Useless Thread

[Bender]

Anyone else find the crying and bellyaching over the Ontario Science Centre to be over the top? 

It was a piece of crap when I was a kid, and it's a decrepit piece of crap 30+ years later located in such an awkward location.

Yes and no. My wife and I both love the Science Center, and my toddler loved the kids area when we went a few months ago. Is it the most amazing place is the world? No, but, with a membership, it's a great place to take kids when the weather is bad.

That being said, the issues with the building go far beyond the concerns about the roof that led to this closure. The bridge from the entrance into the main building has been closed for some time because it's unsafe and there are many other maintenance issues with the building. It hasn't received adequate funding to keep it in a state of good repair for at least 25 years, probably longer. The full cost to get it in shape is likely in the hundreds of millions - and the work will almost certainly require it to be closed to a decent stretch of time any way. Relocation - temporary or permanent - was inevitable. Quite frankly, if this happened without the Ford government's plan to relocate it to Ontario Place, there probably wouldn't be this much fuss, either. People just see this a convenient excuse to move forward with that plan - which, in terms of optics, it certainly is and there may be some truth in that feeling, as well - but, that's more due to poor communication about the true state of the building across multiple governments more than anything else.

I also just personally don't like the way it looks. The brutalist architecture is such an eye sore. It's a fun place to take toddlers but that bridge being out is a huge pain in the you know what, loading kids into a shuttle van to and fro. Not fun when your kid is confused as to why we're standing around and not actually making our way to the car.

 

[herman]

This led me down the rabbit hole of learning about reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete and its proliferation during brutalist era architecture (of which there are some key examples throughout Toronto, and many mass-built structures in the UK).

 

[herman]

I also just personally don't like the way it looks. The brutalist architecture is such an eye sore. It's a fun place to take toddlers but that bridge being out is a huge pain in the you know what, loading kids into a shuttle van to and fro. Not fun when your kid is confused as to why we're standing around and not actually making our way to the car.

My kid loved the shuttle rides (because she had known no fun prior lol)

I think the location is beautiful and a science centre should be rebuilt right there as a sustainable structure, like the reclaimed Evergreen Brickworks, or some of the newer LEEDS certified university campus buildings. Make the structure itself an exhibit to learn from. If there is some way to craft it around an enclave of relatively untouched valley flora and fauna, it could be more of a nature observatory as well.

 

[Arn]

This led me down the rabbit hole of learning about reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete and its proliferation during brutalist era architecture (of which there are some key examples throughout Toronto, and many mass-built structures in the UK).

Been a massive issue here of late, particularly in schools. And the same issue that rather than fix it as they went along they?ve passed the buck and now are having to literally close schools entirely (over 100) or rooms within schools and stick kids in portacabins as the school is literally unsafe.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/government-england-gravesend-kent-local-government-association-b2405053.html

 

[herman]

This led me down the rabbit hole of learning about reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete and its proliferation during brutalist era architecture (of which there are some key examples throughout Toronto, and many mass-built structures in the UK).

Been a massive issue here of late, particularly in schools. And the same issue that rather than fix it as they went along they?ve passed the buck and now are having to literally close schools entirely (over 100) or rooms within schools and stick kids in portacabins as the school is literally unsafe.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/government-england-gravesend-kent-local-government-association-b2405053.html

A good number of Ontario schools are in a similar situation, but those don't seem to be getting the pre-emptive shutdown action from the government (or even cursory repairs during the offseason).

In any case, it turns out only 5% of the OSC's roof is in need of urgent repair (within 5 years). And it'll cost around 2M.

https://x.com/TinaYazdani/status/1806107457657221623
https://x.com/g_meslin/status/1806309133416571047

OSC getting shut down surely has nothing to do with Doug Ford's buddy's condo development happening across the street.

 

[cabber24]

I read that there are over 400 provincially owned buildings with this type of roof.

 

[Arn]

Some collapse by the Conservative Party in the uk elections.

 

[Highlander]

Some collapse by the Conservative Party in the uk elections.

Pendulum was due to swing, give em 4 and they will be out again.

 

[cabber24]

Not useless,

Props to the Women?s Canadian Soccer team. Incredible feat considering the sanctions placed against them through no fault of their own.

 

[Arn]

Lovely view from the back garden of rural Northern Ireland this evening

 

[dappleganger]

Nice Arn! The world is magical.

 

[leafsjunkie]

Lovely view from the back garden of rural Northern Ireland this evening

Yes! Nice pic!
My cousin sent me a few pictures, who's from your neck of the woods (Newtownards), as well. Awesome stuff.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It's been a long, long time since I've even looked at my "For You" tab on twitter because I know it's a waste of time but I accidently clicked it today and started scrolling. No lie, it's literally just 17 straight posts from Elon Musk and then the final one that loads is LeBron James complaining about a foul.

 

[Jeff]

It's terrible. I like going there for the tech talk but the For You tab has turned into a bunch of Elon stuff (I don't follow him) and a bunch of American political stuff.

 

[Arn]

So is everyone decamping from the social media platform formerly known as twitter to BlueSky now?

Some big media organisations have. I think that’ll drive change.

 

[Jeff]

Yeah I moved over as well. I rarely post anything (I mostly used Twitter for following tech people) but I can be found at nerji.bsky.social

 

[Guilt Trip]

Yeah I moved over as well. I rarely post anything (I mostly used Twitter for following tech people) but I can be found at nerji.bsky.social

I'm biteme64.bsky.social

 

[Arn]

Yeah I moved over as well. I rarely post anything (I mostly used Twitter for following tech people) but I can be found at nerji.bsky.social

Yeah I always liked twitter when it was basically a slightly more interactive RSS feed so you followed stuff you liked and could occasionally post a comment or have a bit of discussion about it.

And we all know how that developed.

Bluesky so far seems to have that kind of atmosphere.

 

[leafsjunkie]

So is everyone decamping from the social media platform formerly known as twitter to BlueSky now?

Some big media organisations have. I think that’ll drive change.

Funny you mention that, I deleted Twitter(x) on Friday. Haven't replaced it with anything else yet.

 

[Arn]

I definitely like BlueSky.

But it’s still early and at the weekend I def noticed that I missed having updates from some of the sports teams I like to loosely keep an eye on. Hopefully more and more will move across or become active.