Anyone have clue when the water elements in the square will open ! It looks like they're ready but they're not turning them on.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Most of the building stock here that came down in the 60's was nothing to cry over, yet cleaned up and re-purposed I'd still prefer it to what's there now. But that's progress.
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Sorta half-and-half on that one. On balance (the mind-blowing Broadway sign pylon notwithstanding), it was more on a level w/the Yonge St frontage sacrificed for Y-D Square and Toronto Death Square than w/the frontage sacrificed for the Eaton Centre. (And in the case of Toronto Death Square, a likely ditto to preferring-to-what's-there-now.)
 
Yes, I'd prefer to keep the three buildings that sat on Yonge-Dundas Square as they were in the late 1960's before the cinema was horrifically converted to retail uses (the "Dundas Square" mall) and frontages on the two remaining buildings needlessly stripped away. There were also some terrific buildings on the west side that were demolished to make way for Eaton Centre, another shame but we got an iconic shopping mall in return though never as pedestrian friendly as what was there before. I don't regret anything taken down for Nathan Phillips Square or City Hall, what we got far exceeds what used to be there, The Registry Building & Shea's Hippodrome was a shame IMO, but that has already been debated elsewhere.
I'm regressing into the past, must bravely move forward back into 21st century...

S/E corner of Yonge & Dundas back then, now Yonge Dundas Square

Yonge-DundasS-Ecorner.jpg
 
The canopy looks gorgeous. It definitely feels like the "cheapening" was avoided. In fact, we may have seen a rare instance of the "BetterThanExpected-ing".

The stage is on track to fullfilling its use as a full time place to sit and admire activity in the square and as a welcoming gateway into the elevated walkways (finally giving them purpose) which so happens to be a convenient ready-made stage for special events.
 
The City has tender out to run a food service operation in NPS:

Description: Operation of a Year Round Food Service Concession at Nathan Phillips Square.
Operation of a Year Round Food Service Concession at Nathan Phillips Square.
Issue date: August 9, 2012 Closing date: September 7, 2012
at 12:00 Noon
 
The restaurant is supposed to start construction in the Fall of 2013 and open by the end of the following year when the entire NPS revitalization will be complete.
 
MetroMan said:
The restaurant is supposed to start construction in the Fall of 2013 and open by the end of the following year when the entire NPS revitalization will be complete.
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Wow, amazing that such a simple project will have taken the city 8+ years to complete.
 
They're completely rebuilding the rink, restoring the arches and upgrading the lighting. It is on track to be ready for skating season.
 
What's amazing to me is how few construction workers there are at any given time. It's like they are trying to drag this out as long as possible. What a crazy way to build things. When I was there a few days ago, I saw 2 guys working. What major construction site has 2 construction workers doing a job? I just find it so strange. I'm really curious why that is and who benefits from doing things that slowly. (somebody must benefit from it, or they wouldn't do it that way)
 
Torontovibe said:
What's amazing to me is how few construction workers there are at any given time. It's like they are trying to drag this out as long as possible. What a crazy way to build things. When I was there a few days ago, I saw 2 guys working. What major construction site has 2 construction workers doing a job? I just find it so strange. I'm really curious why that is and who benefits from doing things that slowly. (somebody must benefit from it, or they wouldn't do it that way)
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This is history repeating itself, I can think of so many more city run projects that went like this. That last bit that you have in brackets, Torontovibe -- I must admit I think the same thing to myself when I see this sort of thing going on.

I wish more folks cared. There is so much fodder here for a caustic or sarcastic journalist, let alone a serious writer. Our main public square has been tied up for so long, and the effort need not have taken more than two years max.
 
It has to do with money. The $40M (now $65M) wasn't available in one lump sum. It trickles in from different budgets and via different committees. This isn't one project. They are many. One budget for the skating pavilion, then another project that involves building the stage, then another for the fountains, etc.

This is a case when bureaucracy causes a budget to increase. If it were all done more efficiently and as one continuous project, I have little doubt that the cost would fall by 25% or more.
 
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