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Superstar
The VIA concourse is looking a great deal better than it used to and it is not yet finished. UTers are always so impatient. We really don't want another 200ish 'airport terminal' location and it IS in a rather fine heritage building.
jdoe1369
Active Member
Honestly the re-done Via concourse is looking amazing so far. The little alcoves on the sides getting all that dark wood molding and heritage looking details, the new lights and such, it all looks like it'll end up nice. The only ugly part is the tiles on the columns which need a re-do.
crs1026
Senior Member
The trim around the storefronts in the VIA departures concourse is really, really nice. I’m excited about how this area will look when finished.
I only hope that the one installed fire door to the stairwells is temporary and not the intended design. What a mundane industrial quality door!
- Paul
I only hope that the one installed fire door to the stairwells is temporary and not the intended design. What a mundane industrial quality door!
- Paul
Attachments
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Superstar
Why do you think this is the final product? They really are making a great effort to deal with the heritage of Union Station in a respectful way (and the effect is really pretty good) so I think you might want to hold off on comments like this until you KNOW it's actually their final version. (I strongly doubt that it is and if I am wrong I will be among the first to complain!)
Richard White
Senior Member
crs1026
Senior Member
^ I wondered why that solitary door is there at all. It can't be for Code reasons, as all the other stairwells had no door at all. That's why I thought it had to be the first of many. As I noted, it may be temporary. I certainly hope so!
Note also the one-sided electrical rough-in. That's a hint to what the signage may end up looking like.
- Paul
Note also the one-sided electrical rough-in. That's a hint to what the signage may end up looking like.
- Paul
Student99
Active Member
I'll hold my final judgement until VIA's complete, but I'm not really getting why some of you are gushing over it... it looks very much like it used to, just cleaner and with some trim around doorways/alcoves. Hopefully they'll get some nice looking seating in there, and it will all be uniform instead of the mishmash of furniture at present.
Would have preferred to see more wood panelling... and maybe some limestone, granite, or marble... something nice.
Actually, I remember a trip to NYC when I was kid and was wishing initially that the union station reno would make it more like Grand Central Station
THIS. I find the tiles pretty fugly, even in their replaced state. Is the tile design really heritage? It doesn't match the aesthetics of the great hall and west wing.... It does look like something from the 70s to my eyes- someone please surprise me and tell me the design dates much further back than that.
Would have preferred to see more wood panelling... and maybe some limestone, granite, or marble... something nice.
Actually, I remember a trip to NYC when I was kid and was wishing initially that the union station reno would make it more like Grand Central Station
Richard White
Senior Member
They wanted to restore the station to its previous state without any major modifications (unless required by law). The tiles are indicative of the early to mid 1900s. It was a common design style up until the 1950s really.
The point as I said before was to restore it, not gut it and make it look like a modern airport terminal. You might find the tiles repulsive BUT they are somewhat original to the station and therefore being restored.
TransitBart
Senior Member
Isn’t god-awfulness a good reason?
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Superstar
If that were the case I MIGHT agree with you. It isn`t.
Richard White
Senior Member
Tell that to Parks Canada. It may be god awful to look at (in your opinion) but it is heritage and somewhat original to the station. Like it or not, it's going in.
cplchanb
Senior Member
i just hate it when they use the heritage excuse. just because it's heritage doesn't mean that it looks good or is worth keeping. hell this entire station should've been gutted and modernised instead of patched up like it is now
Richard White
Senior Member
That may be the case but it is attitudes like that that gave Union the level of heritage protections causing you grief now.
In the 1970s efforts were underway as part of the Metro Centre development to tear down Union and build a more modern station given the state it was in at the time. People complained then that it was dated and run down.
After what happened at Penn Station in New York cooler heads prevailed and made it virtually impossible to change, demolish or substantially alter Union. Short of the station imploding, being nuked or engulfed in a 6+ alarm fire during Rush Hour there is no way that Union is going anywhere or being substantially altered.
Fritter
Active Member
One man's (person's) garbage is another's man's (person's) treasure?
crs1026
Senior Member
Actually, heritage does not imply preserving what is pretty. It's about preserving what is significant. (Personally, I think Union is pretty, but tastes may vary.)
I'm still waiting with baited breath for the platform stair doors, however. Sure looks like the original sliding doors with their ugly wired glass are gone. I would have thought that was a detail that might be retained, or at least interpreted somehow.
- Paul