Not really something they chose... it's more about how big the donors' pockets are and how far you have to go to satisfy their egos.
 
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Getting there.
 
A lot more greenery than even in the renderings. I’m not sure how I feel about it since it modifies Liebeskind’s vision of a modern addition on a wide open square, a lot how generations of additions changed Viljo Revell’s Nathan Phillips Square.

But I guess ultimately, the ROM didn’t execute on the plan all too well anyway. Better paving materials, more seating that encourages staying a while and programming on the square to make it into *the* square in Yorkville, would have been better than the ugly empty square that the ROM let it become.

I do like the “new” vision that fits in with the rest of the leafy ROM where The Crystal will be jutting out from behind trees.

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Does anyone know why the city is not repaving this stretch of Bloor? It's completely bombed out and full of pot holes?
 
3rd Monday Nights Free

Free admission. Extended hours.

Bring family and friends to the ROM on the 3rd Monday Night of each month and enjoy free admission from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. With complimentary access and extended hours, visitors are invited to explore art, culture, and nature in the Museum’s 40 permanent galleries.*

Discover Museum highlights with a free tour led by a trained volunteer Docent. Two tours are offered at 6:00 pm, two at 6:30 pm and one at 7:00 pm, with each lasting about 45 minutes. A French tour is also offered at 6:00 pm. Meet at the Museum Tours sign in Gloria Chen Court, Level 1.

Date & Time
  • Monday, August 19, 2019; 5:30-8:30 pm
Location

Entrance, Michael Lee-Chin Crystal on Bloor Street

Upcoming Dates

September 16, 2019
October 21, 2019
November 18, 2019
December 16, 2019
January 20, 2020
February 17, 2020
March 16, 2020


 
It’s getting repaved next year I believe. This year is Bathurst to Spadina, next year is Spadina to Avenue Road.

Do you know when the City will be restoring the bits of granite sidewalk they destroyed between the ROM and Church Street? It's outrageous that they're allowed to rip up pavement but not required to put it back the way they found it. If a private citizen did that they'd be charged with vandalism.
 
ROM gets a smooth new landscape, eyes changes to its architecture

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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/art...smooth-new-landscape-and-eyes-changes-to-its/
(behind paywall)

The new square in front of the Crystal is called The Reed Family Plaza according to to Globe writer Alex Bozikovic. The outdoor theatre, as already reported here is named the Helga and Mike Schmidt Performance Terrace.

Basseches confirmed to me that the ROM is considering further changes to the building itself. These include a renovation of the museum’s theatre and a new entrance for it; a new restaurant at street level; “a new events and programming space along Philosopher’s Walk,” Basseches said, “and enhancing the Bloor Street entry experience.”

It appears as though the new Crystal entrance isn't a done deal. They're "looking into it". I'm kind of relieved. I'm ok with modifying the plaza in front but cutting out parts of the crystal, compromises its visual integrity, like blowing a hole into a painting so it's easier to hang. There's nothing wrong with the ROM entrance, only that the plaza wasn't completed in a way that guided people into it. Libeskind's design used angled benches and granite markings in the plaza to make it visually obvious which way the entrance was. Instead, handlers at the ROM scattered the benches randomly, defeating their purpose and in fact blocking the path to the entrance in some cases.

I'm happy to see that a restaurant will anchor the front, rather than the ROM store. So much of a museum's experience is compromised by the financial imperative of funnelling visitors into the gift shop, to the detriment of the natural flow. A restaurant in that spot will allow the Spirit Room to be opened up to create better circulation, both physically and visually through the space. The gift shop can be placed off to the side, opening up into the new outdoor theatre. There's plenty of room there and is presently unused space.

Both the plaza and outdoor theatre open tomorrow.
 
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I would say that I'd welcome a reinvisioning of the Crystal's Bloor entrance, it's a dark and cheap-feeling space at the moment.

The entire ground floor lobby needs to open up completely to the street- it can probably be done by recladding the ground level in glass, and making the entry portal more prominent.
 

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