[dreambrother808]

The Cambie location would nice but not really a substitute for the Robson one. I just don't see how the foot traffic is ever going to match Robson Square no matter what is built there.

[Zassk]

Close Robson and run a streetcar or LRT down the whole length of it, from Denman to the stadium.

[twoNeurons]

Not to worry... Erickson will fade in peoples memories soon enough. How many architects from the 70s do you actually remember?

People come and go... no matter how much effort they make to make their mark, very very few... apart from the most notorious of the notorious get remembered... and not for something positive. Note, I'm not saying that there's no point in trying... just that people's memories fade very quickly after you're gone. Life goes on, and things that were all so important no longer are.

[BCPhil]

Actually - Robson Square was originally designed to be closed to traffic. So it would be, you know, a plaza. Part of the reason it's always been dysfunctional as a public space is because we've got a road running through it.

The fact that this 'stupid' thing is constantly jam-pakced with people lounging and relaxing would seem to indicate that it does fill a need.

I would humbly suggest that every other street downtown accommodates cars - I don't think it's unreasonable to have 1 block of space to chill.

I think this fake beach shows something is missing from the square. People are laying of dog urine infested carpet because that is all there is. People like sitting around, and that is something Robson Square doesn't do. You don't need to close the street to cars, you need to open the space for sitting. Instead of building a plywood eyesore, they could have removed the waist high rat infested bushes and plant actual grass.

The demand for something soft to sit on only shows that the redesigned missed the mark. If they had put in a grassy hill instead of a bushy hill, we wouldn't need this thing sitting in the road.

I FULLLLLY agree ... he majorly missed the mark. The layout and function and materials used ... are so very piss poor. the upkeep was below par (hedges left to grow wild for crack heads to use as cover, etc) and that helped to turn it into the eye sore it was before this reno started ... but still.

SUB PAR DESIGN for such a important space in the city. End of story

I think the rest of the square offers potential. The space under the street with the spectator seating like stairs makes for good space for buskers (The busiest buskers I've seen in Vancouver this year have been showing in the square down there). It is a good space for small concerts. The ice rink is great for skating in the winter (they should have some outdoor hockey on it this year!) and a few weeks ago is it was being used as a massive dance floor. You could also use the space for outdoor farmers markets without having to hire security and police to close streets. Part of the problem with setting up small events downtown is the cost, to the event and to society. A semi underground, large space can provide a multitude of uses that aren't available anywhere else downtown.

The space has potential, all it is lacking is lounging space, as this monument to ineptitude shows. I don't think this fake beach itself is horrible; I just think it is horrible that IT IS NEEDED! If that hill was grassy instead of bushy, people would lay there, sit there, eat there, and hang out on it, instead of requiring some fake, hill like, object.

Close Robson and run a streetcar or LRT down the whole length of it, from Denman to the stadium.

I agree. I think it would be great if Robson was closed to all except transit, trolley buses for now, and a streetcar in the future, would be perfect.

[SpongeG]

they have a market every weekend already - i don't think anyone is supporting it though - when i have walked past it looked dead

[SpongeG]

800-block of Robson Street has become a political football

If you're familiar with Robson Street in Vancouver, you probably know that the 800-block has been closed to cars for almost two years now. During the 2010 Olympics it became the "heart of the city" as the Province of B.C. sponsored nightly fireworks shows and the very popular Ziptrek line at the site.
With the City of Vancouver about to re-open the street to vehicular traffic in a few weeks, the debate about the future of this part of our road network has begun to flare up once again.

...

http://www.citycaucus.com/2011/08/800-block-of-robson-st-a-political-football

[WBC]

I think 800 block of Robson is getting closed permanently! Woho - first public square in Vancouver

[SpongeG]

what is jack poole plaza if its not a public if its not a public square?

[Pinion]

^It's a public square, but on the edge of a sleepy residential/tourist area and is barely more than a tourist trap thanks to the olympic cauldron.

The Iranian ex-pat anti-government protests were there. Can't think of much else.

