Colourful 3D Toronto sign will stay up after Pan Am Games end
Posted July 13, 2015 12:32 pm.
Last Updated July 13, 2015 11:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The big, colourful “Toronto” sign installed in Nathan Phillips Square for the Pan Am Games has brought what seemed to be a disgruntled city together.
And now, more good news: the illuminated sign isn’t going anywhere after the Games leave the city in mid-August.
Coun. Norm Kelly confirmed to CityNews on Sunday it will be staying near City Hall for the rest of the year, and there are big plans for the sign after that.
“Like Mel Lastman’s moose a generation ago, we’re going to be placing it at different parts around the city, but the long-term hope that I have for the sign is that it’s a bold statement to the rest of the world,” Kelly said.
The sign, which is currently the backdrop for all Panamania events held in the square, is more than three metres tall by 23 metres long, with each letter weighing around 3000 pounds, and is expected to last at least 15 years. All lights are LED and can create millions of lighting combinations.
Fitted with LED lights, the sign transitions through various colour combinations, glistens on the pool of water below at night, and has been a popular hangout for locals and visitors alike.
The city has also been encouraging people to share their photos on Twitter using the hashtag “share3DTO.”
Below is a Reverb graphic of how #share3DTO developed on Twitter, or click here for a mobile-friendly link.
When asked where people would like to see the sign placed, one person on Facebook said to “keep it in front of City Hall; it looks perfect there.”
“Exactly where it is … so powerful,” another commenter said.
However, others had different suggestions, like “they should put it up on the CN Tower,” or on the Don Valley Parkway.
“Somewhere on the Don Valley where the Toronto skyline shows behind it. Would be a nice welcome to visitors,” one person said on Facebook.
Another person tweeted: “Somewhere on the waterfront would be beautiful. Even on Toronto Island with the skyline as the backdrop. Stunning Toronto.”
What the sign could look like if it was placed in Yonge and Dundas Square. (CityNews)
Like everything else in the city, one commenter was worried about the cost involved in moving the sign around.
“I think it should stay at City Hall. Moving it around the city will involve cost and will not benefit anyone,” one person wrote on Facebook.
According to a report, organizers of the Games got the idea from from a similar Guadalajara sign during the 2011 games in Mexico.
