City
Morning Brew: April 9th, 2008
Photo: "Make a difference" by blogTO Flickr pooler alexindigo.
Your morning news roundup for Wednesday April 9th, 2008:
Revival of the Toronto-Rochester ferry service may one day see the light, employing old hovercraft that used to do the English Channel run connecting France and England. And their idea to couple the lake crossing with a rush hour commuter run from Hamilton to Toronto is ingenious.
Remember that string of deliberately set laneway and garbage bin fires last summer? Police have a Burlington man in custody, who they believe may be responsible for the arsons. Hopefully they have the right guy, and this summer doesn't see any more pyro-destruction.
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TTC Strike Watch:
Talks are ongoing, but the Union is not pleased by the slow pace and the public are pretty much in the dark. They are now suggesting that the fate of the system and potential for strike will likely be clearer tomorrow, when the Union holds a press conference (which is sure to piss off the vast majority of Torontonians). If Giambrone is so optimistic that a strike can be averted, does this mean that the Union once again gets everything it has demanded?
The dark cloth-covered pillars at the Museum subway station were finally disrobed yesterday, revealing the ornate decor and making critics ooh and aah before asking themselves if the upgrade was worth $5-million. If you can't make a quick stop at the station to see them in their full glory, be sure to check out Torontoist photographer Miles Storey's most incredible shots.
And in news outside of Toronto, over at our sister site Beyond Robson in Vancouver they've reported on a creative strategy to turn Google Maps into a giant game of Where's Waldo. They've also posted an interesting piece about the shortcomings and potential of the Vancouver forum on stillepost.ca . The Toronto and Montreal forums on Stillepost have thrived but the Vancouver forum remains rather stagnant.
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Although at my own station (Royal york) has massive puddles of water all over the place and a cieling that looks like its about to colapse...
That $5 million could have been pu to better work :(
As for the hovercraft proposal, COOL! I'd love to ride on one of those old-timers. Once. By the way, the plural of hovercraft is "hovercraft."
According to the Toronto Star on Sunday:
"Toronto Community Foundation, which contributed $2 million to the Museum station redesign. (The province put in $2 million and the Toronto Transit Commission, the final million."
I can just see ridiculous people asking now: "But do they have WiFi?"
And perhaps one can make a profit by selling waterproof covers/flotation devices for Blackberries.
As many Torontoist commenters pointed out, the best part to me is the cleanliness and how well lit the station is. I also agree with Topping that they missed the boat on refinishing the platform.
Maybe your bedroom needs it more than the living room that the donor was willing to pay for, but your living room could certainly use the sprucing up, and getting the opportunity to fix it up at a 5th of the cost isn't one most people would turn away.
More importantly, (in the national post article) why is a u of t architecture student praising the museum reno? wth are they teaching there? The crystal has no architectural merits. why is she studying it?
What's the difference? The ATU workers voted to reject the TTC offer 99-1. That's a strike mandate if I ever saw one.
I guarantee you that in 50 years, the new Museum station will be looked are more fondly than the old one.
I find it funny that people are arguing about the city "[ruining] it's heritage"...Puleeez...This is "heritage" which is less than 50 years old, was built with cheap bathtub tiles, is dirty, and in dire need of updating -- it has no value. Heritage must of something that is preserved because it has collective value to citizens -- just because something is old means it has heritage-value; there is nothing wrong with creating new higher-quality "heritage" for future generations. It's not like we're talking about renovating Osgoode Hall here, which ironically, IS being "renovated" to add a poorly-designed access ramp which WILL ruin heritage.
I guarantee you that in 50 years, the new Museum station will be looked are more fondly than the old one.
GO are looking at extending GO trains to Niagara - a hovercraft would give much more direct service, at least to downtown. It's 111km from St. Catharines to Queens Quay but only about 45km by water.