[WarrenC12]

Canada Day and COV Birthday stuff was there. It's more for the "organized parties" whereas Robson is just where people hang out.

[WBC]

While there were some plazas and public squares around before they have been notoriously underused as they are out of the way of big crowds (for example plaza by the Waterfront Center).

I hope that this is the fist step and the gradually we can turn parts of Robson into a pedestrian only street or in the worst case into a transit mall.

[Zassk]

Why did we pay money to rebuild the roadway if it is never going to be used as a roadway again? Surely this is a grand waste of money? If the block is to be closed permanently, the space could have been redesigned in many better ways. It seems to me that this idea is 5 years and millions of dollars late.

[jsbertram]

Why did we pay money to rebuild the roadway if it is never going to be used as a roadway again? Surely this is a grand waste of money? If the block is to be closed permanently, the space could have been redesigned in many better ways. It seems to me that this idea is 5 years and millions of dollars late.

Even if this block of Robson was closed to private vehicles, the road (in some shape or form) would still need to be there for the trolley buses and emergency vehicles.

[SpongeG]

that plaza by the convention centre is always busy - people lounging, hanging out all the time - its less intimidating than hanging out next to the street kids and pot heads who hang out at the VAG

[jlousa]

The convention centre plaza will certainly be much busier once the seaplane terminal moves over as well as that Cactus Club and the Harbour Green restaurant open up.

Just not a fan of Robson Square, it's not a public square no matter how much people want it to be. It will always be a half assed attempt, and if there is a need for a square then lets build one. We seem to be more of a city of many small plazas rather then a large square in my opinion.

[dreambrother808]

that plaza by the convention centre is always busy - people lounging, hanging out all the time - its less intimidating than hanging out next to the street kids and pot heads who hang out at the VAG

Robson Square has been full of all kinds of people this summer. Absolutely nothing to be intimidated by...

[s211]

Robson Square has been full of all kinds of people this summer. Absolutely nothing to be intimidated by...

The intimidators had to move because their beloved staircase was off limits.

[LeftCoaster]

that plaza by the convention centre is always busy - people lounging, hanging out all the time - its less intimidating than hanging out next to the street kids and pot heads who hang out at the VAG

Intimidated by pot heads?

I'd only be concerned if I were a 6' tall hot dog or made of chocolate.

[trofirhen]

The convention centre plaza will certainly be much busier once the seaplane terminal moves over as well as that Cactus Club and the Harbour Green restaurant open up.

Just not a fan of Robson Square, it's not a public square no matter how much people want it to be. It will always be a half assed attempt, and if there is a need for a square then lets build one. We seem to be more of a city of many small plazas rather then a large square in my opinion.

Agreed. I think much of the fanfare was generated by the fact that Erickson Himself designed it.

Interestingly (going back a few years) I remember the central Hötorget plaza in Stockholm at night. There was nothing seemingly menacing about it, but it was empty, with bored kids playing going down the up escalator and such. It was a banal, disappointing atmoshere.

Hopefully, a major, interesting, institution of some sort could open at RS, and be a real crowd-pleaser, bringing life back to the square.

(... nevertheless, do you you remember the bleak, ugly, moonscape that preceded it? All things are relative ...) ;)

[SpongeG]

Intimidated by pot heads?

I'd only be concerned if I were a 6' tall hot dog or made of chocolate.

i'm not intimidated by anything - but tourists are and family types are and those VAG step people scare them

i met a japanese guy and his japanese guide book told him to basically stay away from chinatown and that area as it is very bad and we walked down there and I was like okay this is the area your guide book told you not to go to and he was like oh, its not too bad, we walked right through pigeon park past some whatevers doing their thing on the benches

[dreambrother808]

So sit somewhere else other than the stairs... Problem solved. I don't know anyone who was scared of these things, btw. If someone's going to be that uptight about life then well that's their problem, frankly.

[SpongeG]

there really isn't anywhere else - isn't that the whole point of this discussion? it's not welcoming in the sense that there is nowhere to sit and hang out down there and thats why this plywood/shag fake beach is so popular

[Overground]

I walked by the yellow carpet yesterday and the only thing it was attracting was homeless people with their personal belongings strewn across it. Not that I have anything against homeless people being comfortable, but you wouldn't get me touching that turf even with a 10ft barge pole.

