City-TV & OMNI-TV's H.Q. (formerly Torch, Quadrangle)

[MetroMan]

(...) the bad news is that the building is barely visible behind the stage and accumulated clutter at the east end of the square. Word is that much of it, including a cheap metal shed that looks to have been purchased from Canadian Tire, will be removed. It can't happen fast enough.

(..)

"The new Citytv building needs to have a front door on the square," argues architect James Brown, whose office, Brown and Storey, designed the square. "Citytv should claim the square and create a better image of itself."

That may still happen; though the new owner, Rogers, isn't known for its architectural intelligence, the project is far from finished. Stay tuned.

I'm glad to see the expected happen: the East end of the Square will be returned to being an edge of the square, not the back end.

I hope when they remove the shed, they also remove the shipyard cranes that were put up to provide a moveable but permanent fixture for a stage canopy. They're absolutely horrid though and go against the entire aesthetics of the square.

I don't think Rogers is finished with this. The priority was to build a state of the art tv station which is what was delivered in Aces inside. Now they can turn their attention to integrating the exterior and the station with the square. I think we'll begin to see that soon, perhaps as soon as New Year's Eve.

 

[adma]

It seem less likely as time went by that a radio station would move in. The Fan590 was a bad choice to move in there anyways, CHFI or KISS-FM would have made much more sense seeing that they aren't always needing studio space.

And probably also relates to the perception that conventional radio's days are more or less numbered, at least as a "streetfront" sort of thing...

 

[CodeMonkey]

I always wounder what Rogers plan for the other Citytv stations out west is (if any) going to be? The Citytv stations out west seem to be stuck in time since CHUM cancelled their news programs before the CTV/CHUM buyout. Will they focus on improving those stations once they finish with Citytv Toronto building?

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Oct. 18th Update

Someone previously mentioned the messy, ass-end of Yonge-Dundas Square which faces City-TV, so we'll start with a photo of that for reference.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.



Photos from Dundas St. E, Victoria, Dundas Square & Dundas St. W. of the City-TV Omni building. Notice in the first two photos how the new Hakim building in the background just left of City-TV continues to steam forward...
Also, it must be noted that I have every confidence that the HVAC units on the roof will definitely be covered up in some fashion as the exterior renovations continue. Although the sun in the photos below reflects off them to a great extent, in person you can't miss them and they're a true eyesore.

 

[MetroMan]

Thanks for the photos. They're good to imagine the potential of the exterior of this building that will begin to be realized over the next several years, rather than immediately upon completion.

 

[Northern Magus]

I'm growing more pessimistic by the week, but I sure hope their work on the exterior is far from over.

While some folks around here will always think this building's beyond salvageable, I still say if the black curved glass wall on the lower two levels was carried over to the top, and the base of the torch part was re-clad in a contrasting colour, it would actually start to look cool and interesting.

As it stands, it's still needlessly half-assed and banal from its mish-mash of forms, its over-use of gray, and its lack of symmetry.

But not difficult at all to improve.

 

[MetroMan]

^ I agree. A red painted torch, a fully glass torch base (the structure allows for it if you look at construction photos -- in black glass please ), black glass carried over to the top and a curved screen and billboard could really make this interesting.

 

[syn]

Thanks for the photos. They're good to imagine the potential of the exterior of this building that won't be completed for the next several years.

There, fixed it for you .

I'm quite shocked that Rogers doesn't consider this landmark-location building a priority.

 

[wyliepoon]

^ Have they considered anything a priority? Just look at SkyDome.

 

[Tuscani01]

^ Have they considered anything a priority? Just look at SkyDome.

Hey now, they did a lot of good work to Skydome when they took over. They put more money into upgrades than past owners.

 

[wyliepoon]

^ But like here at Torch, most of their money spent on SkyDome was interior work. We're still waiting word on how they plan to do the exterior.

 

[Tuscani01]

^ But like here at Torch, most of their money spent on SkyDome was interior work. We're still waiting word on how they plan to do the exterior.

I don't remember them announcing any exterior work. I just remember them saying they would enhance the fan experience by fixing up the concourses, and putting down a new playing surface for players.

 

[MetroMan]

They definitely spoke about sprucing up the exterior and I remember even a mention of how a concrete finish was good for the time when it was built but needs to be changed to refresh the building's appearance.

I recall talk about displays and glass cladding covering a lot of the concrete although more was mentioned.

 

[syn]

^ But like here at Torch, most of their money spent on SkyDome was interior work. We're still waiting word on how they plan to do the exterior.

The difference is they purchased a relatively complete building. Skydome went through a few different owners and none of them even mentioned eventually upgrading the exterior - Rogers did. As soon as they bought the place they spent a lot on renovations. Besides, re-cladding the exterior is likely going to cost a lot more than Torch's.

This is supposed to be a major station, the flagship of their TV network. Does this look like a flagship station to anyone? It looks like a joke. At the very least they should have exterior as pictured in their rendering complete.

 

[syn]

They definitely spoke about sprucing up the exterior and I remember even a mention of how a concrete finish was good for the time when it was built but needs to be changed to refresh the building's appearance.

I recall talk about displays and glass cladding covering a lot of the concrete although more was mentioned.

"...sprucing up the exterior"?
"...good for the time when it was built"?
"...refresh the building's appearance"?

This was one of the worst buildings in the city, a Pen-Equity It didn't just need a refresh...it needed to be drastically altered.

It wasn't good for the time it was built. The building wasn't finished either - there was never supposed to be exposed concrete, which makes the idea that it was good for the time pretty laughable.

Remember when it was supposed to look like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPgkUmHzl98&feature=player_profilepage#

Too bad Rogers didn't bring it to something near that level.