Greening of Toronto City Hall

As part of the Greening of Toronto, city workers are installing a green roof on the New City hall. The forty year old building is still referred to as New City Hal, because, the previous city hall (built in 1899) stands across the street from it, still in use. Designed by Viljo Revell, the building was built between 1961 and 1965, but Revell did not live to see his design completed. The building has a rectangular base topped by two curved towers that cup the saucer-like council chamber. The roof of the rectangular base was originally meant as a communal space, with two ramps that slope upward on either side of the main doors to City Hall. However that space has been closed to the public for several years. I remember walking around it in the 60's, and it was an empty barren space back then with nothing to attract attention. Now it s being revitalized with 100,000 square feet of grasses, flowers and herbs, including bergamont and campion and Russian sage. Next year it should bloom with New England astors (purple flowers) and gailliarda (orange flowers). This new rooftop as a park is part of the city's plans to renovation the New City Hall and the Nathan Phillips Square at a cost of $42.7 million dollars (The green roof will cost $2.3 million.) It is also part of the city's push add rooftop vegetation to new high-rise condos, office buildings, industrial plants, schools and non-profit housing. When the rooftop is completed it will become a new part, with benches, tables and chairs, even some shade. A little green space in the Bay and Queen area will be welcomed by the office workers. The optimist in me hopes the roof will become a usable green space, even if it needs its own irrigation space. The pessimist in me, remembers that the futuristic City hall, that has become a symbol for the city, has a history of problems since it opened. The roof of the saucer like chamber leaked for years. The surface of Nathan Phillips Square has destroyed innumerable Stiletto heels. The observation landing at the top of one of the towers has been closed to the public for safety reasons for decades. The temperature control has been spotty, and special rules about the window blinds were enacted because they detracted from the buildings appearance. Personally, I expect we'll hear about a leaking roof in the next year.