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

It would be interesting to know what the ratings on that show are. In my experience, it's either ignored, or mocked, as a background for drinking, until about 15 seconds before midnight. Then it's right back to being ignored again.
 
Fireworks have sucked in Toronto for the last decade, back in the day when there was the symphony of fire, things were different.

Now there's one exception: The cavalcade of lights; Now I've seen fireworks in many places, great ones (in Canada Quebec is the best by far and large), in terms of scale the cavalcade of lights are a complete joke, but, they do a great job timing it to the music (and the music is generally great as well), making it creative, using city hall it self (I love when they stream fireworks downtown the sides of the building, it works great given the shape of city hall) ... so I give the planners of this credit (given the budget isn't likely that high).

But that's it ... and we used to have that on 4 nights, now they cut it back to just one.
 
taal said:
Fireworks have sucked in Toronto for the last decade, back in the day when there was the symphony of fire, things were different.

Now there's one exception: The cavalcade of lights; Now I've seen fireworks in many places, great ones (in Canada Quebec is the best by far and large), in terms of scale the cavalcade of lights are a complete joke, but, they do a great job timing it to the music (and the music is generally great as well), making it creative, using city hall it self (I love when they stream fireworks downtown the sides of the building, it works great given the shape of city hall) ... so I give the planners of this credit (given the budget isn't likely that high).

But that's it ... and we used to have that on 4 nights, now they cut it back to just one.
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Back in 2006 we really enjoyed the first night of Cavalcade of Lights at NPS which was synced to "Carol of the Bells" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which I'd never heard until then. I was so moved and taken by the show that I went back for each of the remaining shows and it was one damn cold winter, especially at that corner! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpEAr3K7Gso (not my video, just one of the best that I could find for that year's program).

The Symphony of Fire competition was good in the 80's, less so as time went on into the 90's and Festival of Fire even less so. Occasionally we'd watch them from Hanlan's Point then run for our lives for the last ferry from Hanlan's, it was a terrific vantage point from there with no light pollution to distract. The fireworks in the Beach are okay and a nice tradition, but for 15 minutes of entertainment it's too much of a nightmare getting in and out of there unless one can walk or cycle there. I really wish Toronto could do fireworks better.
 
Ha, right, that was my best memory of the Cavalcade of Lights as well, when they used Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
 
Walked by NPS on my lunch break today. I have to say that the square’s current state is not inviting at all to a passing pedestrian or curious visitor to the city. I understand it was built in another era, but what I am wondering is what parts of the revitalization still remain to be completed.

I’ve been to the city website about the project and have seen the photos, timelines etc, but the information is pretty vague.

Some observations/questions:
- The elevated concrete walkways essentially form a wall around the square. Are these coming down or being converted to have glass openings? To me this is the worst feature of the square.
- There are no crosswalks on Queen between Bay and York. Will it be any easier to access the square from Queen? If I’m on the south side of Queen it is tough to get in to the square
- There is no sidewalk on the west side of Bay. Is this going to change?
- The overhead walkway over Queen St. is this coming down?

It seems like the city is investing a lot of money into the square but it may still remain uninviting from the surrounding streets.
 
mrgrieves said:
Walked by NPS on my lunch break today. I have to say that the square’s current state is not inviting at all to a passing pedestrian or curious visitor to the city. I understand it was built in another era, but what I am wondering is what parts of the revitalization still remain to be completed.

I’ve been to the city website about the project and have seen the photos, timelines etc, but the information is pretty vague.

Some observations/questions:
- The elevated concrete walkways essentially form a wall around the square. Are these coming down or being converted to have glass openings? To me this is the worst feature of the square.
- There are no crosswalks on Queen between Bay and York. Will it be any easier to access the square from Queen? If I’m on the south side of Queen it is tough to get in to the square
- There is no sidewalk on the west side of Bay. Is this going to change?
- The overhead walkway over Queen St. is this coming down?

It seems like the city is investing a lot of money into the square but it may still remain uninviting from the surrounding streets.
Click to expand...

The elevated walkways are staying, glass panels are being inserted facing the Square on some of the walkways. Good point about a pedestrian crossing, perhaps an idea might be to locate one near the Sheraton drop-off area to NPS. The area along the west side of the Square and the building should be completed this year (Urban Forest, re-located Peace Garden) and eventually a restaurant (maybe not this year). The Queen Street forecourt & Bay Street side will be be re-landscaped late this year or next year making the Square much more inviting and pleasing to the eye. The information booth at the S/E entrance has apparently been quashed, presumably landscaping improvements will happen here too.
 
They were central to the architect's vision for the precinct, just like the curved towers of City Hall. They haven't really been used much as they were closed for many years, but I'd suspect that will continue to change as the renovations near their completion.
 
Keeping those hideous walkways for the sake of maintaining the architect's vision makes no sense....I know this is what is publicly communicated but is there more to it? So frustrating!
 
I'm also wondering if anything is planned for the Bay Street side of NPS. It's a dead zone right now. It would be great if there were a sidewalk there. The sidewalk on the east side of Bat Street is clumsy. It has stairs north off of Queen Street that lead to a narrow sidewalk that skirts old city hall. There is no way to get to the sidewalk from across Bay Street. A wide sidewalk on the west side of Bay along NPS would open up north south pedestrian traffic which is impossible to achieve now.
 
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