$42 Million Facelift For Nathan Phillips Square

A $42 million makeover at Nathan Phillips Square begins Friday that will transform the aging plaza into a modern and green meeting place.

Taxpayers will foot the bill for the upgrades and new construction that include a new two-storey restaurant, a permanent stage, skating pavilion, a new pavilion at Queen and Bay and new Peace Garden. A new fountain will be placed in the middle of the square and the elevated walkways will be beautified with nice lighting, wood decking and seating – they’ll also be connected to all new structures.

The work is expected to be complete by 2012.

“Nathan Phillips Square is literally the face of Toronto and where we welcome the world,” Mayor David Miller said Friday. “I am pleased we are revitalizing Nathan Phillips Square to make it a more vibrant, beautiful and green square for future generations. From ushering in the new year to skating under its Freedom Arches, visiting Nathan Phillips Square has become one of the Toronto things to do. It’s exciting to see it get enhanced and beautified with new features that will increase its functionality and improve its environmental sustainability.”

The first stage of the project is a green roof on the podium between the two towers, which will operate like a city park. It’s set to open on May 29.

A large number of trees will be planted around the perimeter of the piazza that will both shade and border the upgraded area.

A Finnish design will be updated with a modern nod to ancient Greece. Design team Plant Architect Inc. & Shore Tilbe Irwin, which snagged the important project through a 2007 design competition, says the square has always acted as an “agora” — an ancient Athenian place of public and political exchange. The construction of a permanent theatre and other elements support a modern version of that idea.

The current square was designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell and opened in 1965.

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