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

I was walking through NPS this morning and saw a mother (or father) duck with four very young ducklings swimming in the pool - really rather 'cute' and somehwat unexpected in the centre of Toronto.
 
Irishmonk said:
I have a special affection for this walkway. The recent improvements - new artwork, refurbished armoury fountains - have fallen largely under the radar, despite it being one of Toronto's most elegant pedestrian only public spaces.
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The little road along Osgoode Hall's East edge is being closed to traffic (was rarely used to access Nathan Phillips Square, which can be better accessed from the North anyway) and will become a really nice pedestrian walkway with Osgoode Hall's garden on one edge and Nathan Phillips Square's Peace and Sculpture Garden on the other.

The periphery of the Square has always been the items that I've been looking most forward to. The Queen St. forecourt in particular is a mess and will see a complete turnaround.
 
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I've been excited about this revitalization too (it's taking forever!) but I'm also probably most excited about seeing improvements on the west side, east side and at Queen Street.
 
It's the Queen Street side that I find the most exciting because that's the area most people see. The grass there has been in bad shape for as long as I can remember. I just hope they give us some nice benches to eat our hotdogs on and that the paving stones create a beautiful pattern.
 
Torontovibe said:
I just hope they give us some nice benches to eat our hotdogs on
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And maybe a complementary noisemaker or a family of peregrine falcons.

I have never had trouble finding a seat to enjoy my streetmeat. The problem is the winged rats that prey on children and tourists for that dry crusty bit of bun that you cant finish because your can of pop is empty.

The major problems that need fixing IMO:
Pigeons and seagulls
Walkway over Queen to the Sheraton
Replacing the grass on the south side of the square with something capable of handling heavy foot traffic


but the birds....oh the birds....we need falcons to fix that mess
 
MetroMan said:
The little road along Osgoode Hall's East edge is being closed to traffic (was rarely used to access Nathan Phillips Square, which can be better accessed from the North anyway) and will become a really nice pedestrian walkway with Osgoode Hall's garden on one edge and Nathan Phillips Square's Peace and Sculpture Garden on the other.
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I've never seen vehicular traffic on it.
 
Torontovibe said:
It is level.
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It's all a bit obvious, no? I think I'd prefer it if there WERE a tilt. And that pompous quote on the plinth should have read:

"The lion will lie down with the lamb. But the lamb won't get much sleep." - Woody Allen
 
The quote is a basic principle of the legal system. The work seems amateurish, like the artist didn't feel confident in his or her ability to depict that principle, so it had to be written out on the plinth. As for the walkway, as nice as it may be, it always seems deserted after business hours. It's a substantial space with a lot invested in architecture and landscaping, so it would be nice to see it more animated.
 
k10ery said:
It's all a bit obvious, no? I think I'd prefer it if there WERE a tilt.
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A see saw, with the lion on the lower end and the lamb being hurled into the air at the other, might have been more accurate.

Anyway, it's an equally heavy-handed bookend to the Edwina Sandys sculpture at the west end of the walkway.
 
junctionist said:
The quote is a basic principle of the legal system. The work seems amateurish, like the artist didn't feel confident in his or her ability to depict that principle, so it had to be written out on the plinth. As for the walkway, as nice as it may be, it always seems deserted after business hours. It's a substantial space with a lot invested in architecture and landscaping, so it would be nice to see it more animated.
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I think it's a quote from the Charter of Rights. It could be worse. If it were city property they probably would have rented the plinth out to Astral Media!
 
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This truly represents the pace of development in this city. 3 weeks ago, I was told by an official in KWT's office that the infrastructure for the canopy was ready to be installed. Since then, nothing has happened.

We know that October is the official opening of the stage but if this was a private deveoplment, there would be no reason that this stage couldn't be opened in 2 or 3 weeks.

...But this is a municipal project. So we wait.
 
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