The Ex gets a boutique hotel. Great news. Well, maybe not.
Remember that idea for an aquarium on the Ex grounds? Yeah.
Figuring out exactly what to make of Exhibition Place has never been an easy pursuit for the city or board of governors responsible for running the place.
The plan for a 26-storey glass tower is supposed to get rubberstamped by said board at a special meeting. And it no doubt will win approval. (Download a PDF of the plan here.)
On the face of it, not a bad idea.
The Ex grounds are pretty much dead outside the four weeks of the year it’s used for the Canadian National Exhibition and winter fair.
I wouldn’t count the traffic the Direct Energy convention centre creates as pedestrian, or contributing in anyway to a “buzz” down there.
Sure, BMO Field attracts a few thousand spectators for the odd game of footie. But they come, they go.
There’s nothing on the grounds to keep visitors there to contribute to the creation of anything approaching an atmosphere – unless your idea of fun is a pricey reservation at the Grand or making like Henry VIII at Medieval Times.
Nothing against those places, but it’s a shame more hasn’t been made of this diamond in the rough occupying some of the most expensive real estate on the waterfront.
Parking lots and oddly named faux streets is what most who happen to stumble on the grounds remember from the experience.
Who can forget the fact the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, still boarded up after all these years, once formed the grounds’ feature attraction?
Too bad. For my money, the Ex grounds boasts some of the most interesting architecture in the city. The Ricoh Coliseum and Queen Elizabeth Theatre are standouts.
Is a hotel the spark the lost in space Ex needs?
Not if it’s being built solely to attract convention business. See Direct Energy Centre across the street.
Seems to me more could be made of the Ex’s place in Toronto history and its unique architecture. (Exhibition Place includes archeological remains from the War of 1812.)
We’ll see. The make or break: what retail is being contemplated and what the plans are to connect the grounds to the neighbourhoods burgeoning on its periphery.[rssbreak]
