MLSE Seeks Injunction Over Ryerson Plan for Maple Leaf Gardens

[Taller, Better]

I'm with Fil on that one; never seen anything styled even remotely like this in Montreal. Retail spaces and malls are actually pretty conservative there, and a lot of them were installed some years ago. This is extremely contemporary and very urban looking.
A friend was talking recently about The Bay's food court in the downtown store, and the Eaton Centre (and Urban Eatery) renovation, and noted that downtown is really getting a stylish interior facelift.

[Nouvellecosse]

I'm not specifically talking about anything retail related!! I'm talking about stuff like the parts of the walls with small tile or exposed concrete similar to some metro stations and other public buildings. Also, areas like those around the checkout for instance have such bright vibrant colours they remind me of art and murals from MTL.

[Taller, Better]

I think we all see different things when we travel, and that's okay!

[intervention]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Wow, awesome collection of pics! I'm really liking the vibrant Montrealish aesthetic!

What? I just spent a week in Montreal and there is nothing this contemporary and at this scale there (for better, or worse). As already mentioned, most retail and food space based retail especially is older.

[Taller, Better]

I do think I understand what he means, and what sparked his feeling of recognition:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I'm not specifically talking about anything retail related!! I'm talking about stuff like the parts of the walls with small tile or exposed concrete similar to some metro stations and other public buildings. Also, areas like those around the checkout for instance have such bright vibrant colours they remind me of art and murals from MTL.

Many of the public works in Montreal were built in preparation for Expo '67, and there is a distinct retro look to the orange/brown tiles, and exposed concrete, etc... Retro '60s/'70s is a look that polarizes people; aesthetically, either it speaks to your soul, or it just looks dated. I grew up with it, so probably am much less fond of it than for someone younger who did not. But the use of exposed concrete, and of orange tiles and other primary colour accent splashes of that period are visible throughout Montreal's Metro:



















and the kiosk-like freezers, etc... at Loblaws reminded me of mies van der rohe's stylings,
which of course is very '60's. They look a bit like the black shopfronts on the right hand side:





like all ageing subway systems, Montreal's needs upkeep, although it would be hard to do it
without changing the original style intent. I don't know if it would be possible to match this type
of 60's sheet mosaic-tiling today:






splashes of bright primary colours against an earth-tone monochromatic background:



This tunnel look is one of my favourite stations in Montreal; it still feels kind of cool and cosy in a way, but
when the escalator is not working it is hell to walk up all those steps:



Tile patterning is everywhere:





I like the idea of the overhead bridges in some of the stations:




So I have to say, the more I think about what nouvelle said, the more I can understand his point of reference!

[Filip]

I adore Montreal's metro.

[Diesel_Power]

what the ef!? Montreal has dunkin doughnuts!?

[MysticMcGoo]

Why wouldn't they?

[Taller, Better]

Of course it does! It's Montreal, not Paris.. it has loads of fast food places.

[current]

The red dot on the floor in aisle 25 that marks the location of Maple Leaf Gardens' centre ice.

image hosted on flickr

[Taller, Better]

Ahh!! Okay, thanks!

[vid]

I like how the shelves are not in disarray. It's very different than Superstore!

[allurban]

Originally Posted by current

The red dot on the floor in aisle 25 that marks the location of Maple Leaf Gardens' centre ice.

image hosted on flickr

Too bad they couldn't put a blue maple leaf or the words "centre ice" in the dot so people would know.

funny, I guess they are trying to make it into an interesting quirk instead.

Cheers, m

[Taller, Better]

Yes..... I think they keep it low key as a bit of a wink and a nod. Clever, really. I was kind of searching around for it but did not see it.

[current]

An ivory elephant? - Toronto Star article:

Maple Leaf Gardens Time Capsule Held Tiny Ivory Elephant

Video: http://www.thestar.com/videozone/112...s-time-capsule

Peter Edwards
Staff Reporter
Jan 26 2012

It was the elephant in the room — literally.

Why did Maple Leaf Gardens builder Conn Smythe include a tiny ivory elephant in the metal time capsule he had buried behind a cornerstone of the hockey shrine in 1931?

The carving, just the right size to hang on a necklace or keychain, was revealed Thursday morning at a ceremony at Ryerson University.

Also found in the handmade copper box were copies of the local newspapers from Sept. 21, 1931 — the Toronto Daily Star, the Globe, the Mail and Empire and the Evening Telegram — a stock prospectus for Maple Leaf Gardens, the 1930-31 National Hockey League handbook and a 1930 Ontario Hockey Association rule book.

Ryerson history professor Arne Kislenko noted the capsule was buried in the depths of the Great Depression, when there was 30 per cent unemployment....


Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/...f-gardens?bn=1

[current]

Can't wait to see the finished arena - Toronto Star article:

Ryerson Rink Close to Face-Off

NORM BETTS/RYERSON UNIVERSITY

Louise Brown
Mon Mar 26 2012

With the catwalks and gondola gone and decades of dirt scrubbed away, the vaulting ceiling of the old Maple Leaf Gardens has reclaimed a bright, open feel — “much like it was when Conn Smythe opened the building,” said Ryerson president Sheldon Levy Monday, after a recent peek at the site of the future Ryerson athletic complex.

The cement floor that will lie beneath the ice has been poured and Ryerson hopes that by June, work will be done on the $30-million project to convert the former home of the Maple Leafs into a joint sports complex — with a year-round rink on the third floor, basketball courts on the second and the bustling Loblaw store, already opened, on ground level. The full-sized rink is 100 ft. below the iconic dome and 50 ft. above street, making it the highest elevated skating rink in Toronto....

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/...se-to-face-off

[Taller, Better]

It is GORGEOUS with that exposed original ceiling.. WOW!!

[icemachine]

This is going to be a sweet place for players and spectators. I wonder what an hour's rental will go for?

[TheMann2000]

That's awesome. With that up there, I can almost accept the first floor being a grocery store.

I think Conn Smythe wouldn't be all that unhappy to see it all. He'd probably beat the dogs**t out of Brian Burke, but he'd like what he sees there.

[isaidso]

The hockey arena looks good, but I'm more interested in the basketball court; any photos of that?