractor’s work.
Yeah this is gonna be hideous. The brown cladding will look awful next to the vaguely pink cladding of Metro Hall and there's no symmetry to the design. Also gonna be a ton of fun for anyone working on the North side of Metro Hall having to hear fire trucks sound their alarms constantly all day every day. Honestly this all should have been part of a broader upgrade of the building to improve soundproofing, integrate the fire station properly, etc. But the city doesn't have the money to do that so we get this mediocre-at-best mess.
 

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