Wow! How will they transfer that hip, happenin' downtown vibe to Scarborough? Perhaps it will look something like this.

...  and what will they do with that truck sticking out of the building?

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

Wow! How will they transfer that hip, happenin' downtown vibe to Scarborough? Perhaps it will look something like this.

Don't worry too much...  the crane shot will be the true magic (well that and the 26er of whatever LaRue was drinking).

This move was discussed a year or so ago, due to the basic shutdown of that downtown area for the Ontario Line construction and a new transit station being constructed.  At the time, it was thought that Bell Media would move 299 Queen St. W.  operations to the space at the Pinewood Studios over at the Port Lands area...  within the last year, Bell has reduced their interest/ownership in the Pinewood Studios, so maybe this is now the reason for moving up to Channel 9 Court. ???





 

Glen Warren wrote:

BowmanvilleBob wrote:

Wow! How will they transfer that hip, happenin' downtown vibe to Scarborough? Perhaps it will look something like this.

Don't worry too much...  the crane shot will be the true magic (well that and the 26er of whatever LaRue was drinking).

This move was discussed a year or so ago, due to the basic shutdown of that downtown area for the Ontario Line construction and a new transit station being constructed.  At the time, it was thought that Bell Media would move 299 Queen St. W.  operations to the space at the Pinewood Studios over at the Port Lands area...  within the last year, Bell has reduced their interest/ownership in the Pinewood Studios, so maybe this is now the reason for moving up to Channel 9 Court. ???





 

That's a good point GW.  I remember that as well a while ago about moving 299 Queen to the Pinewood Studio.  Bell has since sold Pinewood after the addition and renovations were completed about a year ago.  At one point Pinewood Studios were booked a solid 3 years in advance, with Netflix permanently booking studio space. 

Hopefully they will put out a press release.  Sadly condos could be a real possiblility for the building. Maybe even another tower but keeping the old facade for the bottom floors.  I wonder if Bell won't sell the building and property and develop 299 Queen into condos or something else.  Sort of what Rogers has been doing in a big way in Mississauga..

Agreed about the condos. Though I now live in one after selling my house and the reason for that the house is literally on top of the Ontario line tunnel (Berkeley and King) (and we decided condo ownership is easier that dealing with a house, at our stage in life). So I can understand Bell wanting out of the Queen building ... given that the Eglinton project has no projected completion date, the Ontario Line might, um, take a little while...

djwildbill wrote:

Where will they do the MuchMusic Awards? 299 had that parking lot they transformed into a stage and standing area.

They haven't done those in a while. 

This is CP24 moving out, not the whole operation (yet?)

Yes,  iirc  299 Queen St. W. was previously or at one point the home of The Ryerson Press.  It is referred to as the Wesley Building.

Depending on how tight the City of Toronto is with Heritage designations,  the developer(s) may propose to keep the building facade which is five stories?  This could be pitched as being a "podium" and housing commercial/office suites inside. Then the towering condos would be built atop the original five stories / facade...  

It will also depend on what is left of the underground foundation when the transit line construction is complete. 
 

Last edited by Glen Warren (June 19, 2024 7:31 pm)

Radio Bob wrote:

Who says they won't keep a couple ENG crews and reporters downtown to be better able to react to breaking news outside of Agincourt?

That's possible, but if they sell the building they'd need them to go across to Richmond St., where the radio stations are. Do they have any video editing equipment there? I'd be surprised, but it doesn't mean they couldn't put some in, I suppose. 

RadioActive wrote:

Radio Bob wrote:

Who says they won't keep a couple ENG crews and reporters downtown to be better able to react to breaking news outside of Agincourt?

That's possible, but if they sell the building they'd need them to go across to Richmond St., where the radio stations are. Do they have any video editing equipment there? I'd be surprised, but it doesn't mean they couldn't put some in, I suppose. 

They can easily and quickly set up a few edit stations... all they would need would be 2 -3 laptops, some monitors, a few desks and chairs for work stations...   and fibre connections...  file / archive server access. 

They will also need a "shot box" for live intvu's for guests into the various shows and for live reporter top/tails.  No one is going to hike up to Scarborough from downtown for a 3 minute live intvu...  and Zoom/Skype are already past their best before date for a broadcast aesthetic...   

When all of the heavy construction work begins at ground level and below on Queen St. W.,  what is going to be the impact on the radio studios on Richmond...  I think they will be affected. 

But hey, there might be some suitable space opening up sooner than later on Queens Quay...

 

djwildbill wrote:

Where will they do the MuchMusic Awards? 299 had that parking lot they transformed into a stage and standing area.

Maybe they can rope off a part of the Scarborough Town Centre parking lot.  The whole thing could be catered by Manchu Wok and Tim Horton's from the food court.  Beware of flying bullets.
 

DeepTracks wrote:

When the first promotional picture was taken of the truck the "dish" affixed to the roof was not a proper microwave uplink dish. It was in fact a garbage can lid, painted white as a substitute because they couldn't get the real thing in time for the photo shoot.

Absolutely true

 

Just noticed  this line in Unifor's press release about yesterday's Bell layoffs:

Unifor was informed that 49 unionized positions may be impacted in Locals 79-M and 723-M, driven by what the company calls, the “Willow” plan to relocate its downtown Toronto news stations CP24, BNN and NewsTalk 1010, to Agincourt, Ont.

https://www.milkmanunlimited.com/post/bell-media-lays-off-50-unifor-media-workers
 

They're still at Richmond. There's still quite a bit at 299/Richmond: CHUM, Virgin, iHeart radio content, local sales, Your Morning, Etalk, space for PURE Country and MOVE, exec offices

Bell will need them to move into the basement, yeah.

Chrisphen wrote:

Bell will need them to move into the basement, yeah.

 
But don’t take my stapler!