Torontovibe said:
^^ Those lights change colours and patterns. I hope they paint those cement columns white, so the colours show even better. Right now the are spray painted where they require repairs, so once it's repaired, I'm sure they will paint them.
Click to expand...
You could say I am intimately familiar with those lights ;)

My question is whether or not they now come on nightly or not? I've dropped by a few times and never seen them on.
 
I'm curious as to what the limitations are on covering/altering the surface of the overpass structure itself. The underside would be far more inviting if it were covered with sound damping material, or even if the underside of the structure has the equivalent of a "drop ceiling". (These kind of enhancements would also go a long way to making the underside of the Gardiner more inviting.) But I presume that there are issues with maintenance of the structure itself that prevent much alteration/addition -- does anyone know if that's correct?
 
Tulse said:
...or even if the underside of the structure has the equivalent of a "drop ceiling". (These kind of enhancements would also go a long way to making the underside of the Gardiner more inviting.) But I presume that there are issues with maintenance of the structure itself that prevent much alteration/addition -- does anyone know if that's correct?
Click to expand...

I think the pigeon population would support your idea.
 
This is where the treed final phase is going to be built:

IMG3316-L.jpg


IMG3317-L.jpg
 
neubilder said:
I think the pigeon population would support your idea.
Click to expand...
You'd have to first seal off the ends where the openings between the trusses are, but you could install a stretch-frame fabric that would both cover the underside, and not give birds anywhere to enter or sit. It's possible, and would make a nice underside for both visual purposes and to reflect the lighting back downwards - but probably end up being more trouble than it's worth. It's easy to build such a system - it's done for signs and billboards all the time - but those sit vertically and don't accumulate insects or debris the way this might. An architectural panel type system woudl be more structurally sound and cleanable, but you still have to make sure that any entry points are sealed off. Again, possible, but probably not in the budget.
 
They should line the underside with opaque white plexiglass. Durable, easy to clean and most importantly it would reflect all those lights
 
WT is hoping to start fixing the concrete overpass on top of Underpass Park by end of April (see CEO Report to their March Board meeting) and they seem to have started work on the section of the park west of St Lawrence Street.
 
The work on the western section of Underpass Park (west of St Lawrence Street) continues with lots of excavation and removal of contaminated (?) soil. In addition the City has announced that St Lawrence Street will be closed - presumably to allow work on joining the sections of the park east and west of the street. See:

St Lawrence St
From Road: Eastern Ave Diversion
To Road: Eastern Ave
Start Time: Apr 17, 2012 12:00 PM
End Time: Dec 30, 2012 11:59 PM
Lanes Affected: road closure due to Underpass park
 
Yes, walked by yesterday and earth is being moved on the site west of St. Lawrence St. Looks better already!

Excited about this park and also the King/Queen Triangle park. Will really add value to the neighbourhood and much needed greenspace beyond Don River Park. Moving from a very leafy residential area in High Park to the River City development, I will honour every new tree planted here haha :)
 
RiverCity1 said:
Yes, walked by yesterday and earth is being moved on the site west of St. Lawrence St. Looks better already!

Excited about this park and also the King/Queen Triangle park. Will really add value to the neighbourhood and much needed greenspace beyond Don River Park. Moving from a very leafy residential area in High Park to the River City development, I will honour every new tree planted here haha :)
Click to expand...

According to the plans you will have 54 to honour!

Phase II – Block 18:
 Location: west of St. Lawrence Street
 Trees
o Kentucky Coffee and Black Locust, which are salt tolerant and have a leaf pattern that limits shading.
o Number of trees: 54 total
 Community Garden
o Six garden plots along the southern edge of the park west of St. Lawrence Street, in raised beds with concrete curbing and concrete ribbon walls with wood tops to provide seating along garden edges.
 
Thank you, DSC! This is great info, and I'm happy lots of trees will be planted here (tough, city trees that no other trees will mess with haha).

Prior to moving to TO, I spent years in the west suburbs moving from new construction house to new construction house depending on my work location (don't laugh...lol). So...I'm no stranger to dirt, noise, and construction vehicles. Kind of love anything to do with construction, really -- seeing something new or improved being built from something derelict. Sometimes it works with good planning initiatives, and sometimes it doesn't and fails miserably, as we all know.

But what I love most about this area, and the West Donlands M-plan, is that the parks are being developed FIRST, adding increased value (on many levels) for the developable blocks ahead of any new construction. Well done! And unlike anything that I have experienced in planning and real estate development thus far where local parks are often completed years and years after people move into their new homes or condos.

I can see that local residents/CRBA have put in great efforts in working with WT...and that the unique charm and character of Corktown should remain, but be enhanced with the new neighbouring developments. This is the way planning should work.

Just one question: why so much charcoal grey brick? Don't get me wrong...I like the look a lot and I think that it's a very attractive new condo loft building at 510 King Street East...but a little grey goes a long way and buildings with this colour brick should be spaced well apart (note to TCHC Senior's Building).

But, another opionion could be that the black and white River City buildings, along with the charcoal grey Corktown District Lofts and TCHC buildings might look amazing as a whole against a sea of new green spaces, green roofs, and street trees...coupled with colourful art installations and with the green, blue, and hot pink!!! lights at Underpass Park :)
 
Today all cars parked on "Old Eastern Avenue" - west of St Lawrence Street have notices on them saying that Old Eastern Avenue will be completely closed from tomorrow through mid-July for 'reconstruction'. I assume they are hooking up all the utilities between the WDL and the rest of the City infrastructure and also to allow work on the western part of Underpass park.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top