Corus Quay | Complete | 8 st | East Bayfront

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by phunky

LOL. That park is sketchy. Your poor dogs. Find them a new park to walk!

Their favourite is Queen's Park, but they only go there at night. They also like Allan Gardens, but Cawthra is the closest. It is being completely renovated this summer and will be very nice come November.

[phunky]

Oh nice! Can't wait to see how it looks after. I can't remember, is Cawthra Park where the AIDS Memorial is?

[Taller, Better]

That's the one. It will have an expanded dog run, but it is taking them all summer.

[phunky]

THe last time I was there, the memorial was vandalized. Quite disappointing to see.

[Taller, Better]

vandalised? You mean those scratching marks on the first plaque?

[KGB]

It will have an expanded dog run, but it is taking them all summer.

How many years in a row do they have to replace the grass and have a fence around it half the year, to realize they need to come up with a different solution for Dog Shit Park?




KGB

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by KGB

How many years in a row do they have to replace the grass and have a fence around it half the year, to realize they need to come up with a different solution for Dog Shit Park? KGB

They finally "saw the light" this year. Underneath the park there are still the remains of the basement of the old Loblaws..they never bothered to break it up, just filled it in with earth. Thus, no drainage, and dead grass. They are using some sort of paving stones over that whole area, and turning the old kiddies park (and extending it) into the dog run. Kiddies Park Number Two (daycare thingy) is being remodelled,too. Pretty extensive renovation. Jasperhouse would be disappointed that his theories of park neglect are not being met.

[phunky]

Originally Posted by Taller, Better

vandalised? You mean those scratching marks on the first plaque?

Yes. It was a few years ago, so it might have been fixed or something. It was very bad looking when I saw it.

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by phunky

Yes. It was a few years ago, so it might have been fixed or something. It was very bad looking when I saw it.

It is still there, as far as I know. Kind of bizarre... just scratches on the first, and basically blank plaque. The rest of the dozen or so plinths are untouched. Sort of part of the provenance of the memorial now, I guess. I suppose it is amazing that that is all the vandalism that has been done in a sometimes sketchy downtown park.

[bar1967]

anyone know when we will get an updated render of the project? Fingers crossed it will be an improvement overt the last version....

[Jackhammer]

Originally Posted by phunky

Yes. Best school ever.

A fellow alumnus. Interesting...now did you attend the school for the arts program, or were you caught in the boundary such as myself.

I can't say that attending the school provided me with any further appreciation of the arts with the exception of ballet (having some limited knowledge of Baryshnikov and Nureyev seemed any easy in with the female dancers).

The school sure had its share of colourful characters. I can only think of a couple in my year that launched careers in the arts. I had a few classes with Amanda Stepto (aka Spike from Degrassi) and Sabrini Grdevich (caught my attention as a secretary robot who strips on command in Spielberg's 2001 film Artificial Intelligence: AI). Nice girls.

Anyway, I digress - not sure where I was going with this. So we almost went to school together - cool - I'm thinking our graduating years are about 10 years apart.

Jackhammer, Class of '89 - go Panthers.

[phunky]

Originally Posted by Jackhammer

A fellow alumnus. Interesting...now did you attend the school for the arts program, or were you caught in the boundary such as myself.

I can't say that attending the school provided me with any further appreciation of the arts with the exception of ballet (having some limited knowledge of Baryshnikov and Nureyev seemed any easy in with the female dancers).

The school sure had its share of colourful characters. I can only think of a couple in my year that launched careers in the arts. I had a few classes with Amanda Stepto (aka Spike from Degrassi) and Sabrini Grdevich (caught my attention as a secretary robot who strips on command in Spielberg's 2001 film Artificial Intelligence: AI). Nice girls.

Anyway, I digress - not sure where I was going with this. So we almost went to school together - cool - I'm thinking our graduating years are about 10 years apart.

Jackhammer, Class of '89 - go Panthers.

I am class of 2000. I was flex boundary. I managed to get in without living in the boundary for the school, nor as an arts student. I still took art courses though. Visual and fashion arts. Just didn't have a major.

[Mollywood]

"Their favourite is Queens Park, but they only go there at night." Funny, my friends and Taller Better's dogs, seem to share the same night-time haunts. lol :-P

[TKTKTK]

Originally Posted by Mollywood

"Their favourite is Queens Park, but they only go there at night." Funny, my friends and Taller Better's dogs, seem to share the same night-time haunts. lol :-P

I was thinking the same thing. I'll bet "Here, boy!" gets mixed results.

[Taller, Better]

LOL! Yes, I have noticed the shadowy figures amongst the trees, and it took me a little while to figure out what they were doing! They are all pretty afraid of my dogs, though!!

[current]

Article from the January 2008 issue of The Bulletin:

Bait and switch?

Key waterfront building design is cheapened

By Duncan McAllister

Discord over the final designs of the former "Project Symphony" has its developers and backers about to face the music. The design review panel overseeing the project has objected to changes in design and to the use of cheaper materials than promised. And the project is under construction. But $9 million in financing is being withheld for the controversial building - renamed First Waterfront Place - pending the completion of the design review. As the first development of the East Bayfront precinct, the new home for 1,100 employees of Corus Entertainment at the foot of Jarvis St. lacks significant architectural features that were presented in July. It creates no new jobs, which is the reason the city desires commercial development: “Employment lands.”

