Having lived in Toronto for the past 3 or so years, I have seen the development of the Toronto Life Square building (formely known as Metropolis and recently renamed to the rather boring 10 Dundas East) turn from a project full of so much potential to another reminder exemplifying why Toronto will remain second class among world cities. The building itself is hard to miss: Standing tall at the corner of one Toronto’s busiest intersections (Yonge and Dundas) and filled with a number of different sized lit advertisements, the building certainly helps solidify the square’s reputation as the Times Square of Canada.
However, simply taking one step into the building reveals how unfulfilling the result really is. Those that enter are greeted with the exact same array of shops and eateries that they would fall in any Canadian shopping centre (Starbucks, Subway, Shoppers Drug Mart, Future Shop, etc.). This is a building that was originally supposed to be host to Wolfgang Puck, Disneyquest and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. All of these tenants backed out during the construction phase for various reasons, but were never replaced with something that would make the square something distinct. The only redeeming feature of the building is the rather large AMC theatre on the top two levels. The theatre may still be second fiddle to the other major downtown theatre (Scotiabank Theatre), but it certainly adds a solid and somewhat different presence to the building.
The most alarming (and most recent) bit of news involving the building is the name change. No longer does the name portray an image of being the heart of the city (Toronto Life Square). The building now has a non-descript name (10 Dundas East), as if it were some non-descript building in the city center. In the end, it seems that a number of unfortunate events have led the building to it’s fate. From the outside, it is quite impressive (in an overwhelming and commercial kind of way), but it’s short life span has unfortunately been plagued with let down after let down. What could have been the real entertainment heart of a city is now just another shopping mall.
