A BikeStation at the New Nathan Phillips Square

posted by Joe on 3/21/2007 | 0 Comments |

Just in case you missed it in the hubbub about the Nathan Phillips Square re-design contest a week or so ago. It was big news about a $40 million dollar renovation that has the purpose of updating this important public space while also staying true to City Hall architect Viljo Revell's original vision.

There were lots of pretty renderings and important opinions about the whole thing, but what I missed until I stumbled across it while catching up on my BikeToronto reading was that there are signicant facilities planned involving bicycles:

The design features a Glass Entry Pavilion just off the corner of Queen and Bay. The pictures of the pavilion on the displays at city hall show a tall glass structure with three oversize bikes hanging from the ceiling and visible from the street. This structure would serve as an entrance to the square but also as the entrance to a full featured bike station as well as to the underground parking. The text on the display board explained there would be underground parking for 110 bikes along with bike rental services, a repair shop and change rooms. Putting the bike station near the street would make it easily accessible for cyclists.

A bikestation!? Can my eyes be trusted? I can only hope that it captures the spirit and functionality of the BikeStations south of the border.

PHOTO: Revell's Model 1958 City of Toronto Archives,
Series 843, File 134, Ref # 581084-9 (Photographer Panda Associates); photo from the City of Toronto website.

Labels: infrastructure, news