Nathan Phillips Square
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nathan Phillips Square is a city square that forms the front (south) entrance to Toronto City Hall or 'New City Hall' at Queen Street West and Bay Street (its address is 100 Queen West). Nathan Phillips was mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. The square opened in 1965. Like City Hall, the square was designed by Viljo Revell.
The square is paved with large concrete slabs. It features an ice rink/reflecting pool at the south end, a peace garden in the middle, and "Three-Way Piece No. 2" ("The Archer") by Henry Moore at the north end in front of City Hall. An elevated concrete walkway runs along the perimeter and allows access to the podium roof of city hall; budget limitations, however, now require that the walkway be closed for much of the year. At the southwest corner of the square, on Queen Street, is Oscar Nemon's statue of Sir Winston Churchill.
In the 1980 film The Kidnapping of the President starring William Shatner and Hal Holbrook the city hall and Nathan Phillips Square provided the location for a protracted hostage scene.
More recently, the climax of the 2004 film "Resident Evil: Apocalypse was filmed at Nathan Phillips Square and Toronto City Hall. A helicopter, which used the square as a helipad, was flown in and the elevated concrete walkway was opened up for the film shoot.
The rink/pool has been spanned by three concrete arches since it was built. In 1989 these were dedicated as Freedom Arches commemorating those who have fought to obtain or defend freedom. At the southern base of the central arch is a piece of the Berlin Wall.
The square is the site of concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers' market, and other public events, including demonstrations.
A design competition was launched in the start of October, 2006 soliciting proposals for a revitalization of the square.
