Canuck35
New Member
This is the fountain to which I was referring.
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The Fountains Of Toronto
- Thread starter CanadianNational
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DSC
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This is titled Fountain at Queens Park in TPL. 1885. Is it the same? I think not but .....
Canuck35
New Member
I saw that picture myself during my fruitless Google search but it appears to be a completely different fountain. I believe that fountain was located at the north end of the park where the 48th Highlanders memorial now stands.
vatche
Senior Member
Montreal has great fountains. Toronto not so much.
Northern Light
Superstar
Sadly, there is no intention, last I heard, to reinstate this fountain.
It was considered as part of the Queen's Park revitalization and deemed cost-prohibitive.
Northern Light
Superstar
Toronto has lots of great fountains..............it has few majestic ones..............that's true.
But people don't take to take notice of the beautiful smaller ones.
I may put a post together.........
junctionist
Senior Member
The Polish city of Wroclaw has one of the most interesting fountains I've seen. They combined several hundred water jets with video, audio, and pyrotechnics to put on an interesting and free daily show. People bring blankets and sit on a lawn around it to watch it. It's definitely recommended when travel and tourism becomes a possibility again. The whole city is beautiful.
MisterF
Senior Member
That's so sad that a functioning fountain on the grounds of the provincial centre of power is deemed cost prohibitive. That says a lot about our society and how bad we are at this. While there have been a lot of improvements to Queen's Park with the recent renovations, the state of the legislature grounds is pretty dire considering its purpose. What should be a formal plaza in front of the building is a utilitarian asphalt driveway. The back of the building is surface parking. And the ceremonial walkway extending from University Avenue is practically inaccessible. The one way highway surrounding the park and legislature might as well be a moat, isolating the legislature from the surrounding city. It's a mess.
Even federally, Parliament Hill has a lot of the same problems - lots of drab cracked asphalt, way too much surface parking, and a century of plans that haven't been implemented. The massive current renovations are apparently fixing most of those problems but it shouldn't have taken until the buildings were practically falling apart for that to happen.
Okay that was about a lot more than just fountains but a non-functioning fountain at Queen's Park is a symptom of bigger problems.
Even federally, Parliament Hill has a lot of the same problems - lots of drab cracked asphalt, way too much surface parking, and a century of plans that haven't been implemented. The massive current renovations are apparently fixing most of those problems but it shouldn't have taken until the buildings were practically falling apart for that to happen.
Okay that was about a lot more than just fountains but a non-functioning fountain at Queen's Park is a symptom of bigger problems.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
Nevermind Wroclaw - there is Font Magica in Barcleona:
It is part of a ceremonial axis that leads from MNAC (Art museum) down a hill to Placa d'Espanya (traffic circle) - not unlike Queen's Park (though with different land use context and far less heavy traffic like University Avenue).
Not to say that something like this is necessarily appropriate for Queen's Park - but even a dinky little fountain is considered excess tells us just why the public realm is the way it is.
AoD
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junctionist
Senior Member
Both are outstanding fountains in the world that I believe are located on exhibition grounds. It's interesting idea for adding vitality to an exhibition grounds area for times when there are no events happening like conventions or festivals. The CNE grounds come to mind.
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AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
I agree, something like these would be perfect for the CNE/OP grounds. Water features at QP should be more formal and reflective of the context (nevermind loud music wouldn't do at the hospital row anyways).
AoD
Davidackerman
Active Member
I am big fan of water features. It just doesn't seem like it's in fashion among Toronto architects. It's rarely in any of the new projects I see,. Even the large scale ones. Shame
Canuck35
New Member
I happened to be walking through Queen's park today (well, I go there almost every day) and was pleased to see that the garden around the fountain was being planted out. I talked to one of the guys there and he said that someone had been by to actually take a look to see what it would take to get the fountain going. He said they were encouraging people to contact 311 to let them know their thoughts which I will certainly do. I wondered even if it would be worth starting an online petition to let the city know that the support is there. I truly believe that that fountain would be the jewel of Queen's Park. It's such a beautiful area already.
Northern Light
Superstar
Go for it!
thecharioteer
Senior Member
How long did it take to repair the fountain at Queen and University? Five years? I know that landscape architects are reluctant to propose water features of any kind in city parks as they know they will not be maintained. In the meantime, how many $100's of millions have been collected by the city from developers as part of the "parkland dedication" payoff that has not been spent? While we have some recent showpieces like the renovation of Grange Park, for the most part the situation is very sad with no signs of improvement.