We actually got out on the bus loop side, rather than the main entrance. A bit unfortunate, but you can still see the details of the station. I can't really tell the material, but it seems just a bit like a shout out to the rusted iron spirals that Richard Serra works in with Pioneer Village on the top.
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| At the bus loop (with buses in service) |
You can't see Pioneer Village from the station, but it apparently only a 10 minute walk to the west from here. Maybe we'll do that this summer.
I also got a shot of the public art inside the station, which is not turned on due to fears that the public will use it to write dirty words or hate speech. If they don't come to terms with the artists soon, I think they'll end up tearing it out.
Also, there were a few signs informing the public that the buses would be disrupted to strike action at York University.
This is the first time I've actually heard about it, but the TTC drivers are refusing to drive into the university itself, which I find completely appalling (given that there are at least some students who live on campus and are not party to the strike). I really can't stress enough how disappointed I am that the city and the TTC don't see this as an unacceptable precedent. (What happens when there is a strike at a downtown hotel -- will the streetcar drivers demand that the streetcar be rerouted onto a different street?) Once I heard about this from the TTC website, I wondered if they would refuse to open the subway doors at York University stop and at Pioneer Village, but the subway was operating normally (and the signs do suggest that the trains are stopping but not the buses). Again, so ridiculous.
In any event, we then went back to the main York University stop. I vaguely remember all the construction from my last visit, and this is so much nicer.
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| From inside looking out |
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| Outside looking in |
The whole station does look just a bit like a low slung flying saucer.
The concert was nice, though this wind ensemble is definitely not as polished as UT's. I think that would have been the case even if the strike hadn't disrupted things, though that clearly didn't help. The conductor mentioned the labour problems at least three times during the concert. I was a bit surprised that it went on at all, but this was the last opportunity for many of the students to perform, so there may have been some exceptions made. At any rate, we were really there to see TorQ perform. They had two pieces they did on their own (one of which I had already seen) and then they did Charon's Dance with the combined ensemble. It was interesting and well done.
I decided we had come all this way, so we might as well check out the other stations, though we did decide to skip the 407 station. That meant heading up to Vaughan.
I thought it was interesting that there were regular bus stops outside the main station entrance, but then a full blown Viva stop with a separate entrance.
The stations look just a bit like aluminum tortoises. (I particularly like the sign on the wall here, in case you didn't know about the TTC coming to Vaughan.)
(Well, more than this sign at any rate.)
The inside of the main station is pretty interesting as well.
We then stopped off at Finch West. This station is mostly about colour. The northbound platforms are blue and white, and the southbound platforms have this streak of yellow.
There is a stained glass motif as you exit the station/
The exterior is also colourful.
This is a secondary entrance (perhaps another bus loop).
We made one last stop at Downsview Park, which has art inside the station by the Canadian artist Panya Clark Espinal.
It is so large that you effectively move through the artist's circles on the floor and walls.
The exterior of the station is another low-slung station, apparently with a green roof, but we didn't have time to check that out.
All in all, a successful trip, though not one I am likely to repeat any time soon.
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