Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

Yeah, that map places 201 in the Bay Concourse, not the Great Hall as the proposal indicates.

Either way, regardless of the location, I'm happy to see it refused. Tim Hortons needs to go away.
I think you are confusing the refusal of a Building Permit Application with a refusal of the 'concept". The City are not saying that there cannot be a Tims in that location only that THIS application is not approved because it is against the Building Code. (Exits, clearances, ventilation etc etc)
 
Could it be the escalator avoidance is the same issue as the elevator issue in Ontario; there's a huge shortage of maintenance and repair people for them and it's very expensive to contract for repairs out of warranty? Transit agencies also appear to not approve at all of people walking on escalators that are shut off pending maintenance and rope them off, so you lose all the capacity when it's down and that causes huge platform backlogs. You can't have an escalator as a critical piece of infrastructure to move crowds when it takes a week to get it back in service every time it goes down.

Some time ago - before the incident at Union Station - GO started removing escalators under the pretext that they were maintenance headaches and doing so would save on costs in the long run - and so that the space was better utilized as additional stairwells.

I don't know how long the current ongoing shortage of certified lifting devices people has been, but if it has been going on for 20 years and longer, it may certainly have weighed in on GO's decision.

Dan
 

I am surprised they did not evacuate and/or lockdown the York Concourse given the amount of people. You would think that something in the fire code would have forced their hand.

Do recall they had a similar situation during a concert a few months ago where Bondfield closed off doors and Toronto Fire hit the roof.

With that many people all it would take is a security or safety incident cause a fatal stampede.
 
we've already established that this space in the Great Hall is for offices. It's definitely not where Tim's gonna go

Really? Well, that sucks. Wasn’t it being built as a restaurant? With its central location and overhead balcony overlooking the Great Hall, what a waste if they’re offices. This space should be for public use.
 
I am surprised they did not evacuate and/or lockdown the York Concourse given the amount of people. You would think that something in the fire code would have forced their hand.

Do recall they had a similar situation during a concert a few months ago where Bondfield closed off doors and Toronto Fire hit the roof.

With that many people all it would take is a security or safety incident cause a fatal stampede.

Should we be surprised by this? Anyone who have used the Union Station during rush the past 5 years should know otherwise. GO just turn the other cheek and cheerily suggest that everyone wait in the teamways though :rolleyes:

AoD
 
Really? Well, that sucks. Wasn’t it being built as a restaurant? With its central location and overhead balcony overlooking the Great Hall, what a waste if they’re offices. This space should be for public use.

We are talking about the space behind the hoarding where the ticket counters once were, correct ?

I’m eager to see what this space looks like. While it may not be needed for ticket sales any longer, the old counters were an important visual feature of the Great Hall. After all the emphasis on the heritage attributes of the station, it would be odd if this visual detail were torn out.

- Paul
 
We are talking about the space behind the hoarding where the ticket counters once were, correct ?

I’m eager to see what this space looks like. While it may not be needed for ticket sales any longer, the old counters were an important visual feature of the Great Hall. After all the emphasis on the heritage attributes of the station, it would be odd if this visual detail were torn out.

- Paul
I can take a pic at lunchtime today through the construction door. It's basically a window-less bunker
 
Sorry couldn't take a better pic due to auto focus, but you get the idea

20200226_124127.jpg


Also, here's a new ticket window in the Great Hall

20200226_124054.jpg


Typical shoddy quality

20200226_124105.jpg
 
^Yuck. That's pretty featureless. I hate to see that wall become just a bland wall.

- Paul
I suggest we all hold off on our righteous indignation until we see what they are doing - they are generally doing very good work on the heritage parts of the station and that part of the work is supervised by heritage architects so I suspect that what we see is not permanent. I suspect it's another temporary thing but ...
 
I suggest we all hold off on our righteous indignation until we see what they are doing - they are generally doing very good work on the heritage parts of the station and that part of the work is supervised by heritage architects so I suspect that what we see is not permanent. I suspect it's another temporary thing but ...

I'm eager to be pleasantly surprised. Everything else is coming together very well.

- Paul
 

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