As her cab inched through traffic, past the cacophony of larger-than-life digital signs in and around Yonge-Dundas Square, Kim Storey’s jaw dropped.

“Oh my God. Look at that,” she said as she came face to face with the new 15-metre, multi-screen display at the square’s entrance at Yonge and Dundas Sts. “That’s extraordinarily ugly.”

Storey and James Brown, of Brown and Storey Architects, designed the public square at the turn of the 21st century. Lately, they’ve avoided visiting what used to be a point of pride. They now consider it an embarrassment, especially since the city’s recent installation of seven digital signs.

“There has to be some place where we are not bombarded by advertising, to have a respite from all of this,” said Storey, gesturing to the glowing advertisements surrounding the square, showcasing stores, movies and restaurants. “Once you start bringing signs in, it closes down the space.”

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The architects envisioned it as a site for a democratic society to gather, discuss and demonstrate, and to be a community, Storey said. Now she describes it as a “horror” and the “death of public space.”

For city staff, however, the seven signs were selected to replace four smaller signs following two years of consideration, said the square’s general manager Taylor Raths. City staff found that with a backdrop of bigger and brighter signs, the square was disappearing from sight.

“It’s really about upping our game as a focal point in downtown and making sure that it’s for community benefit,” Raths said.

Storey was initially part of the consultation process, but withdrew she said after realizing the city was focusing on it as a rental, rather than a public space.

The signs at the square’s entrance and at the corner of Dundas and Victoria Sts. will feature advertisements, Raths said. The other five signs will display event programming, visitor information and digital art, plus messaging from the square’s sponsor.

“I must admit, I would not have created Yonge-Dundas Square in the form it is today, with bright lights and big city dominating,” said Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam (Toronto Centre-Rosedale), who sits on the square’s management board. “But that’s the vision adopted by a previous city council and board members. All I can do is support that vision.”

Last year, the city entered into a 10-year contract with Outfront Media Canada, which is now responsible for installation and costs, according to a staff report. Advertising revenue is expected to generate a total of $7 million for the Yonge-Dundas Square Board of Management. The money will be used to host more entertainment events.

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But at least two public space experts say they’re wary of commercializing the public space.

“In many ways we are privatizing the square, when the focus should be on public use,” said Robert Wright, director at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Landscape Research. “The use of electronic signage is problematic. It invades the user’s experience.”

Shifting Yonge-Dundas Square from a public space to a commodified plaza “says something important about Toronto,” said Margaret Kohn, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. “The character of public space reflects the values of the society.”