Work has begun to replace an iconic part of Nathan Phillips Square.
The “TORONTO” sign, installed in 2015 during the lead-up to the Pan Am Games, was removed from its spot in front of Toronto City Hall Thursday morning, to be replaced with a new, more durable sign.
The original sign, said Toronto Mayor John Tory, was never meant to be a permanent installation, and hasn’t aged well over the past five years.
“It was literally only built to last for a few weeks,” he said Thursday afternoon.
“But what we saw convinced us to leave it a lot longer, and quite frankly, I think any thought we had of taking the sign away … would have been met with resistance from all of the people of Toronto.”
As the sign deteriorated, water became an increasing problem for the electronics inside, and the decision was made last year to replace it.
In December, Toronto-based custom sign maker Unit 11 was chosen to construct and install the new sign.
Tory said the sign’s two book-ends — the maple leaf installed in 2017 and First Nations medicine wheel in 2018 — were built as durable outdoor monuments and will be kept, although it’s unclear if they will be incorporated into the new sign.
“The ‘TORONTO’ sign was one of the top three most visited attractions in the city, and is consistently ranked as one of the most Instagrammable spots in the city,” said Tory.
The installation of the new sign will be complete by next week, and details on what it will look like will be announced in the coming days.
Primarily, a draw for shutter-happy tourists and selfie-seekers, the sign has often become a target of activists and vandals.
Earlier this summer, the sign was defaced with graffiti, the vandal scrawling “143 years of colonization” across it.
Design and construction of the new sign, removal of the old one, and a three-year maintenance contract will cost $761,842.
Please share this
No comments:
Post a Comment