Doug Ford’s waterfront vision is (slowly) being revealed—now with 100 per cent more Australians
Apparently there is something resembling a plan behind Doug Ford’s glorious vision for Toronto’s waterfront. The rumour bouncing around city hall all week—courtesy of the Toronto Star’s Royson James—was that one of the companies sniffing around the Port Lands is the Australian firm Westfield, Inc. The company owns several malls in Australia (although we wouldn’t necessarily call any of them “jaw-dropping,” which is exactly how Ford described the re-envisioned waterfront earlier this week), and it appears to be itching to get in on the action in Toronto. The full reveal is said to come during an executive committee meeting on Tuesday, but more details are starting to emerge in the meantime.
The concept, which will be unveiled to city council’s executive committee on Tuesday, further raises concerns about foreign developers’ plans for the coveted waterfront real estate overtaking the public’s interest – replacing the already approved expanse of urban green space on the lakefront with retail. The privacy of the talks, derided this week as “backroom planning,” has also angered critics.
Drawings of the new designs have not been made public, but a copy of a “preliminary structure plan” prepared for the Toronto Port Lands Co. and obtained by The Globe and Mail shows a wider mouth for the Don River following the path of the existing Keating Channel, the stagnant waterway where the river now ends. A finger of parkland would also run south along the west side of the Don Roadway to provide flood control into the shipping channel for the river.
As a general rule, we’re wary of plans that include this much secrecy—good ideas tend not to need a lot of smoke-filled rooms to be accepted. The thought that councillors have been working on this project for months but never bothered to tell the public—much less consult it—is worrying. That said, the planners hired for the Port Lands work are genuine professionals (Sweeny Sterling Finlayson and Co. has certainly done a lot of good work—even if its website makes it hard to browse intelligently). We think it’s still possible for the waterfront to avert disaster, but so far Ford hasn’t done a great job of putting the public at ease.
• Australian firm eyeing waterfront mall [Toronto Star]
• New Toronto Port Lands strategy involved private talks with mall operator [Globe and Mail]
Show me one mall that is jaw-dropping. These Ford guys are lunatics.
To be fair, Westfield London, Stratford, and several of their US malls are quite attractive.
The Fords care nothing about the waterfront. They’re not interested in creating something “special”, there is no vision. It’s simply a cash grab to temporarily fill a budget hole that they played a large part in creating.
Toronto would gain much more from a public space. We’re not lacking retail shopping. We already have lots of good retail shopping.
the much heralded ‘designer’ westfield in sydney is a nightmare. even people working therein dont like it.
ps. can i add that eaton centre, despite needing a decent overhaul, is still one of the coolest on global level. no westie can touch it.
Westfield Mall in London is about a hundred times nicer than the Eaton Centre. Shopping in Toronto is horrific – anyone who’s ever left this dump knows that – so vivre le shopping options. I hope Toronto can appreciate what the Fords are proposing – for all the hoopla about the Waterfront, after YEARS we’ve only got a few small ‘wave decks’ and a couple cheap-looking, rinky-dink fake beaches which are always empty. The Fords are proposing something visionary and achievable in a relatively short period of time.
I’m just waiting for The Brothers Ford to suggest turning the Don into a lazy river, complete with swim up bars. While they’re at it let’s tear down all that frivolous plant life and throw up a Kelsey’s and JC Penny.
Anyone who thinks Rob Ford has the chops to become an urban ‘visionary’ needs to tell me who their drug dealer is, so I can get some of what they’re smoking. Ford can’t even buy a suit that fits, let alone try his hand at urban planning!
As for the Westfield Mall, it’s just another 1.5 million square foot glass monstrosity, situated off of an enormous interchange where it belongs – not on the rarity that is a natural downtown waterfront. Oh and it cost $1.6 BILLION pounds to build. How about we spend some of that on a decent transit system and go from there. Essential services over malls any day of the week.
Thank you Reggie. Love your comments!