Metro Toronto Convention Centre Revitalization | Province of Ontario

[taal]

So a few thoughts/questions:

1. Why are we all thinking the Ex/Ontario place - given how it was brought up it sounded like somewhere entirely different ? Could be somewhere in the portlands ... could it be somewhere elsewhere in the GTA ? ... for hotel space alone none really make sense to me but that hasn't stopped such decisions from being made ?
2. Say this happens, what would Oxford do with convention center space (they only own the space they do not operate MTCC) ... do they find a new convention center operator and potentially renovate it (in-place) and sell its location compared to the new MTCC ... do they try to redevelop it all to condos/offices/rentals (wouldn't be the best time for any of these ... so maybe they just keep it empty until the market changes) ?

 

[CharmAlarm]

Looking at Google Maps and available land -- if Enercare Centre is 1M sq.ft. that's a pretty big footprint. To the southwest of that, the new hotel and concert venue is to be built which leaves even less available land - the parking lot south of BMO Field. If this thing is really going to be 2M sq.ft., the only logical thing (unfortunately) will be to demolish the Better Living Centre AND the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The new building would presumably wrap around BMO field. Just a guess. Thoughts?

 

[Northern Light]

Looking at Google Maps and available land -- if Enercare Centre is 1M sq.ft. that's a pretty big footprint. To the southwest of that, the new hotel and concert venue is to be built which leaves even less available land - the parking lot south of BMO Field. If this thing is really going to be 2M sq.ft., the only logical thing (unfortunately) will be to demolish the Better Living Centre AND the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The new building would presumably wrap around BMO field. Just a guess. Thoughts?

You could just rebuild on the Enercare site.

I'm not suggesting that's what will happen, but it's not an unreasonable hypothesis.

But for reasons I and others have put forward, I'm not fully sold on the idea. (distance to UPX, absence of adequate hotel space, and restos/bars).

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

I am not sure there's anything more "shock and awe" than what Fosters already presented for this. So that's the vision that Doug has to build up on to even get remotely that reaction here, IMO.

 

[ComptoirGeneral]

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?

Knowing Doug I'm sure this is all a ploy to make Exhibition unusable for the CNE so it can be plonked down on a convenient parcel next to a new highway somewhere in the GTA

 

[ShonTron]

Knowing Doug I'm sure this is all a ploy to make Exhibition unusable for the CNE so it can be plonked down on a convenient parcel next to a new highway somewhere in the GTA

“I’ve got this wonderful idea for the Kelso Conservation Area! The owner of the Country Heritage Park called me and said he’d love to host the CNE and the Winter Fair, but needs more land to do it!”

 

[TossYourJacket]

I am not sure there's anything more "shock and awe" than what Fosters already presented for this. So that's the vision that Doug has to build up on to even get remotely that reaction here, IMO.

Maybe the "Shock and Awe" is that it'll be combined with the Therme spa. World's first convention centre to hold every exhibition in a pool!

 

[reinventingthewheel]

Maybe the "Shock and Awe" is that it'll be combined with the Therme spa. World's first convention centre to hold every exhibition in a pool!

Toronto, Canada, home of the World’s first and only 2M sqft wave pool!

 

[UtakataNoAnnex]

...I suspect though his Rumsfeldian sound bite here is more about a cheapened experience in a fleeting moment rather than making a lasting architectural imprint that would last a lifetime. /sigh

 

[taal]

For this reason Doug Ford’s interest in Exhibition Place for new conference centre blindsides Toronto officials I really think it may not be at the EX.

 

[rdaner]

Does anyone have G&M access as there is a new article about artificial island for new facility? This will make the Boomers heads explode!