[IanS]

I walked by the yellow carpet yesterday and the only thing it was attracting was homeless people with their personal belongings strewn across it. Not that I have anything against homeless people being comfortable, but you wouldn't get me touching that turf even with a 10ft barge pole.

Yeah. I walk there fairly early every morning and it's pretty ugly. If people could see what that thing looks like first thing in the morning, I suspect they wouldn't be so quick to eat their lunches on it later in the day.

[SpongeG]

haha

did anyone see the al fresco dinner party they had down there on robson street? they had a long table and people sat on the street - looking like some kind of potluck dinner thing - very hippie dippie love in but not with hippies think yoga moms and trendsters

[Smooth]

Robson's "fake beach" a good place for the homeless to sleep
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)

8/31/2011

It was designed to be a nice place to enjoy a cup of coffee or lunch, but a pop-up beach picnic area, dubbed "picnurbia", has ended up being a comfortable place for street youth to sleep.

Twelve people were counted sleeping on the structure along Robson street this morning.

But the area will be taken down this weekend, so people like Josh will have to find a new place to rest his head.

He says he won't be going to a shelter.

Josh says, "there are some people that are in shelters that are using shelter as a gateway to access people who can be easily harmed or manipulated, like vulnerable people, so there's some drug dealers or pimps, or something like that, that are working out of shelters."

In contrast, Josh says those sleeping in "picnurbia" are safe, especially considering the heavy police presence in the area.
http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1530908

[PROSTSHOCKER]

http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1530908

I was pretty elated to see it being used by those guys. Even walked by smiling at them as they all huddled around one of them to watch downloaded cartoons on their laptop computer. It all just appeared to me as more evidence of how much of a social collective that site has become. Then one guy noticed me, stashed his guitar and removed his baller cap/hat, outstretching it toward me in a gesture to recieve money, street begger style.
I laughed at the sheer awfulness of the moment then and there. Had I not been out with friends there, I would've fumed at that.

I just kind of turned to my friends and went "Cmon man, you have a guitar and a laptop there, I am not giving you money. I don't even have a laptop myself."

[trofirhen]

... is the night lighting at Robson Square more or less the same as it was five years ago? I know a circular overhead light at the skating rink went in, and the skylights are blue now.

Nevertheless, is there any other "brightening it up" that's happened? It'd be interesting to see.

[subdude]

Thank god - back to normal. News1130 says Robson is open again...

[SpongeG]

... is the night lighting at Robson Square more or less the same as it was five years ago? I know a circular overhead light at the skating rink went in, and the skylights are blue now.

Nevertheless, is there any other "brightening it up" that's happened? It'd be interesting to see.

it's brighter than it used to be, I can't really describe what has been done but its much brighter now than pre-olympics

[Conrad Yablonski]

Will try to have a closer look next I'm through there-walked through last week and Yes it's open but nothing struck me as different at all.

[Sir Conga]

The lit-up stairs on the south side look fantastic... I'm looking forward to taking a closer look.

[Login650]

It might be helpful for everyone to stop referring to the recent construction at Robson Square as a 'redesign' since it was not. Nothing was changed. They were simply replacing the waterproofing membrane that keeps everything below dry.

Except for the ice rink upgrades made for the Olympics (separate project), the square was put back exactly as it was before, down to every scraggly bush. I personally think the reconstruction was a great opportunity to make it a better space, but it wasn't taken advantage of.

[Conrad Yablonski]

It might be helpful for everyone to stop referring to the recent construction at Robson Square as a 'redesign' since it was not. Nothing was changed. They were simply replacing the waterproofing membrane that keeps everything below dry.

Thanks for that-I just walked through in one direction and cycled through in the other not an hour I ago and couldn't see anything different at all. :shrug:

[Pinion]

The big glass domes were replaced too. They were brown, ugly and very 70s-80s looking. Now they're bluey and inoffensive. That's... almost something.