The city, the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corp. (TWRC) and the Toronto Economic Development Corp. (TEDCO) have been working through a common process todevelop the project.

According to Marisa Piatteli of Waterfront Toronto, “TEDCO received conditional approval based on designs before the panel and recommendations with other elements to be included, back in July. The latest designs did not reflect the design that was conditionally approved.”

Located on the 10 hectares of infill at the south side of Queen’s Quay east of Jarvis slip, formally known as the Queen Elizabeth Docks, the land is owned by TEDCO, a controversial “arms-length” city agency that is frequently criticized and is able to develop city-owned lands that it controls. The planned 8-storey building, a combination of office and retail space, would be approximately 500,000 square feet with an atrium, public space, walkways and underground parking. A public consultation meeting was hosted by Councilor Pam McConnell on March 19 with 143 people attending.

Corus, controlled by the Shaw family of Calgary, was considered to be an ideal tenant for the location to consolidate their 11 Toronto locations under one roof. Corus owns production and animation facilities in Liberty Village and radio stations across Canada. TEDCO Pres. Jeff Steiner, in an April 2007 report to council said, “While 75% of the projected East Bayfront development will be residential, the most difficult development to attract is the 25% employment target, especially knowledge-based, high-quality office and creative workers.” But they’re moving from other parts of Toronto to the water-front.

In a special TWRC board meeting Dec. 7, Mayor David Miller moved that TEDCO prepare a revised submission to the design review panel. They accepted the design panel’s recommendation to withhold approval of the TEDCO plan.

In December the board decided to withhold the lion’s share of the $12.5 million commitment from Waterfront Toronto until TEDCO and their architects, Diamond and Schmitt, can resolve several architectural variances identified by the design panel.

“Our board of directors was very firm on the fact that the $9 million [holdback] was based on design excellence in keeping with and implementing the recommendations flowing from the design review panel,” says Piattelli.

Bruce Kuwabara, architect and head of the design review panel, criticized the loss of the central feature: “The ‘egg-like’ conference room which appeared to float in the centre of the atrium has been replaced with a conventional room, eliminating the only distinctive architectural form visible on the south façade from the water’s edge.”

In addition, Kuwabara outlines several other major design issues in a Nov. 30 memo published on the Waterfront Toronto website that includes a loss of urban profile, predominance of service entries and a compromised atrium. Building materials have been substituted, he reports—the original plans called for black granite columns, now replaced with pre-cast concrete. The document shows before and after renderings which make clear where corners have been cut.

“The good news is TEDCO has been asked to resubmit the design [in] keeping with the understanding of what the recommendations of the panel were,” says Piattelli. “We’re very hopeful that they will present something which goes back to what the design review panel saw—in fact had been very excited about.”

According to Eva Varangu of TEDCO, “This is an exciting opportunity to revitalize the waterfront with Corus Entertainment. TEDCO is working closely with the city, Waterfront Toronto and the Waterfront Design Review Panel to resolve concerns about the design, while working within our tenant’s requirements. We have already held further meetings and will continue to work together to make this first building on the East Bayfront the best we can.”

Not everyone is as excited about the development. Some residents and business owners were hoping for public spaces rather than a commercial building, although the site is actually zoned for mixed-use.

“For seven years we went to public meetings for the East Bayfront, and the resounding call from both business owners and residents in the area was for public space,“ says JimMirkopoulos, of Cinespace film studios.

As the previous land users of that site, Cinespace leased a building from TEDCO. For 12 years, 175 Queens Quay was the home of a thriving 150,000-square-foot film production facility called Marine Terminal Studios.

A year ago they were given just two months’ notice to vacate the property to make way for the Bayshore project. Mirkopoulos appealed to the mayor—with 30 letters from film producers and over 6,000 signatures—to delay the eviction as they had productions underway. The mayor did not respond. As a result, Cinespace vacated Marine Terminal 28 in February to make way for the new development. In a letter to the editor to The Toronto Star, Mirkopoulos wrote that “TEDCO’s ‘Project Symphony’ reverses seven years of waterfront consultations by placing a commercial building at the site contravenes the mandated architectural competitive process to achieve design excellence and only transplants existing jobs from Liberty Village instead of attracting new ones, as originally advertised.”

January 2008 The Bulletin www.TheBulletin.ca



http://www.thetorontobulletin.com/Archives/jan08.pdf
Central Atrium June 13, 2007 plan
Central Atrium Nov. 14, 2007 plan
The difference five months can make is displayed here in this comparison prepared by Waterfront Toronto. It shows how the TEDCO-Corus building first attracted praise from architects for its beauty and novelty. It won quick approval, especially for the ‘egg’ feature in the June design. City funding has been withheld because TEDCO and Corus revamped the praiseworthy aspects for a perhaps lower-quality, less publicly functional building.


Ground-floor plan changes dramatically from the approved architectural concept at top. June 13, 2007Nov. 14, 2007

[urban 2.0]

... ya I read that the other day ... I like the pictures!!

