They should make this permanent - it could work out even as a winter market, with stand up propane heaters for seatings/warmup spots.
Beaver tails!

Snowbank walls with Christmas trees mounted into them. An outdoor firepit. Just like the Ottawa Rideau Canal Skateway rest spots.

If only there was just a few more square meters for a "pocket ice rink". Maybe they can shut down Front for 1 week to do that!
 
Jen Keesmaat has says to cyclists on Front that "you might need to walk your bike".

So... mission accomplished? Is that what we were aiming for?
 
Compromise: 4-sided glass enclosure, so it's just a legal fireplace that looks like a high-tech firepit.

Nice I like that idea, particularly if you can have it designed like a piece of public art - but in the short run I don't think that's going to happen. I think at this stage propane patio heaters would serve the purpose.

AoD
 
Nice I like that idea, particularly if you can have it designed like a piece of public art - but in the short run I don't think that's going to happen. I think at this stage propane patio heaters would serve the purpose.
Perhaps. But if Ottawa's Parliament can have an open flame in the middle of their city, surely Toronto can permit a legally jailed flame in a nanny enclosure (aka "fireplace").
/s

Send the suggestion to them anyway :)
 
Last edited:
It's amazing how a quality space like this inspires so much pride and creativity!... and a new successful public space is created. Sweet.
 
As much as it is great idea, I am not sure if the city can have/want to have open flames in a public space over major liability issues.

AoD

4378980586_33b9fd1cbe.jpg


I've seen them in Montreal for the winter festivals, like Montreal en lumieres, so there can't be a huge liability issue. Sometimes the flame is enclosed, more often than not it isn't.
 
Just throw up some pop-up gaslights, christmas trees, old-fashioned-look christmas lighting, and some kind of flaming unit (enclosed or not) this Christmas.

Bring a little visiting 1920s vibe to the Union plaza this winter. I dare Toronto to do this.
 
I've seen them in Montreal for the winter festivals, like Montreal en lumieres, so there can't be a huge liability issue. Sometimes the flame is enclosed, more often than not it isn't.

I think Montreal might have a very different bureaucratic culture than Toronto.

We have an eternal flame in David Pecault Square.

True, but it's the middle of a pond with no planned access.

AoD
 
I think Montreal might have a very different bureaucratic culture than Toronto.
Adapt, adapt!

Get a special waiver, like for Pan Am torches, for flambé performances, Distillery outdoor campfire, whatnot. Make that flame comply with the law somehow with a cage of some kind. Grind that square peg on a lathe for the round hole. Don't let the transit vogons win.
 

Back
Top