New rink proposed for Lower Donlands: elegant, sparkly, will probably never be built

After all the ballyhoo over the proposed hockey rink for the Lower Donlands project, someone decided to take the city’s lemons and make architectural lemonade. That someone was Bob Goyeche of RDH Architects Inc., who submitted a proposal for a gleaming, four-rink, eight-storey structure. The Toronto Star reports that this new design is a far cry from the Walmart-esque proposal that everyone was howling about last spring.

It looks more like an office building than an ice rink and according to confidential documents obtained by the Star, this latest design for the Portlands sports complex, long planned on the waterfront, would be eight storeys high. The first rink would be halfway below ground, but the other three would be surrounded by glass with a view of the water. Some underground parking would be available, with additional spots on nearby land during big tournaments.

The city of the Gardiner Expressway isn’t really synonymous with elegance in urban planning—well, not yet anyway. City councillor Paula Fletcher says that this new design is expected to cost “significantly more.” Given that the city isn’t exactly swimming in money, this may not be our (or our arenas’) time to shine.

• Portlands sports plan proposes building four rinks on top of each other [Toronto Star]