Robson Square Renovations

[officedweller]

Pic taken by me - Saturday August 8th, 2009 6:15 pm

[officedweller]

Finished!

Pic taken by me - Saturday August 8th, 2009 8:00 pm

[Vancity]

wow. they work fast!!

Is the ice rink below going to be open throughout the winter?

[Hed Kandi]

LOL That was fast!

[Pinion]

I thought they were going to fix that space, not just replace the domes with domes. It's still invisible from the street.

[mr.x]

^ actually, i think the domes are larger now.

yea, i agree it still hides the plaza away from the street.

[flight_from_kamakura]

wow, fast work! we should get the crack team responsible for the dome to employ their skills on dismantling and removing the pagodas!

[officedweller]

Second dome was installed over the weekend.
Note the missing panels on the north dome - and the tape on one panel on the south dome (broken?).

Pic by me Monday, August 17th, 2009:

[johnjimbc]

The domes look better than I had expected.

And the pagodas look more dull, mismatched, and extraneous than ever.

From what I had read here, the original scope - or city council idea - was for the pagodas to be removed. Yet the scope of work for the contractor doesn't include any tasks related to them.

Does that mean they stay? Please tell me they'll at least be spruced up . . . though i'm still hoping they'll be destroyed prior to the Olympics, and those ancient lights should either be cleaned really well or replaced as well .

Anyone have any additional information on the pagodas?

[Yume-sama]

They installed the second dome really fast, Robson St. had the sidewalk closed for a few hours and it was done.

[Login650]

Sadly, I'm pretty sure the pagodas are not part of the current scope of work. They were not included when this project when to the Urban Design Panel. I understand improving those is to be a separate phase... though I'm not sure.

Personally, I'm sad they plan to put the hedges back. I think it would be far better to have seating, or to give the space over to pedestrians (since that's quite the pinch point on Robson St). Hedges just serve to increase the disconnect between upper and lower levels.

[officedweller]

I'm hoping that they'll just have low plantings - i.e. flowers.

[Yume-sama]

You really can't see anything interesting... but here's how it looks from street level


http://www.flickr.com/photos/syume/3836962993/

[vanman]

Those domes look vastly more modern now, almost futuristic.

[officedweller]

All I see are pagodas...

Pic by me today:
Tarps still going up over the fountains.

[jlousa]

If anyone wants to pay me $10K cash I will ensure they are both removed by the of the month.

[nova9]

Originally Posted by jlousa

If anyone wants to pay me $10K cash I will ensure they are both removed by the of the month.

I'm sure we'd then need more to fund your legal defense. But who knows, there are a few forumers here that own real estate downtown. Deep pockets per chance?

[jlousa]

Legal defense? Ask anyone in the industry, if you wear a hard hat, steel tow boots, orange vest, drive a nice pickup truck up to the site and carry a clipbroad you can do almost anything without anyone asking questions.

The $10K would be for missing some time off work and renting a nice truck and a plasma cutter.

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Legal defense? Ask anyone in the industry, if you wear a hard hat, steel tow boots, orange vest, drive a nice pickup truck up to the site and carry a clipbroad you can do almost anything without anyone asking questions.

The $10K would be for missing some time off work and renting a nice truck and a plasma cutter.

Does this include adding another floor to Shangri-la?

[jlousa]

Might be a little harder for one person to add a complete floor to a skyscraper then to remove a couple of pagodas.

No one wants to cough up the $10K, I'd even let you keep souvenirs of them.