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East Bayfront: Parkside/Bayside/Dockside neighbourhoods Overview

slowly shakes head in disbelief and despair
 
... and now for some actual development related news in the East Bayfront:

The western section of the water's edge 19m wide granite promenade featuring a maple leaf mosaic pattern has started construction. The area under construction measures 270 meters and runs from Sugar Beach to the eastern edge of Sherbourne Park. Eventually this promenade will stretch all the way to Parliament Street. An 11m wide wooden boardwalk will also be contructed over and above new stormwater management facilities.

The phase currently under construction is targeted for completion next summer.
 
It's hard to imagine Sugar Beach on a freezing day like today. But this site represents an enormous opportunity and I'm pretty excited to see what they come up with. It will be a huge challenge to make this work. The industrial landscape to the west is pretty overbearing and Corus to the east does not do anything to create a sense of place. Check out a close approximation of the view for those sunbathers:

4307628649_bfa5ab6d84_b.jpg


4307629303_a30533d796_b.jpg
 
More on Sugar Beach from the January Waterfront Toronto newsletter:

Construction Ahead of Schedule at Canada's Sugar Beach

Work continues to progress ahead of schedule at Canada’s Sugar Beach where crews have begun installing the park’s large, signature rock outcroppings. In addition to the bright pink umbrellas sprinkled along the beach, the park’s design calls for two oversized, granite rock formations — one located on the beach and the second in the park’s plaza space next to Corus Quay. The rocks, which will feature candy-coloured stripes made of a flexible and durable thermoplastic, will add to the whimsical feel of the park.

The granite rocks were selected from a quarry in northern Quebec last fall by Waterfront Toronto and the park’s design team Claude Cormier Architectes Payagistes. The granite was then sliced into 1.5 metre-wide pieces using an industrial strength saw, categorized and trucked to the park site. Much like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, crews used a 165-tonne crane to assemble the rock outcropping piece by piece on site. The granite outcropping at the beach is over six metres long and wide, and about one metre high. The second rock outcropping at the plaza, which will be installed early next month, is more than double the size of the rock at the beach.

Canada’s Sugar Beach, located at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street adjacent to the Redpath Sugar Factory, is on track to open this June.
 
Might be a nice place for a new museum or art gallery and finally give our waterfront the icon it so desperately lacks.
 
It should definitely not go. It's great to have industry among the city. To see it in action. It's going to be very unique. What they need to do is spruce up the building, and clean it. New roofing perhaps.
 
khristopher said:
It should definitely not go. It's great to have industry among the city. To see it in action. It's going to be very unique. What they need to do is spruce up the building, and clean it. New roofing perhaps.
Click to expand...

I agree Kris the plant needs a bit of TLC, with all the new parkland under development and future low-rise developments proposed and underway it should just fit in nicely on our waterfront. Regarding museums,and art gallerys, there is more than enough and less complicated areas throughout our waterfront to build such venues.:)
 
Quebec granite ?

CML said:
More on Sugar Beach from the January Waterfront Toronto newsletter:

Construction Ahead of Schedule at Canada's Sugar Beach

Work continues to progress ahead of schedule at Canada’s Sugar Beach where crews have begun installing the park’s large, signature rock outcroppings. In addition to the bright pink umbrellas sprinkled along the beach, the park’s design calls for two oversized, granite rock formations — one located on the beach and the second in the park’s plaza space next to Corus Quay. The rocks, which will feature candy-coloured stripes made of a flexible and durable thermoplastic, will add to the whimsical feel of the park.

The granite rocks were selected from a quarry in northern Quebec last fall by Waterfront Toronto and the park’s design team Claude Cormier Architectes Payagistes. The granite was then sliced into 1.5 metre-wide pieces using an industrial strength saw, categorized and trucked to the park site. Much like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, crews used a 165-tonne crane to assemble the rock outcropping piece by piece on site. The granite outcropping at the beach is over six metres long and wide, and about one metre high. The second rock outcropping at the plaza, which will be installed early next month, is more than double the size of the rock at the beach.

Canada’s Sugar Beach, located at the foot of Lower Jarvis Street adjacent to the Redpath Sugar Factory, is on track to open this June.
Click to expand...
If this project isn't funky enough, we need to go to Quebec for our granite.
 
It won't be the first time - I think the black granite used at Dundas Square is also from Quebec. Not a big deal to me, really - just be glad it wasn't shipped halfway around the world from China.

As to Redpath - I don't mind it staying, but when (not if) it decide to move, I would love to see at least part of the site being used as the Toronto Museum.

AoD
 
High on my wish list for the East Bayfront would be to see the gray cement silo at the east end of the area demolished - a Brutalist eyesore. My personal opinion is that the silo's remnants of historic interest are far outweighed by its negative visual impact on the area. My litmus test - if a proposal to build a new structure in the same area, consisting of the same size, form and construction as the existing silos were presented now, would it accepted by the waterfront community and be approved by the city? Again - my opinion - not a chance. The same goes for the silos at the foot of Bathurst.

AHK
 
Don't really care what happens to the silos in the east end of the harbour as most of it already has been demolished. However, demolishing it isn't going to make the barren wasteland around it any prettier. Red Path should close for something a little cleaner on the surroundings whether its continued industrial or converted to institutional.
 
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