By Kasandra Bracken

Love padlocks are, if nothing else, the most secure way to symbolize keeping what you love safe. And while Posterchild’s love locks can’t stop cranes from knocking down each piece of our precious Sam’s structure, they’ll likely be outlasted by the sign: the chair of Ryerson’s Experts Advisory Committee for the Master Plan, Linda Grayson, told us this week that the two oversized records won’t be going too far. While they haven’t decided on an exact location yet, she said that, after chatting with “the man” Sam Sniderman himself, the marquee will go either on the south or west side of the new Student Learning Centre being constructed in Sam’s old spot, as to not block the east and west windows. And if it’s not on the building itself, it will be nearby, says Grayson, noting that Sniderman is pleased with that idea, too.

We’d initially contacted Ryerson hoping to catch a glimpse of some new renderings, wondering why we hadn’t seen any floating around. No wonder we haven’t―they don’t yet exist. Grayson says the demolition process has been slow as a result of its location, surrounded closely by businesses and people (as if most downtown buildings aren’t), all sensitive to noise and dust. Last time we discussed Ryerson’s plans for Yonge Street, we had an artist’s rendering and architects listed, but Grayson says those architects were part of Ryerson’s Master Plan and not specifically assigned to Sniderman’s corner. Slow demolition has delayed hiring new planners, but Ryerson’s looking to have the right architects on the job within the next three months.
As for the new building, Ryerson is collaborating with its students to create a new study space, and with the retail community to decide who’s setting up shop at ground level. If the study space doesn’t help students focus, it’ll at least further the university’s cause―intentionally or not―to become the spendingist school in the nation. There’s already plenty of retail proximity with the Ted Rogers School of Management’s direct attachment to the Eaton Centre, and the movie theatre-cum-lecture halls of the AMC atop three floors and a basement of stores, but the first floor of the new SLC at Yonge and Gould will bring spending temptation to a whole new level. So when Retail Management students aren’t “doing homework” a.k.a. shopping, they can stroll over to the new learning space to relax and compare their purchases.
Ryerson is holding town halls for input, and asking students to submit photos of other successful learning spaces on which to model the new SLC. And as for the kinesthetic learners, they’ve constructed a prototype study space on the fourth floor of the current library for students to test-run an environment similar to that of the new building’s. So far, the new library nest is equipped with sofas on wheels, graduate student reading spaces, and a whiteboard for students to give their feedback―or graffiti. Posterchild would be impressed.
All photos by Posterchild.