[URBAN NOTE] "Don Valley gondola could lift Toronto tourism"

[rfmcdonald]

The proposal for a gondola to connect east-end Toronto with the Evergreen Brick Works, as described by the Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski, is certainly ambitious. As someone who went to the Brick Works recently, I have to wonder what the point would be. Could this ever make money?

Imagine soaring high above the riotous autumn colours of the Don Valley aboard a comfortable cable car that would connect the bustle of Danforth Ave. with the natural surroundings of Evergreen Brick Works on Bayview Ave.

That is the $20- to $25-million proposal for Toronto’s first gondola being floated by a private company called Bullwheel International Cable Car Corp.

Envisioned as a major tourist attraction, the Don Valley cable car could be up and running in three or four years, although that is an aggressive timeline, admits the company’s CEO. It would be built and operated without public money.

“(Gondolas) are proven technology. Our technical director is a third generation ropeway technician who’s built systems all over the world. He commissioned 10 of the lifts for the Sochi Olympics,” said CEO Steven Dale.

The gondola still needs to meet rigorous public and civic approvals, but Mayor John Tory said it could fit with his agenda “to move people any way we can.” He called the concept “exciting” and “novel.”