Background
Union Station has a rich long history in Toronto. Saving Union Station means being informed and taking action. Its past, its present, its future are all important aspects to learn about. This section of the site is your access to background documents, technical resources, poetic reflections, and a whole host of other materials to help keep you informed.
THE MAJOR ISSUES, as of March 2004
CHRONOLOGY 2000-2004
Letter to Planning and Transportation Committee, February 4, 2004
Letter to Councillors, February 17, 2003
Toronto City Council decision, February 6, 2003, concerning Union Station
Letter to Gordon Chong and the Board of Go Transit, March 10, 2003
Decisions of the city’s Administration Committee, January 29, 2003
The Current Threat - by John Sewell
The State of Affairs from the City's Perspective
Union, Station by Anne Michaels
Toronto Union Station Transportation Hub Study
City staff report to Nov. 5 Administration Committee meeting
About the Origins of Union Station by Stephen Otto
Remarks of Catherine Nasmith, Architect and past chair, Toronto Preservation Board
Presentation by Lawrence David to City Administration Committee, November 5, 2002
Union Station in the News
"Hollywood would never dare script Revenge of the Oyster Shucker: The scenario is so wacky, the plot so outlandish. But the real-life version riveted an open-eyed group in Committee Room No. 2 at Toronto City Hall yesterday." --John Barber, The Globe and Mail, Thursday, January 30, 2003
"A 100-year deal to lease Union Station to a private consortium, set to be debated at the city's administration committee today, is being called into question following the revelation that city staff shredded controversial records of a key selection committee that recommended which firm should win the lease." --John Barber, The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, January 29, 2003
"There are two ways to understand the meaning of bungling. Look in The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, or consider Toronto's call for the redevelopment of Union Station -- the city's real-estate jewel -- in which the art of bungling is taken to new heights." --Lisa Rochon from "A Train Wreck in Progress," The Globe and Mail, September 12, 2002
"Today, the station is poorly used.... The GO Train service linking the distant suburbs to the downtown has been squirreled away in the basement, so few commuters experience the glory of the Great Hall--one of the most dignified public spaces in the city." --John Sewell from "Perilous State of the Union", eye weekly, July 4, 2002
"When it does come time to build towers over the tracks, as Mr.Tanenbaum recently proposed, he and his partners will have 'exclusive rightsto do it,' according to Mr. McIlwain [of the Urquhart Consortium, a company that failed in its bid to take over the station] --John Barber from The Globe and Mail, June 26, 2002
"When you're talking about land deals, when you're talking about city property, you can't (do it in the open),' the mayor said. When pressed to explain why not, he replied, 'I don't know. You'll have to ask staff.'" -- Mayor Mel Lastman as quoted by Don Wanagas in NOW, "Asleep at the Deal," 8 August, 2002
"Financial details of what Union Pearson Group has proposed and the instructions given by City Council must remain confidential to allow the City to negotiate the best financial package." --from a City of Toronto press release, Oct. 8, 2002
|
