Quote:
Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey
Looks great! I love the design.
|
The pier upon which Canal Ritz is sitting on (used to be for the Rideau Canoe Club) should have been used for the western landing and the Canal Ritz rebuilt as part of the bridge structure. This would have made a shorter bridge. Distance travelled is a major factor for use of a pedestrian bridge, especially for the elderly, the young, the disabled as well as parents pushing a stroller.
Also, the bridge should have been made to arch the other way, where the view is: widening of the canal, Lady Aberdeen, Lansdowne urban park-to-be, setting sun, skaters in the winter, boats approaching etc etc. There is sufficient space on the east side, between the CB Driveway and Echo Drive, for a decent and more esthetic access ramp. Also, it should be easily accessible from Echo Drive only and thus greatly remove the dangerous temptation of jaywalking across Col By Driveway as in this proposed plan.
Because of the widening landscape, a bridge arching toward the south side would easily become a welcoming publicity icon for the tourist and boating industry. Boats are coming in from Dow's Lake through a narrow cut (Mutchmor's Cut) and pleasantly veer toward the left bank to a very wide expanse of water, greenery and space. It's a great view and the pedestrian bridge should be part of that view. It would be a fantastic tourist publicity shot, from all sides.
Moreover, the present design is over an historic pond as well as ending behind or near the Canal Ritz ugly fence hiding its garbage and storage sheds. It's pretty hard to hide a fence that hides the back side of a so-so building with little architectural and heritage value. It would be better to tear the whole thing down and use the space for the bridge while rebuilding the restaurant south of it as part of the bridge composition.
Benches, flower beds, a water fountain, seats for skaters etc (washrooms?) should be part of a redesign. In fact, the relatively unknown and seldom-seen Canadian 1988 Olympics monument across the street, hidden by conifers on the other side of the QE Driveway, could be relocated there and be part of the historic pond landscape (there used to be a Bill Reid sculpture there but it was stolen). Another monument could be Thomas Ahearn's monument that has been removed from the Lansdowne Park site.
The four tall hydro poles (two on each side) that are missing in the renderings should at best be removed and the wires buried. Otherwise, they obstruct the southerly viewscape toward the Aberdeen Pavillion. At second best, if these poles are above the bridge (if the bridge lands on the pier), they would not obstructive and be mentally and visually ignored, just like walking past telephone poles on the sidewalk. In fact, they could be part on the bridge, just like faux marble columns in churches.
Prev
Linear Mode
