The Rogers Centre (formally) the Sky Dome.

The Rogers Centre (formally) the Sky Dome.

The Rogers Centre formally called the Sky Dome was built in 1989 is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Toronto next to the CN Tower. It is home to two of Toronto’s organized sports teams;- the Toronto Argonauts (the Canadian football league), the Toronto Blue Jays (major League Baseball). I have never been to the Rogers Centre for any sporting event. The Centre is also hosts other major events considered large-scale events such as trade fairs, concerts, travelling funfairs, conventions and monster truck, and auto shows.

The stadium is state of the art and one of the most notable features of the stadium is a fully retractable motorized roof –the first stadium to have such as roof. It also boasts a 348 –room hotel attached to it with premium 70 rooms that overlook the stadium. The stadium was originally estimated to cost $150 million but in actuality cost $570 million Canadian dollars.

The reason I go to the Rogers Centre is an even dubbed Spring Fling. It is Canada’s largest indoor carnival, which is held yearly during the school march Break. The carnival is an attraction that parents and caregivers flock to during the break from school to keep active children busy and entertained. There are rides and attraction similar to any outdoor carnival. For 2014 there was also a reptilian display of 26 exotic animals. The price of admission is what I would consider relatively reasonable with all day ride tickets for anyone over 2 years of age costing $20, with discounted price for tickets without rides and an early bird price also.

The share size of the space is not lost on me even though I have never been when it is being used fuller as a stadium and is filled with spectators, which would vary in number depending on the type of event being held. The capacity is as follows, baseball – 49,282, Canadian football – 31,074 expandable to 52,230, American Football – 54000, Soccer – 47,568, Basketball – 22,911 expandable to 28,708, Concerts – 10,000- 55,000.

I would argue that the stadium is a representation of a metropolis and a reflection of the urban centre to which it belongs.it is also one of those iconic representations of the Toronto city and its cityscape. The cost to event there can be costly and therefore limiting to who can attend.

The CN Tower

The CN Tower

The CN Tower has become and iconic symbol synonymous with Toronto and its cityscape in any depiction of the city, it as a representing symbol of Canada. The tower was completed in 1976 opening on October 1 of that same year. The tower held the title distinction as the tallest tower and the world’s tallest free standing structure in the world for 34 years until the Burj Khalifa tower of Dubai in 2010. The tower drives a lot of tourist to the downtown core of Toronto it attracts more than 2 million visitors per year.

            The tower was built by the Canadian national (CN) Railway as a tower for placement for communications antenna. The tower was name one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World in 1995 by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The tower also has a second place ranking on the World Federation of Great Towers. The tower is very visible from as far away as Oshawa to the East and Aurora to the North and Burlington to the West and across the lake to the peninsular on New York State.

            I had planned to go to this location as I had not been before though had always wanted to go. So like many I did a bit of online research to find out a bit about the tower as I realized that I have heard about the restaurants and look amazing scenery from the top of the tower and I had not gone because I was a bit terrified of the height although I did not think I was afraid of heights. I wanted to know a bit about the safety measures taken at the tower and came across this list that was provided by tower officials to assure the safety of the patrons of the tower.

•    The fireproof building materials used in the tower's construction,

•    Frequent and stringent safety inspections,

•    An extensive sprinkler system,

•    A 24-hour emergency monitoring operation,

•    Two 68,160-litre (15,000-imperial gallon; 18,006-US gallon) water reservoirs at the top, which are automatically replenished,

•    A fire hose at the base of the structure capable of sending 2725 litres (600 imperial gallons; 720 US Gallon) a minute to any location in the tower,

•    A ban on natural gas appliances anywhere in the tower (including the restaurant in the main pod),

•    An elevator that can be used during a fire as it runs up the outside of the building and can be powered by three emergency generators at the base of the structure (unlike the elevator at the Ostankino tower, which malfunctioned)

Officials also noted that the CN Tower has an excellent safety record and that there has never been an accidental fire in the tower since it was opened in 1976

I felt a bit more settled to go to the tower now, I had always wanted to go and visit one of the restaurants there. For this trip I decided I was not going to visit the 360 Restaurant, which one needs a reservation for and has what is considered a really awesome feature of revolving slowly to reveal different views of the city’s skyline. I visited the Horizons Restaurant, for which a reservation is not needed and it is touted as being less in cost in comparison to the 360 Restaurant above it. The meal was very well done and presented, however that was not my main reason for going my main reason  was to experience the view. I simply had not experience anything like it except when flying in an aircraft and that comparison I feel is not quite on the same level because when at the top of the tower you are very aware that you are very high off the ground yet still connected and the space is not as compact as that of an airplane. Visiting the tower cane be somewhat challenging for individuals with less disposable income as it is not an inexpensive outing. In my opinion I would say it is an experience that can be had by all who can afford it. I would say it is a reflection of the articles by Boudreau, Keil, and Young, and stand as a symbol of a changing city, it was built to reflect the economic strength of Toronto

Toronto Union Station

Toronto Union Station

I along with 200,000 other commuters use this station on the day I was especially observant due to my ANT450 project that I decided to include this train station location a part of. The Toronto Union Station is considered the country’s busiest transportation hub serving over 200,000 people every day. The station was open in 1927 after much delay and financial difficulties experienced by previous managing bodies. I knew the station was busy because I have experienced it firsthand on many occasions, I however did not know exactly to what capacity the number of passengers use the facility. The building from the outside is reflective of the massive structures built during the era of the 1^st world war during which time it was built and completed shortly after. The building itself was designated a National Historic Site Of Canada from 1975, and a Heritage Railway Station from 1989.

The station is location in the heart of Canada’s inter-city rail service area known as “The Corridor” which is a region that stretches from the City of Windsor in the west to Quebec City in the east. It is reported that more than half of the passengers that travel the inter-city of Canada is by way of Union Station. Other than that main location within the inter-city the station is perfectly located to feed the central business district of Canada’s financial hub (Toronto) with workers on daily commute from the surrounding suburbs.

The Union Station is home to Via Rail, Amtrak, and Go transit that provides train services out of this location and the local city transit (TTC) also connects from here. What makes the station interesting to look at from the aspects of this ANT450 city Vs. nature project is the fact that the station plays a integral functional role in the everyday operations of the city. It is a hub alive with activity on a daily basis and is used by many people from all walks of life. Commuters have access to the same facilities as everyone else. The station houses a bevy of shops and fast food joints to accommodate the commuters who use it daily. There are convenient stores although the prices there are a bit steeper than other locations you can find what you are looking for there from magazines to personal hygiene items to selected fruits and drinks and snack items. The typical fast food of MacDonald’s can be found along with Cinnabon, Sushi Shop, Booster Juice and coffee houses such as Tim Horton’s and Second Cup to name a few of the stores and shops that provide quick fix to the hungry masses on their way in or out of the city.

        

     The place provides seating in little nooks and strategic areas to allow you to wait for your train while seated though there is never enough seating I don’t believe there can ever be with the massive amount of people that uses the station. The station is the perfect place to people watch while waiting to leave for your destination. There is no nature in this station except for the produce that is brought in by vendors to be sold such as fruits and food and they have been prepared for resale, loosing their natural state in the process.  It is a structure that is completely urban in a city environment; there is nothing natural about it. This is probably my favorite location of all the sites visited for this project, as I believe the readings by Cronon and Boudreau, Keil and Young can be applied and is reflective in the space functionality that is the Toronto Union Station