salsa said:
I'm starting to miss that little open space that was once there.
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Same. There are all sorts of interventions that could have improved the open square while also improving the retail space at the Yonge-Eglinton Centre. But of course, Rio-Can opted for a hulking, graceless expansion that is worse than the sum of its parts.
 
Torontovibe said:
That space could have (and should have) been nice, if they would have put even the tiniest bit of effort into it. It could have made a great outdoor patio for a restaurant or a nice public square but I'm not opposed to what's going there now.
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modernizt said:
Same. There are all sorts of interventions that could have improved the open square while also improving the retail space at the Yonge-Eglinton Centre. But of course, Rio-Can opted for a hulking, graceless expansion that is worse than the sum of its parts.
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Totally agree. Riocan would rather develop it to make more money, rather than improve the square.
 
Torontovibe said:
That space could have (and should have) been nice, if they would have put even the tiniest bit of effort into it. It could have made a great outdoor patio for a restaurant or a nice public square but I'm not opposed to what's going there now.
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I think several fixes done together would have probably improved things:

- As you mentioned, both restaurant & public seating was lacking, the place had no where to sit. By the end I think Aroma had a small patio though.
- Even though there were only a few steps, the steps were a psychological barrier. Any public space with steps you have to go up is a penalty.
- The mall entrances are hidden and don't promote the kind of "in between" areas where the shop or stores open up into the outside. You have blank walls facing the square.
- A few more trees at least.
- Some small stores near by may have helped. Give people some reason to be there.

It should be interesting to see how the rooftop area does. The problem is you have to go into the building, go up and then go outside again to access it.
 
^^ Well, the renderings didn't show that godawful Pickle Barrel sign. Geez. I mean, geez!
 
500 years from now the only thing archeologists will dig up from our cities will be tons of glass cladding. No permanent structures like the colosseum in Rome. Just lots of glass cladding. :D
 
hawc said:
500 years from now the only thing archeologists will dig up from our cities will be tons of glass cladding. No permanent structures like the colosseum in Rome. Just lots of glass cladding. :D
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You definitely need to read/see The World Without Us/Life After People. Anyways, fairly certain concrete will last for awhile, and Robarts Library will outlast them all.

AoD
 
chriskayTO said:
Wait, what? I had no idea - I moved to the city in 2000 and it was gone. I assume Indigo is the former space?
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No by 2000 Eatons was long gone too. Eatons opened as Horizons (their discount value chain) when the centre opened. It opened on the second (third floor) where Toys R Us and Goodlife and the Pickle Barrel currently are. It had that entire floor. This is why there is that lone escalator near the Metro that goes only one way (up). This was the entrance to Eatons. The eastern half of that floor (where the steps to Indigo are and the movie theatre ticking concession) didn't exist.

Indigo was purpose built along with the movie theatre in... 1998/1999 (approx), creating a new mall corridor running N/S from Rexall to Urban Outfitters (at the time HMV). I think the Eatons was one of the original reasons the mall's layout has never really quite worked.

This is why I call the place the Frankenstein Mall. You have the 1970's brutalism, with the late 90's PoMo futurism, coupled with the 2015 green glass box.

As for the square - I personally think it was irredeemable (mostly due to weather and wind - it was probably the windiest place in the city).
 
pw20 said:
As for the square - I personally think it was irredeemable (mostly due to weather and wind - it was probably the windiest place in the city).
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There are ways around that - but of course no one will want to pay extra for something that doesn't really pay when it can be used for additional development space.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
There are ways around that - but of course no one will want to pay extra for something that doesn't really pay when it can be used for additional development space.

AoD
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I'm not sure what a developer could do to counter the fact that its at centre of a wind tunnel. Perhaps extending the silver city wing south (creating a street-wall around Yonge Street) while leaving a square behind would have helped. Having trudged through that square for ten years on a daily basis... I really think it was irredeemable.
 
The eventual redevelopment of the bus terminal lands and adjacent buildings will be our last chance to get a decent public square at this intersection.
 
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