The City of Toronto announced an overhaul and refurbishment of Union Station on Wednesday.
The city's transportation hub has needed repairs for years. The Great Hall is full of signs of neglect — for example, the magnificent central clock doesn't have hands.
"Today marks the start of Union Station's revitalization," Mayor David Miller said in a news release.
"We've developed a vision for the station that sees the city maintaining ownership of its crown jewel and bringing it back to its former glory. The station is part of Toronto's heritage; it's the City of Toronto's responsibility to preserve that heritage and ensure it's around for generations to come."
But for many, news of the refit was a reminder of what Toronto architect Jack Diamond called a "huge opportunity lost."
Nearly a decade ago, Diamond had a plan to transform Union Station with a vaulting glass roof over the tracks and an unrivalled mix of trains, buses, TTC, even an airport check-in desk and a train to the airport.
"Having such accessibility does wonders for the vitality of the real estate and the variety of people who have access to that pulsating vital core," Diamond told CBC News on Tuesday.
"It seems to me that we could have probably the best interconnected, intermodal transit terminal in the world, in the centre of Toronto," Diamond said.
The city never picked up on Diamond's vision of a world class hub that would be easy for commuters to navigate and stunning to look at.
Since then, little has happened.
An attempt by the city to let a private consortium run Union Station wasn't successful. The station has deteriorated further and the 200,000 people a day who use it are increasingly crowded.
This time will be different, Coun. Gloria Lindsay Luby said.
"Union Station should be recognized as the premier multi-modal transportation hub in North America," she said.
Lindsay Luby has suggested a fish market and other retail stores, a restoration of the historical structure, as well as escalators for GO passengers.
"I'd like to see it more of a destination kind of place. We might have a very upscale restaurant. We could have a better food court, a lot of things, and it would attract a lot of downtown workers as well."
The main improvements will be to pedestrian areas and connections to the city's PATH and TTC systems.
The city admits it is a modest proposal — $176.6 million will be spent just on repair work over the next 20 years.
The total price tag, including renovation costs, was not revealed. According to the city "the other costs are dependent on the details of the final revitalization work currently be analyzed."
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