The Fountains Of Toronto

[thecharioteer]

A poem by Jean Cocteau on the many fountains in Aix-en-Provence:

Aix, un aveugle croit qu’il pleut. Mais s’il pouvait voir sans sa canne, il verrait cent fontaines bleues, chanter la gloire de Cézanne.

Aix, a blind man thinks it is raining. But if he could see without his cane, he would see 100 blue fountains sing the glory of Cézanne

 

[dullturtle06]

Just came from Montreal, really wish toronto had some great civic spaces like this to celebrate and history and diversity of the city☹☹

 

[ceaz40]

I don't remember it, but a photo was posted here of it...............not sure if it was by me! LOL

Found a pic:

View attachment 339178

From: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIUWKeKX0AIOHlO?format=jpg&name=large

I think I would have really liked this one..........but it was gone by the time I was old enough to remember such a thing.

Thank you for bringing that back to refresh my memory, Northern Light! It was truly beautiful.

 

[vatche]

Funny just came on here to post something about the fountains of Toronto And I saw yours. I’m in montreal at the moment and they have so many beautiful parks and fountains. They do it once but they do it well. Also they maintains them . Toronto literally sucks when it comes to esthetics and beautification and maintenance. The decision makers should travel and see how things are done. In Toronto it’s all about it’s good enough. It’s unfortunate.

 

[Northern Light]

Funny just came on here to post something about the fountains of Toronto And I saw yours. I’m in montreal at the moment and they have so many beautiful parks and fountains. They do it once but they do it well. Also they maintains them . Toronto literally sucks when it comes to esthetics and beautification and maintenance. The decision makers should travel and see how things are done. In Toronto it’s all about it’s good enough. It’s unfortunate.

Toronto really does have lots of fountains........but they are often not as grand in scale as one sees elsewhere; and yes, maintenance is an issue.

I would really like to see an approach across multiple areas of infrastructure and services, where we find a best-in-class provider, and we literally hire them to organize our policy/program and to train the staff, and oversee that for the first 3-5 years; then with any luck, momentum would carry us forward.

 

[Northern Light]

A photo I took of the fountain in front the Summerhill LCBO, on March 8th, 2021:

 

[christiesplits]

In fairness, we can barely handle the upkeep of the fountains we currently have. In this penny-pinching city, I don't think we could handle any more.

 

[thecharioteer]

I see that the Parks Department has solved the issue of the dead fountain in Trinity Square: paint the water in! Why is no one at the city embarrassed by this, across from City Hall and beside the city’s number one tourist attraction.

 

[DSC]

I see that the Parks Department has solved the issue of the dead fountain in Trinity Square: paint the water in! Why is no one at the city embarrassed by this, across from City Hall and beside the city’s number one tourist attraction.

View attachment 354992View attachment 354993

Last year Wong-Tam's office told me last year that it would be repaired in 2021 - problem is that it is on top of parking and apparently leaks. Maybe 2022?

 

[Northern Light]

Last year Wong-Tam's office told me last year that it would be repaired in 2021 - problem is that it is on top of parking and apparently leaks. Maybe 2022?

Best I can tell, its not a line-item in the 2021 Capital Budget.

But that doesn't preclude that it was budgeted for, because there are always assorted 'minor improvements' and 'maintenance' accounts. Though major fountain repairs often get their own item.

Currently one set of fountains got their own line-item last year, which was Habourfront, Marine, Fountains and Seatwalls (together well over 23M; though I expect the Seawalls are eating the bulk of that)

 

[thecharioteer]

However there are hundreds of millions of dollars collected by the city from developers for “parkland dedication”, sitting in the bank, yet a major broken fountain can’t be fixed.

 

[Northern Light]

However there are hundreds of millions of dollars collected by the city from developers for “parkland dedication”, sitting in the bank, yet a major broken fountain can’t be fixed.

The Planning Act is prescriptive on this:

S. 42 money (parkland acquisition) can't be used that way:

This pot of money is to create new parkland for additional residents.

Taxes are meant to fund routine repairs.

In theory, S. 37 funds could be used for this purpose if so desired.

 

[thecharioteer]

The Planning Act is prescriptive on this:

S. 42 money (parkland acquisition) can't be used that way:

View attachment 355136

This pot of money is to create new parkland for additional residents.

Taxes are meant to fund routine repairs.

In theory, S. 37 funds could be used for this purpose if so desired.

From Marcus Gee in the G&M, August 12, 2016:

Up by City Hall, the Trinity Square fountain at the west side of the Eaton Centre is out of order. Normally, water flows in a long watercourse down to Bay Street, forming a rushing urban stream. Now it's bone dry and barren. The stream was leaking into the adjacent office building. The city reports that, "This is a significant repair beyond our operations team's capacity. It has been referred to the capital-projects team for planning and budget allocation."

Note that Trinity Square and the portion of land that comes out to Bay Street is 100% city-owned land. It does not appear that the underground garage from the Bell building extends under the fountain so what we seem to have is a lack of waterproofing under and beside the fountain itself. Also, remember that the award-winning design of Trinity Square came out of a prestigious design competition in 1980 that was won by the Thom Partnership (and Steven Moorhead). To have it remain in this state for over five years says something of our priorities (and of our politicians).

 

[Northern Light]

Tender is out to restore the fountain in Amsterdam Square Park, on Avenue Road:

That would be this fountain, I assume:

Photo Credit: Glenn Dickler

Park is on the north-east corner of Avenue and St. Clair:

 

[junctionist]

From Marcus Gee in the G&M, August 12, 2016:

Up by City Hall, the Trinity Square fountain at the west side of the Eaton Centre is out of order. Normally, water flows in a long watercourse down to Bay Street, forming a rushing urban stream. Now it's bone dry and barren. The stream was leaking into the adjacent office building. The city reports that, "This is a significant repair beyond our operations team's capacity. It has been referred to the capital-projects team for planning and budget allocation."

Note that Trinity Square and the portion of land that comes out to Bay Street is 100% city-owned land. It does not appear that the underground garage from the Bell building extends under the fountain so what we seem to have is a lack of waterproofing under and beside the fountain itself. Also, remember that the award-winning design of Trinity Square came out of a prestigious design competition in 1980 that was won by the Thom Partnership (and Steven Moorhead). To have it remain in this state for over five years says something of our priorities (and of our politicians).

View attachment 355374

Trinity Square is a beautiful public space. The neglect is unacceptable. Waterproofing isn't such a big deal if the contractor has expertise in it. There are membranes that get installed. Nathan Phillips Square has a parking garage under the reflecting pool, and the reflecting pool has almost always been used.