The lights that illuminate City Hall go out at midnight? Why even bother with lighting if it's barely to be used?
 
taal said:
I wish there were a couple more rows of them.
Click to expand...

You'll get your wish. When the new reflecting pool is done, the fountains inside will look like this. LED (coloured) lighting is also being built into the rink so we'll have some colour in the winter as well.
 
Joe R. said:
The lights that illuminate City Hall go out at midnight? Why even bother with lighting if it's barely to be used?
Click to expand...

The LED lighting onto the towers stay on all night (they are currently red) but most of the lighting in the Square goes off at midnight, perhaps 1am - makes no sense to me. Perhaps with more energy efficient lighting slowly being added & upgraded they'll be able to keep some lighting on in there throughout the night.
 
Belated thanks for the photos, defence5 - quite nice! How tall does the fountains actually get? It's somewhat difficult to judge from the photos.

AoD
 
It was around 7ft when I was there.

There was a technician talking to someone on a radio as they adjusted the lighting. The fountains remained constant during all the testing, so I don't know if they can adjust the height.

AlvinofDiaspar said:
Belated thanks for the photos, defence5 - quite nice! How tall does the fountains actually get? It's somewhat difficult to judge from the photos.

AoD
Click to expand...
 
defence5:

Thanks for that additional bit of info - either way, 7ft is pretty decent height - I imagine they can't up the pressure without risking potential injury to someone.

AoD
 
Who goes to Nathan Phillips Square at one in the morning? I can understand keeping them lit during Nuit Blanche, maybe keeping them on until two to entertain any post-post-theatre/concert crowds going by, but for a good part of the night it will just be a waste.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
Who goes to Nathan Phillips Square at one in the morning? I can understand keeping them lit during Nuit Blanche, maybe keeping them on until two to entertain any post-post-theatre/concert crowds going by, but for a good part of the night it will just be a waste.
Click to expand...

I don't think it would a waste. Lighting is useful for safety, and people actually do go through NPS at one in the morning, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. It would be good to let people have late evening strolls without feeling like they're going to get mugged there. It's very surprising to see the square dark at night, considering how many relatively trivial parks all over the city have lighting for the whole night.
 
Funny his worship should be talking about rules and regulations...and it is curious that these problems resurfaced during his watch, isn't it? That said, I think one needs to look into whether those who are sleeping there is doing so on a day-in-day-out basis, or more transiently - the translation of response will be correspondingly different.

AoD
 
Last edited:
It's depressing to walk through the square after a night out or an event and seeing it completely dark, except for the area under the walkways that is filled with homeless people and their carts. It looks like civic failure, both in managing a public space and dealing with social issues. I shudder to think that tourists see these same scenes at what is supposed to be the most important place in the city.
 
I've never been convinced all this work exceeds a single townhouse in Markham. Either we're getting a good look at what city workers are capable of, or this whole things is just being thought out as they go.

Does a townhouse in Markham have a 2,400-car underground garage? Really, this project is slow because the whole square is in fact a roof for the garage beneath. And it has needed to be completely replaced - which wasn't clear when the project was conceived. That's a lot of roof. And that is where most of the money is going. Compared to that, the stage, pavilion and cafe are piddly.

I addressed this on my blog No Mean City a few weeks ago. The city's done a horrible job of communicating this.
 
12 September 2012

015r-XL.jpg


016r-XL.jpg


023r-XL.jpg


022r-XL.jpg


017r-XL.jpg


036r-XL.jpg


037r-XL.jpg
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top