Nathan Phillips Square may be the city’s most prominent public space, but it certainly isn’t the most loved. Some laud it as a classic example of modernist architecture others deride it as an unwelcoming concrete eyesore.
But there is one thing about NPS that everyone can agree on: it’s not finished.
Last month city staff went public with yet more details on how the plan to rehabilitate the 49-year-old plaza is now seven years behind schedule, and its $16 million budget has soared to nearly four times that amount. Here’s a timeline in 11 acts.
“Please don’t pimp our square.”
The city holds its first meeting, on May 9, 2005, to solicit ideas from the public on revamping the square. Early suggestions include tearing down the overhead walkways and relocating the Peace Garden, which many people feel wasn’t properly integrated when it was added in 1984. “Please don’t pimp our square,” pleads the Globe’s City Hall columnist, John Barber, who consoles himself with the prediction that “luckily, the city has no money to do anything substantial.”
The first sign of money trouble
An international design competition is launched on October 4, 2006. But only $16 million is set aside for the $40 million renovation project, with the city banking on raising the remaining $24 million from private sector donors.
And the winner is…
Plant Architect Inc. & Shore Tilbe Irwin is announced as the design team on March 8, 2007, beating out three other finalists with what the Toronto Star describes as a “cleaner, greener and more sustainable” vision. Key elements include more trees, a permanent stage, two-storey restaurant, paved forecourt on Queen, disappearing fountain, green roof on the City Hall podium and upgrades to the overhead walkways, which have been closed to the public for years. Construction is expected to be completed in 2012.
Stalled contractual obligations
Almost a year after the announcement of the design competition winner, construction has yet to begin, and the Star reports on January 8, 2008, that the renovation “appears stalled.” It’s revealed that it took nine months just to sign the contract with the architects.
Halloween trick
The city drops plans to raise funds from the private sector on October 31, 2008, saying fundraising drives by the ROM and AGO have caused donor fatigue. “The advice we got was: don’t go out with a big fundraising campaign, because it’s going to be a flop,” says Councillor Peter Milczyn, who admits the 2012 deadline for completion is in doubt.
Five years later
Construction finally begins in April 2010, a year behind schedule. And the budget has increased by $2.7 million in order to replace the compressors beneath the ice rink. The cost of the project jumps another $5 million in the ensuing months to accommodate a bike station and repairs to the parking garage and loading dock.
Men not at work
While much of the square has been reduced to rubble and fenced off, the National Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer reports on November 8, 2010, that “workers took the day off, due to rain, and even when the rain stopped, no one showed up to work on the rink.” Completion of the new skating pavilion, slated for the end of that month, is pushed to February 2011.
Council kept out of the loop
Staff quietly remove more than $11 million worth of project elements on December 17, 2010, including upgrades to the PATH entrance, the new restaurant, rehabilitation of the overhead walkways and demolition of the Sheraton Hotel bridge. Staff don’t report any of the changes to council for 18 months, and some don’t come to light until 2014.
Budget balloons
By May 2012, the cost of the project has reached $51.5 million, and it’s announced that the city will seek a private operator to build and run the restaurant earlier deleted from the project. While the roof garden and skate pavilion – and later the disappearing fountain and permanent stage – are completed, staff push the completion date back again to 2014. The bureaucrat in charge tells reporters the city always expected the original budget to grow. And Councillor Pam McConnell declares, “It’s been an excellent project.”
The burgermeister
In April 2013, Mayor Rob Ford wins a rare victory when he convinces council to overrule a previous committee decision and award the square’s snack contract to Hero Burgers. A month later it’s revealed that the entire project budget has reached $60.4 million, even with several items deleted from the original plan.
Back to the future
Staff give a full report on the project, including the $11.2 million in elements removed, at the December 12, 2014, meeting of the Government Management Committee. Two parts of the renovation, the PATH upgrades and repairs to the ceremonial ramp, will still go ahead but will be paid for out of a separate budget, at a combined additional cost of $1.4 million. The ramp redo won’t be completed until 2019. Work that won’t be undertaken includes the demolition of the Sheraton Hotel bridge, rehabilitation of the ceremonial walkways and upgrades to the Bay Street frontage. Councillor Paul Ainslie, chair of the Government Management Committee, pumps a familiar message. “When it is all done… Nathan Phillips Square is going to look great.”
Square Deal
$16 million Amount renovation was supposed to cost the city
$61.8 million Amount the city now expects to spend
2012 Original completion date
2019 When the last planned component will be finished
bens@nowtoronto.com | @BenSpurr
