ComptoirGeneral
Active Member
Wow that street level podium at John street is gorgeous
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Metro Toronto Convention Centre Revitalization | Province of Ontario
- Thread starter christiesplits
- Start date
StreetcarRider
New Member
Shock and awe!
www.thestar.com
Doug Ford says new ‘shock and awe’ convention centre will be almost five times the size of downtown Toronto complex
Sources say the province is leaning toward building it on the sprawling 192-acre Exhibition Place.
www.thestar.com
christiesplits
Senior Member
I'm so confused by thisAs you said it is owned by Oxford ... so maybe a joint deal ? But why would the province fund such a thing ?
John Michael McGrath on Twitter:
innsertnamehere
Superstar
So not at the MTCC by the sounds of it. We'll have to see.Shock and awe!
Doug Ford says new ‘shock and awe’ convention centre will be almost five times the size of downtown Toronto complex
Sources say the province is leaning toward building it on the sprawling 192-acre Exhibition Place.
2,000,000sf is huge.
rdaner
Senior Member
But the south building isn’t going anywhere…
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I could see Oxford redeveloping the north building into new office blocks with the south facility staying as-is for smaller functions.
cogito ergo
Active Member
Huge? ...depends.. OCCC in Orlando (two buildings combined) is around 7,000,000 sf.. just for reference!
cereal
New Member
During his press conference, I believe he said that the MTCC will continue to operate while the new centre was built. That backs up the Star's reporting that Exhibition Place is the location.
Northern Light
Superstar
By my math it would be the 5th largest convention facility in North America (if measuring exhibit space)
McCormick in Chicago is 2.6Mft2
Las Vegas CC is 2.5ft2
Orange County is 2.1Mft2
Orlando CC is 2.1Mft2
****
Enercare, at the Ex now is 1M ft2
Northern Light
Superstar
I'm being a smidge pedantic, but it's 2.1Mft2 of exhibition space.
The rest is otherwise utilized.
cogito ergo
Active Member
Yes, however the exhibitions space is always just a part of the Convention Centre program.. you kind of have to have it "all" to function..
)OCCC By The Numbers
Total Square Footage
Total: 7 millionWest Building: 4 million
North-South Building: 3 million
Exhibit Space
Total: 2,053,820 sq ftWest Building: 1,103,538 sq ft
North-South Building: 950,282 sq ft
Meeting Room Footage
Total: 479,190 sq ftWest Building: 313,140 sq ft
North-South Building: 166,050 sq ft
Meeting Rooms
Total: 74 roomsWest Building: 49 rooms
North-South Building: 25 rooms
Breakout Rooms
Total: 232 roomsWest Building: 138 rooms
North-South Building: 94 rooms
ShonTron
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Ford want to shove the convention centre to Exhibition Place? It’s not the worst idea (and it fits with his obsession with that part of Toronto), but there are lot of questions that it raises for me.
One, MTCC has by far the best transit access in the GTHA, including UP Express. The CNE grounds have GO Lakeshore and the future Ontario Line, but that will not be open for at least seven years. The streetcars are okay for local access but don’t have the speed or the capacity you need. Would Ford bring back King-Liberty Station to help serve this?
Hotel access is important too. Only one hotel is within walking distance – Hotel X. MTCC is a short walk to a bunch of them: Ritz Carlton, Intercontinental, Delta, Royal York, Hyatt Regency, even the Hilton and Sheraton. Chicago’s distant McCormick Center gets around this as it is serviced by a dedicated busway for hotel shuttle buses.
Exhibition Place is increasingly being built upon, with the proposed Hotel X expansion, the parking garage for Biff Tanner’s Pleasure Palace, plus the existing major uses like the Enercare/Automotive Building, BMO Field, etc.
Where would events like the CNE go?
One, MTCC has by far the best transit access in the GTHA, including UP Express. The CNE grounds have GO Lakeshore and the future Ontario Line, but that will not be open for at least seven years. The streetcars are okay for local access but don’t have the speed or the capacity you need. Would Ford bring back King-Liberty Station to help serve this?
Hotel access is important too. Only one hotel is within walking distance – Hotel X. MTCC is a short walk to a bunch of them: Ritz Carlton, Intercontinental, Delta, Royal York, Hyatt Regency, even the Hilton and Sheraton. Chicago’s distant McCormick Center gets around this as it is serviced by a dedicated busway for hotel shuttle buses.
Exhibition Place is increasingly being built upon, with the proposed Hotel X expansion, the parking garage for Biff Tanner’s Pleasure Palace, plus the existing major uses like the Enercare/Automotive Building, BMO Field, etc.
Where would events like the CNE go?
innsertnamehere
Superstar
There is a second hotel planned and I could definitely see a large, new hotel associated with the expansion itself.
StreetcarRider
New Member
It seems like the provincial government is putting a lot of development around Exhibition station like some kind of TOD plan for non-housing facilities. Could be good, except I thought that's what East Harbour was also maybe sort-of supposed to do?
Anyway, if the Convention Centre no longer needs a north-south connection over the tracks, then it offers a chance to rethink the Skywalk, with interesting implications for surrounding development including Alto.
(Yes, I know that Skywalk does more than connect the two parts of the Convention Centre. It was originally meant mostly to connect Union Station to the CN Tower and then-Skydome, and that's no longer strictly necessary, because Union Station has gained a south entrance and the South Core exists. Plus, if they ever get around to building the Spadina in-fill station on the GO lines, then that would probably divert some of the foot traffic starting at the Dome and the CN Tower from Union Station).
Anyway, if the Convention Centre no longer needs a north-south connection over the tracks, then it offers a chance to rethink the Skywalk, with interesting implications for surrounding development including Alto.
(Yes, I know that Skywalk does more than connect the two parts of the Convention Centre. It was originally meant mostly to connect Union Station to the CN Tower and then-Skydome, and that's no longer strictly necessary, because Union Station has gained a south entrance and the South Core exists. Plus, if they ever get around to building the Spadina in-fill station on the GO lines, then that would probably divert some of the foot traffic starting at the Dome and the CN Tower from Union Station).
WB62
Senior Member
Does the current skywalk really act as a connection between both sides? The convention centre has its own bridge.
The skywalk does connect visitors from both to Union Station and beyond, but I wouldn’t say it does that for the convention centre
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