Toronto Nathan Phillips Square + Spirit Garden | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

Torontovibe said:
Well, I lived in Montreal for 10 years and I can speak from first hand knowledge, that the fountains were very well maintained and Montreal has a lot more of them. Montreal is a lot poorer than Toronto and its weather is much harsher but yet, they are able to keep the water flowing and the fountains looking good. Most of the public realm in Montreal is fairy well kept.

I've been to Chicago many times and they also keep their fountains well maintained. As for Moscow, I've never been there, so you got me on that one. All I'm going by there is Google Street-view and Youtube videos. I'm addicted to Street-view! It feeds my travel/urban addiction.

Anyway, my point is, we seem to do a pretty poor job of maintaining our fountains (as well as everything else) I don't know what the problem is but I know something is wrong. If other cities can properly maintain their fountains, why can't we maintain the sad, little collection we have here? It's not like we are Rome, Paris or London, with huge fountains all over the city. In fact, we hardly have any major fountains. I would think it would be a pretty easy job. I think apathy is the real problem here.
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Correct. Apathy is the problem with Torontonians. And they're turning blind eye with all the problems. They're taking it personally against anyone when they can't handle the truth. And that's the problem with some people here in this forum.
 
DSC said:
I have heard that the Parks Dept has only got 3 or 4 plumbers.... gravy no doubt.
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Great! Put all of them on the job around the clock and get it done. Then move on to the next job. I know, I know too complex right? I'm obviously missing all of the complexities of turning on a fountain.
 
I just got this update from Joe Cressy's office:

"The last I heard, in late February, the City is confident that the Salmon Run fountain will be operational in time for the Pan Am Games. In consultation with the Entertainment District BIA, which is contributing a significant portion of the repair funding, the City has agreed to do temporary repairs this spring and undertake more substantial work to make permanent repairs following the Pan Am Games and this tourist season. There was a risk that the permanent repairs, if started this spring, would not be finished in time for the Games.

The BIA has taken a leading role in getting the Salmon Run fountain back in working order, and they have been very good about keeping our office in the loop whenever difficulties are encountered. They have not brought any issues to us since February, so I expect the repairs are on schedule.

The City has retained a consultant specializing in fountains to study the persistent problems that have been experienced, and it is my understanding that the consultant has identified the underlying issue. The permanent repairs planned for after the Games are intended to finally fix this original design deficiency."
 
The water feature at Nathan Phillips Square is now under reconstruction. It seems they are leaking down to the parking lot. This NPS reconstruction is never ending. Something is seriously wrong with the way this city does construction projects. Nearly everything is delayed and way over its budget. It happens over and over again, with the problems never being solved. It's either complete incompetency or corruption. You would think after all this time, that the city would have figured out a way of getting projects built on time and on budget. This is not rocket science. Nobody seems to ever be held accountable. That I think is the real problem here. If somebody's high paying job was on the line, I'm sure things would change really fast. I'm so tired of this never ending bull-shit!
 
Torontovibe said:
The water feature at Nathan Phillips Square is now under reconstruction. It seems they are leaking down to the parking lot. This NPS reconstruction is never ending. Something is seriously wrong with the way this city does construction projects. Nearly everything is delayed and way over its budget. It happens over and over again, with the problems never being solved. It's either complete incompetency or corruption. You would think after all this time, that the city would have figured out a way of getting projects built on time and on budget. This is not rocket science. Nobody seems to ever be held accountable. That I think is the real problem here. If somebody's high paying job was on the line, I'm sure things would change really fast. I'm so tired of this never ending bull-shit!
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Totally agree with everything you said. Nothing changes because people either don't care, have vested interest in prolonging construction projects or incompetent. Welcome to Toronto!
 
Maybe we better stick to what we are capable of:

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nstuch said:
How's the fountain at queen/university coming along? Is it year 7?
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We are expected to "welcome the world" (or at least the Americas) for the Pan-Am Games this summer and put our best foot forward, yet this fountain sits covered up, with little repair activity going on. This fountain has been broken for a long time and the city seems to be in no hurry to change that. Like I said before, something is very wrong with the way things are done in Toronto.
 
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Given the case is now in the courts, there isn't much one can do at this point (other than terminating the suit and/or paying the other party handsomely). I believe others have mentioned that the lowest tender requirement might be causing more harm than good.

AoD
 
"Most of the public realm in Montreal is fairy well kept."

I would change that to "small sample elements of the public realm in Montreal are fairly well kept, the other parts are dumpy".

One thing that concerns me regarding trades is I feel there is slippage in attitude at the individual level. Slap it in, good enough, and screw it up, just re-do-it seem to be acceptable attitudes.

Labour used to be cheap and materials expensive. I wonder if the fact that materials are now cheap and labour expensive have something to do with this. Why be careful if your time is precious but the materials are cheap junk? Why not risk doing a substandard job and getting away with it if your labour is expensive but the materials are cheap?
 
TrickyRicky said:
"Most of the public realm in Montreal is fairy well kept."

I would change that to "small sample elements of the public realm in Montreal are fairly well kept, the other parts are dumpy".

One thing that concerns me regarding trades is I feel there is slippage in attitude at the individual level. Slap it in, good enough, and screw it up, just re-do-it seem to be acceptable attitudes.

Labour used to be cheap and materials expensive. I wonder if the fact that materials are now cheap and labour expensive have something to do with this. Why be careful if your time is precious but the materials are cheap junk? Why not risk doing a substandard job and getting away with it if your labour is expensive but the materials are cheap?
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Montreal's is still way above Toronto's public realm which is the worst that I've seen out of any city that I've had the chance to go to.
 
88drums said:
You must not be very well travelled.
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Actually I am well travelled. I've been to the US and different countries in Western Europe. Show me these places. And please don't bring up some third world city in Africa or elsewhere.
 
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