AndreaPalladio
Senior Member
Aside from those at Esplanade & Berkeley, Esplanade & George, the Sculpure Garden, St. James Park, Berczy Park, Wellington Street across from Berczy Park, First Canadian Place, 150 York, City Hall x 2, Dundas Square...
Aside from those at Esplanade & Berkeley, Esplanade & George, the Sculpure Garden, St. James Park, Berczy Park, Wellington Street across from Berczy Park, First Canadian Place, 150 York, City Hall x 2, Dundas Square...
nopacnone
New Member
Thanos
Active Member
I've heard the Berczy Park fountain needs repairs. Any truth to that?
I personally couldn't care less about fountains. I just assumed there weren't that many centrally located because i generally don't pay much attention to them.
So then what's with everyone complaining about the lack of fountains in good working order? Is this just another case of grass is greener complex that many in this city suffer?
Torontovibe
Senior Member
Could the same thing not be said about buildings, art, museums, schools, parks, restaurants, hospitals, stores? Ok, let's just expect the worst of everything because we certainly don't want to compete with those other "world class cities". Let's just be mediocre, so we won't be accused of having "the grass is always greener complex". lol Is it so wrong to have a bit of ambition and expectations for your city? After all, we are Canada's premiere city, get with the programme.
We're still waiting for our first great fountain. I hope it comes within my lifetime because I love me a great fountain and let's face it, a great city deserves at least one great fountain!
Register123
Active Member
Several of the larger scandinavian cities have average low temps simialar to Toronto, and also have many beautiful fountains. Its seems the engineers in these cities just know how to do it properly in there respective climates. Toronto on the other hand seems to not want to identify itself as a winter or northern city and builds things to a standard that just doesn't cut it.
taal
Senior Member
The LCBO at St. Clair and Yonge has a nice fountain ! ... its a large reflecting pool with paths that wide above it and a fountain feature.
Of course the fountain at the EX is probably the most grand ... people always forget about that.
Of course the fountain at the EX is probably the most grand ... people always forget about that.
Register123
Active Member
See we do have some, and no problems there, so the cold temperature excuse just doesn't acount for the relative shortage of beautiful fountains.
Thanos
Active Member
Which fountains are falling apart? I'm curious and want to go visit them this weekend. I only know of the Queen/University fountain. Isn't the CN Tower fountain the property of CLC? If so, you can't blame the city for its condition.
junctionist
Senior Member
There's a great fountain at the corner of Jane and Bloor. It's not that impressive in terms of design, but the fact that it's heated and works year round is fantastic. Every fountain in the city should be that way. Freezing won't be an issue if the fountains are heated, though they will use more energy. Maybe geothermal heat can be used.
DSC
Superstar
The leaping salmon fountain is a CITY one - the problem with it is that it apparently leaks into either the convention centre or the Rogers Centre. It is supposedly to be fixed this year.
The Berczy fountain is working but I guess it MAY be moved around when Berczy Park is upgraded. There is a current City tender for that project.
isaidso
Senior Member
isaidso
Senior Member
Of course we do. The only reason we have an absence of manicured parks is that the public realm hasn't been a priority in this city until very recently. It's only now that we've moved beyond our blue collar past that we're paying attention to things like granite sidewalks, burying our overhead wires, etc. Parks are part of that evolution into a refined, cultured, cosmopolitan city.
We shouldn't have to go to New York or Paris to sit in a park like that. In the past, Toronto seemed to think that laying down some grass and planting some flowers is all it took. The standard here is surprisingly low. Even Halifax does parks better. See above!
Last edited:
Torontovibe
Senior Member
Moscow and St. Petersburg are some of the coldest cities in the world and they also have some of the most spectacular fountains in the world. Further more, these were not wealthy cities but somehow, they managed to build and maintain great fountains, so the excuse about cold weather, is just not valid. There is no reason why we can't have a handful of great fountains in this city. (well, unless we just want to be cheap and lazy) We need some ambitious city builders at city hall and in the private sector, to step up to the plate and show some ambition.
Last edited:
ponyboy
Active Member
the sad reality IMO is that we simply do not invest much money in the public realm, both building and maintaining. The cheapest materials are usually used. Stuff isn't built to last. I hate to say it because I want to put down roots here, but Toronto seems like a city where people focus on making money, expend valuable energy engaging in petty in-fighting, work too much, and keep their eye on leaving one day. Having just spent a week in Barcelona, I was amazed at the beautiful public realm, replete with fountains, funky public furniture, cleaver use of space, granite pavers, and what appeared to me to be workers making beautiful spaces with lots of skill. I'm not sure city-building and -maintaining are in our present cultural DNA, at least not compared to those places that do it really well and spend the money.
Adjei
Senior Member
What do you expect from a city who elected someone who like Rob Ford? Is this a city concerned with improving the public realm. These things cost money and Toronto likes to take the cheap way out on many things, we don't want to spend the money. Just look at rusted hydro poles all over the city, even in our most important intersections. Until we get some leaders who will stand up and advocate for change and improvements in the public realm, we won't see much of any change. I don't think people in this city really care, if they did they would have not voted for Rob Ford, someone who has promised to cut "gravy" items such as spending on the public realm.