[Vancity]

The big glass domes were replaced too. They were brown, ugly and very 70s-80s looking. Now they're bluey and inoffensive. That's... almost something.

*yawn*

haha. well, there were some minor upgrades. nothing special, i guess.

[SpongeG]

they redid the lighting, added a lot more glass railings where there weren't any before

very subtle - easy to miss - i think it feels brighter cause its been thinned out of all its greenery

[SpongeG]

took a few pics the other day on my phone - all pics by me

see the new glass railing and the new wire one

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8171/imag0593k.jpg

the much hated mound and new fence

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2403/imag0594.jpg

http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/462/imag0595.jpg

[trofirhen]

Could anybody post any night shots of Robson Square the way it looks now? Also, I believe the Georgia Street side of the VAG has some floodlights. Any night time pix would be really great - - - especially if someone can do "before" and "after" the new lighting. Thank you. :)

[Locked In]

It's not at night, but here's a current pic from the Sun (http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Photos+Occupy+Vancouver+becomes+muddy+mess/5589779/story.html) of the Georgia street side of the VAG ;)

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/5589821.bin?size=620x400

[osirisboy]

wow its really muddy looking. what happened to all the wood chips the city put down?

[Pinion]

Thin decomposable organic material in an ultra-wet environment being walked on constantly... it is now worm poop.

[osirisboy]

Thin decomposable organic material in an ultra-wet environment being walked on constantly... it is now worm poop.

sure makes you wonder what the city was thinking. surely they have plans to put pavers or something down in the square?

[jsbertram]

sure makes you wonder what the city was thinking. surely they have plans to put pavers or something down in the square?

hmmmm....
Wouldn't that just encourage a "protest camp of the week" at the VAG?

With the mud, rain, wind and cold you find out who is truly committed to the cause vs. who is just a poseur.

[trofirhen]

hmmmm....
Wouldn't that just encourage a "protest camp of the week" at the VAG?

With the mud, rain, wind and cold you find out who is truly committed to the cause vs. who is just a poseur.
:previous::previous::previous:
What you say seems very true, but after this OWS movement is over, wouldn't elegant paving stones look nicer on the VAG Georgia Street side. Especially in Vancouver, which only now seems to be turnng the corner into elegance in the urban environment . . . .

[officedweller]

Hmmm teh wood chip mud is probably more receptive to tent pegs than the pavers would be - note the absence of tents on the -dry- paving stone path.

[wrenegade]

^Probably because they're not allowed, have to keep it free for regular people to still walk along. I absolutely despise some of these people. A whole bunch of them decided to walk out into the middle of the georgia & burrard intersection at like 2pm on saturday afternoon and just sit down in a circle and hold hands, absolutely destroying traffic. Shortly thereafter two police motorcycles show up and proceed to direct traffic around them! No, not arrest them, just let them go on the merry way and ruin thousands of Vancouverites afternoons. Disgusting. I digress...

I'd like to see the front on the Art Gallery ripped up (apart from trees/gardens around the edges) and replaced with the fountain concept proposed by someone (might have been part of "where's the square"). A whole bunch of 3' x 3' black slate squares with a fountain in the middle. It would be perfect for something like this. Turn the fountains off for the weekend and let the OWS people have their little fun talking about how Capitalism is the greatest evil in the world (not Al-Assad in Syria, or Darfur, or Mahmoud imadinnerjacket), and the Sunday night turn the fountains back on, wash everyone away and let the city get back to normal.

[SpongeG]

they blocked traffic again today - seems like any cause goes down there - the original idea was a good one but now its just i hate that you kill cows so i am gonna camp out too - its gotten ridiculous

[BCPhil]

they blocked traffic again today - seems like any cause goes down there - the original idea was a good one but now its just i hate that you kill cows so i am gonna camp out too - its gotten ridiculous

OWS started out with angry unemployed average white collar workers setting up camp in the middle of the biggest business district in the world, looking to be heard in a country overrun by the tea party that is touting how the government should do even less to help the situation. It's mostly people who have lost their jobs and are so desperate for work that they commit civil disobedience infront of the people they blame for destroying the economy.

