City
The new Maple Leaf Gardens takes shape
Renovations at Maple Leaf Gardens have come a long way since our last check up in January of this year. At that time it was just becoming possible to get a sense of how the cavernous space was being divided up for its eventual use as Loblaws grocery store and a Ryerson hockey rink / athletic facility. Still, considerable imagination was required to picture what the building — and particularly the rink area — might look like when it was all said and done.
As these most recent photos demonstrate, that's no longer the case. While there is much work left to do, the overall layout of the elevated rink has taken its final shape, right down to the foundations for the stands that will surround the ice pad. With the elimination of the acoustic baffles from the ceiling, it's even more cathedral-like than it was when last in use. Also noteworthy is the additional natural light that will make its way into the building via the newly replaced windows.
The fact that there will be small sections of balcony seating at each end of the ice is also a nice touch from a historical perspective. Watching a hockey game (or other event) here will definitely recall the old days, which I wasn't so sure of based solely on the renderings. It still seems like a long shot that the facility will be ready for fall 2011, but it's nice to get a good look at what they've been up to for all those months behind closed doors.
See also:
Photos:
Cross-section of the project for reference
Slideshow (with additional photos):
Thanks to Flickr user landon alger is real for sharing these shots with us
Discussion
34 Comments
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I feel like we just accept over-runs and BS project timelines in Toronto because we've become apathetic to forcing change in the way we do business, with contractors for example
The problem is you can only investigate so much before you start a reno like this, you pick a few random locations, see what you can find and assume the rest is the same. To investigate every square metre of the building would take longer than the current delay.
You can't factor in time for things you don't know about, fools.
Old buildings reveal problems as you go.
If it was completed early, all you fools would of complained about that too.
And for all the effin' trolls complaining... shaddup! I wish there was a troll filter for the comments.
The Contractors' schedule would have been based on their experience with similar projects and information provided by consultants. Based on those assumptions the Contractor have set a realistic deadline.
I'll give you another example: say you want to build a road 1km long. You do a geotechnical investigation, they sample the soil every 100m and provide a report that says that the soil is okay where it was tested. Now constuction begins and you find an underground stream between two test locations. Do you think the Contractor should still have to meet their original deadline? The scope and complexity of the project has changed since it was proposed.
As far as the schedule you have the combination of a large project that is difficult to plan to begin with, the potential for undiscovered issues and the simple fact that it's not something that's been done hundreds of times before, if you're knocking up houses in subdivisions by the hundred you've got a pretty solid idea of how long that takes because you've done it hundreds or thousands of times, nobody's retrofitted an 80 year old hockey rink into something like this before.
That said frankly the reality is the "delay" probably has nothing to do with any of that, it's much more likely that the flow of work on the job site has ebbed and flowed so that Loblaws can manage the cash flow.
Norm
A wanna be politician, architect, designer, fashion designer, contractor. Alot of people feel they know everything, then you have a guy like Craig, who schools them all, and the wannabes will STILL think they're wrong.
Folks true colours really shine through sadly.
TFAI and Buttcon?
Eh, how's that budget working out for ya?
P.S. Can anyone spare 25 cents for a coffee?
Also, a lot of it comes down to the original negotiations. No one would want to go to Loblaws/Ryerson and say: "This renovation is going to cost you $100M and take 6 years to complete", when they can only account for 60M and 18months. They would never get the job. Once the contractor has the job, it is much easier to talk to each change in the scope of the project.
It is also a lot easier to get two $750,000 changes approved, than it is to get one $1,000,000 change made.
This beautiful space would be amazing to watch and play roller derby in. I am sure we could work something out for weekend time with the lovely people of Ryerson and Loblaws, alas all of our pleas to them have been misdirected. If anyone can help me reach the right people who can help us play our sport within these walls, I would be much appreciative.
Gorgeous space, I hope we can find something similar for the women of derby in this city.
-Mia Culprit
miaculprit@yahoo.ca