Who do our city agencies work for???? They seem to work for the developers and not the city.

I think they're all looking out for their careers.

[current]

Article from the Toronto Star from Dec 8 2007, they only have a foundation permit, the city has yet to approve the site plan.

New designs must impress

Group pulls funding, says best parts of building plans gone

Dec 08, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Hume
Urban issues columnist

In the first test of its commitment to architectural excellence, Waterfront Toronto has made it clear it will accept no substitutes.

The occasion came yesterday when the Waterfront Design Review Panel recommended the agency withdraw its support for the $150-million headquarters the Toronto Economic Development Corporation is building for Corus Entertainment.

The board endorsed the panel decision unanimously and withdrew $9 million of its $12.5 million contribution to the project until new designs are submitted and approved. Most of the budget, $132 million, will come from the city in the form of a loan to TEDCO.

The concrete-and-glass structure, at the foot of Jarvis St. on Lake Ontario, will be the first constructed under the aegis of Waterfront Toronto (formerly the Toronto Waterfront Development Corp.).

Panel members have had issues with the design since it was presented last February. Though changes were made, improvements added and conditional approval granted, panel chair Bruce Kuwabara said they weren't enough.

"There was much discussion and a huge amount of disappointment," Kuwabara told the waterfront board yesterday. "The things that were interesting are gone. We cannot support this project."

Specifically, the panel was concerned about the much-reduced public nature of the atrium, especially the elimination of a striking egg-shaped conference room, as well as the preponderance of loading bays and loss of roof terraces. The panel was also worried the materials have been downgraded; in one instance, pre-cast concrete pillars have replaced black granite columns. The big criticism was that the building would do little to enhance the skyline or the waterfront.

TEDCO president Jeff Steiner countered that many of the panel's concerns were based on misunderstandings, but insisted the building would be improved.

"We will make all the changes that are possible," he said. "But we need better clarity from the panel."

Mayor David Miller, a Waterfront Toronto board member, was clearly unimpressed by what he saw. It was he who introduced the motion that upheld the panel's decision.

"If it's not done with design excellence," Miller declared, "it won't work. What Waterfront Toronto did today was to say that you have to achieve design excellence."

Chris Glaisek, Waterfront Toronto's vice-president of planning and design, was elated. "I'm thrilled we got to this point," he said. "It's incredibly significant that the board supported the panel."

Waterfront Toronto president and CEO John Campbell agreed. "It's critical that the board has expressed its support for the panel. It reinforces the need for great architecture on the waterfront."

But time is short; excavation has started and TEDCO wants to begin construction as soon as possible. Though the city has granted TEDCO a foundation permit, it has yet to approve the site plan. Given the mayor is on the waterfront board, that's unlikely to happen until the panel likes what it sees.

Steiner remained adamant, however, that all would end well.

"They'll all say it's a fantastic building," he argued. "Its role is to play a buffer to Redpath Sugar (just west). It's a beautiful building. It's a real building. But it's not the public building everybody wanted."

Steiner was referring to earlier speculation that the site might be the location of a major cultural facility, rather than a corporate office. "We are reviewing TEDCO's mandate," said Miller, concerned, perhaps, that the deal could cost taxpayers a lot more and deliver a lot less than promised.

http://www.thestar.com/article/283743


First Waterfront Place will be located next to the Jarvis St. Slip and here are the three finalists:
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/295439
and the article:
http://www.thestar.com/article/295532

[Tuscani01]

Originally Posted by current

"They'll all say it's a fantastic building," he argued. "Its role is to play a buffer to Redpath Sugar (just west).

So once Redpath disappears we will need a buffer for this building! Sounds great.

[current]

Article from the January 21 Globe and Mail.

INSIDE CITY HALL
TEDCO tower's latest revisions submitted to design panel
January 21, 2008

Will the gloves come off again over the latest revisions, due today, to architectural plans for the first major development on Toronto's waterfront?

The answer will come quickly when a blue-ribbon design panel meets this morning to review the latest look of a $160-million office building at the foot of Jarvis Street.

Last December, with strong political backing from the board of Waterfront Toronto, the 13-member panel balked at what they saw as a watered-down design for the building, under development by city agency Toronto Economic Development Corporation for Corus Entertainment.

Waterfront advocates are rooting for the panel - led by Toronto architect Bruce Kuwabara and other strong-minded members - to do its job and keep TEDCO's feet to the fire so the project meets high standards for design and environmental quality.

The see-saw battle over the Corus building dates to June, 2007, when the panel gave conditional approval to a design that included an egg-shaped auditorium in an atrium linking two wings of the low-rise glass building. By November, the "egg" and other features had disappeared, many believe to keep down costs, prompting an infuriated panel to rethink its support.

In December, backing up the panel, the waterfront board held back on a $9-million payment to prod project architects to fix the flaws. Whatever the panel decides, its advice will be given to the waterfront board when it meets later this month.

Much is riding on the outcome - not least the reputation of the panel (faced with its first project) and the clout of the government-funded waterfront agency (facing public demands for a clean, green, accessible water's edge).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ional/Ontario/