In Vancouver, it's the usual suspects. "Professional" complainers and protesters. People who wouldn't have a job if you offered them one right now. And they set up shop in front of an art gallery. In NY they took the protest straight to the people they blame, the big bankers and Wall st types that sold off their futures and drove the country into the ground. In Vancouver, they are on public land, infront of a public gallery, annoying and inconveniencing average people. Their message, if they have one, is lost.

The Art Gallery and Robson square make for a good location for rallies and protests, and public events. And its like our only space for such things. These protesters are actually stealing from the public, who would like to use the space to promote other, REAL, causes and are instead monopolizing it with their tents for their petty concerns (if they actually have them). Meanwhile the big bankers and globalization types are relatively unaffected several blocks away and can go the whole day without seeing the protesters.

If I wanted to go down and have a rally for something actually important like cancer or Vancouver's missing women, I can't, and that is the ONLY thing these protesters are accomplishing.

[SpongeG]

walked through "the mound" last night at robson square - quite a number of people up there enjoying the lights and scenery - its not that bad now - hopefully they keep the trimming and growth down so it is more inviting

some pics - all by me

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8550/dsc03685a.jpg

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4199/dsc03686m.jpg

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/7823/dsc03695ay.jpg

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/4069/dsc03698x.jpg

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3040/dsc03700c.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8827/dsc03702q.jpg

[SpongeG]

Robson Square name up for sale to corporate sponsor

Vancouver mayor writes stern letter to PavCo over B.C. Place sign

BY BOB MACKIN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER DECEMBER 16, 2011


For the second time since the 2010 Winter Olympics, the provincial government is trying to sell Robson Square’s name to a corporate sponsor.

Complex operator Shared Services B.C. published a Nov. 25 request for proposals seeking a marketing professional to introduce an “advertising partner” to the province. Dec. 19 is the bid deadline.

The government hopes to sign a three-to-five year deal with a company or individual whose main business does not sell alcohol, tobacco, weapons or pornography or harm the environment.

The bid document states that “City of Vancouver sign bylaws will be observed.”

In early October, residents near B.C. Place Stadium complained that the Terry Fox Plaza advertising screen was too big and too bright, prompting Mayor Gregor Robertson’s stern Oct. 24 letter to B.C. Pavilion Corporation minister Pat Bell.

“Minister, I would ask that you direct your officials at PavCo to look seriously at the concerns of the citizens who are neighbours of B.C. Place—bring your signage into compliance with our bylaw and address the issue of the stadium lights,” said Robertson’s letter, obtained via Freedom of Information. “This is an area of the city where there are innovative plans for further development, and it is essential that we keep the public fully engaged and supportive.”

The B.C. Enterprise Corporation Act puts the stadium under provincial jurisdiction, but Robertson wrote “it has been our assumption that, on issues related to the local community, PavCo would work hard to be a good neighbour.”

NDP critic Spencer Chandra Herbert grilled Bell in question period Nov. 17 for disturbing neighbours and dishonouring the Terry Fox memorial. Bell conceded that there were “challenges with the technology implemented” in the stadium.

“PavCo’s been working with the City of Vancouver to ensure that we’re working within the structure of the approved bylaws,” Bell claimed.

Community services general manager David McLellan told Robertson at city council on Nov. 29 that “they haven’t approached us to have any discussions of any sort on removal or adjustment of those signs.”

“It’s outrageous [Bell] would mislead the assembly like that,” said sign foe David Cookson. “You don’t put giant advertising screens in front of people’s glass houses.”

...

Read more: http://www.vancourier.com/news/Robson+Square+name+sale+corporate+sponsor/5873441/story.html#ixzz1gry6QgbP

[trofirhen]

:previous::previous::previous::previous::previous:

Does this mean that Robson Square would actually change its name and be called something else (as was GM Place, and the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts) ..... or would it just have its name to linked to a major corporation, but still be called " ..."something" Robson Square?"

How might this turn out, in your opinion? Thanks :)