1043 replies to this topic

[Holden West]

^I don't know. Some things are better appreciated when they only happen once a year, like eggnog, the Victoria Day Parade and sailors falling off the Wharf Street wall.

[Caramia]

well I agree with you on the first two.

[G-Man]

But say a pretzel or doughnut stand or something else. We need more street vendors!

[ressen]

Every Mall has a food court this could be Down towns food court.

[aastra]

Isn't there still a food court in the Eaton's Centre?

[Mike K.]

Yup, as lame as ever.

[roamwulf]

The giant steel ball is gone from CRD square. I don't know why. Repairs?

I bet I know why.
I was playing with it about a week ago when I noticed that ha lf the lettering was peeling off. No wonder. The lettering which looked like it all had been cut from a large roll of electrical tape was glued on the metal.

Applying essentially stickers to a public art piece that you know will be submerged in water.

Great plan.

The ball has been removed so it can be finished as originally intended - it was, unfortunately, not ready for the official opening ceremony Nov 6th, so the graphics were applied in vinyl on the stainless (NOT ideal) - new graphics will be 'sandwiched' between layers of clear-coat (like auto-body finish) and should be just as durable... fingers crossed...

[Holden West]

^Oh, great. So in a couple of years it'll look like the hood of a '92 Chevy Cavalier.

I think for an object that is exposed to the elements and is submerged in water, a more permanent technique would be appropriate.

[G-Man]

Thanks for the info though!! And Welcome on the forum!

[Holden West]

Since Antoine's is about to meet the wrecking ball, I thought I'd grab a couple of photos for historical purposes.

Time will tell whether this will make the square more lively or more bleak.

[gumgum]

Since Antoine's has no street-level interaction, I'd say getting rid of it will have zero effect; not good or bad.

[Ms. B. Havin]

^ but it will open up a huge empty-seeming space.

Can't help but think that this will make that space seem even more bleak...

[gumgum]

^I was thinking that; but then I figured that since it will essentially expose the square more to the passerby, that it may cancel the negative of the added dead space once Antoine's is removed.

[Icebergalley]

Was Antoine's an addition to Centennial Square to "make it work"?

Was it an afterthought?

[Holden West]

No; as the model on the previous page shows, the restaurant was planned from the beginning, albeit with a more interesting design, IMO.

[G-Man]

It will be far better! Blow it up!!!

[Icebergalley]

That's a real big leap between the original design and "Antoine's" I see why it's being demolished...

Time and time... had the diagonal between Fisgard and Gov't and City Hall been incorporated we may not have had to rebuld in the current century... and as an afterthought the Lee Mong Kow Way would have made the original design link to the surrounding community...

I didn't realize that Di'Castri was the urban designer... I was led to believe that Clack the city planner of the period was responsible...

[Icebergalley]

There's also going to have to be serious street level and road traffic changes between the Plaza and Centennial Square to return the area to a pedestrian scale...

[Holden West]

I didn't realize that Di'Castri was the urban designer... I was led to believe that Clack the city planner of the period was responsible...

Rod Clack was the City's Head Planner; [url=http://www.maltwood.uvic.ca/Architecture/ma/urban_planning/centennial_square/home.html:4992f]Di Castri was one of several architects that worked on the project[/url:4992f].

[aastra]

This recent obsession with open space will be the death of downtown if we're not careful. If we're going to get rid of that silly restaurant space then why don't we take the opportunity to replace it with something that actually works and fits in with downtown Victoria? Why are we always trying to undo the extant city?

A lowrise condo block with stores on the ground floor all the way around and residential units facing the street as well as back into the square would be ideal on the Antoine's site. Big wide entrances to the square won't appeal to people, I just can't believe we're making these sorts of mistakes all over again. But an appealing building with lots of light and windows that creates two cozier entrances to the square on either side of it (rather than one gaping runway of an entrance) would be an instant hit.

This is precisely what Centennial Square needs. It needs balconies and windows and lots of eyes and lots of light. The idea that busting the open space open ever more will make it attractive to people is stunningly misguided, it really is. Open space of this sort is a serious contradiction to the prevailing vibe in downtown Victoria. That's why it doesn't work.