JoAnn's Tribute: The Two Loves of Nathan Phillips

It’s shaping up to be Nathan Phillips week on The Daily Deep.. Nate (that’s what the Toronto press called him) tends to get all the attention, but JoAnn gives Grandmother Ett her due in this digital memoir. When JoAnn created it two years ago, she imagined the principal audience to be her mother, Ett’s daughter Madeline. YouTube didn’t exist then. Now the memoir can get the wider audience it deserves. I keep playing it so I can hear J’s dulcet voice.

Re-Vitalizing Grandpa's Square

Everyone in Toronto knows it as Nathan Phillips Square, the heart of the city. I know it as Grandpa's Square, because Nathan Phillips was JoAnn’s grandfather before he was the "Mayor of All the People." In the 1950s and 60s he played a leading role in building the new City Hall fronted by the plaza that now bears his name. Designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, the iconic building sparked Toronto's transformation into a showcase of international architecture. Nevertheless, my favorite Toronto photo is Nathan and Esther Phillips on Bay Street with old City Hall in the background. My second favorite photo is Nate with Jayne Mansfield.

Last week the City of Toronto announced the winning plan for renovating Nathan Phillips Square after 40 years of wear and tear. Architectural Record News has good web graphics of the design. An earlier article in The Torontoist featured illustrations from the four finalists in the design competition.

According to the Toronto Star, the project’s estimated cost is CAD $40-million. The city has budgeted CAD $16-million, and Mayor David Miller is confident the remainder can be raised from corporate and private donors. They will be recognized "very discreetly," Miller said. “No one will be skating on the Coca-Cola Rink. This is Nathan Phillips Square, that's how it's going to remain. Nathan Phillips Square is the most important space in this city.”

With Grandpa Phillips in the news, JoAnn checked to see if he had a Wikipedia page. She converted to Wikipedian in order to correct some factual errors found there. When renovation is completed on the square, she’s sure to be looking for the bronze sundial now located in the Peace Garden on the rise above the skating rink. It was Nate's gift to the city when the square was dedicated in 1965.

Updated 031407: See JoAnn’s tribute to her grandparents on YouTube.

Mayor Of All The People Photo #1

Mayor Nathan Phillips and wife Esther claim Bay Street in Toronto on February 27, 1960. In his autobiography, Mayor of All the People, he noted that the street was empty on a Sunday morning.

Mayor Of All The People Photo #2

Toronto Mayor Nathan Phillips welcomes Jayne Mansfield to City Hall on August 2, 1957. He was proud of the fact that he never kissed anyone but his wife Esther.