Access to west side of mall blocked off from late May to late August
Melissa Sundardas
News Editor
The west end of York Lanes is scheduled to receive a makeover throughout this summer in response to the input of 400 students who passed through York Lanes during the previous winter term.
Renovations will begin at the end of this May, and will include the reconstruction of the entranceway that connects York Lanes to the Student Centre and the outdoor patio area. There will also be new finishes for the walls, floors, and structural ceiling, as well as new lighting and improvements to the storefront and exterior patio.
“One thing that we hear from students when they’re in York Lanes is it doesn’t feel like other places on campus and it doesn’t have enough of a York or community vibe,” says Christopher Edey, director of commercial land use development for the York University Development Corporation.
The west-end improvement project aims to upgrade the overall appearance of York Lanes. Edey says the current aesthetic of light blues and pastels is reminiscent of 1992, when it was built.
“These colours are simply out of fashion,” he says, adding that one way to make York Lanes feel more like the rest of campus is to add more reds and whites.
“The mall is getting old and looks tired in places,” adds Edey. “We see this as just another step in refreshing and updating it, bringing
in a new colour scheme, new finishes, and really bringing the mall into 2012.”
Access to the west side of the mall will be blocked off until construction on the mall entrance ends later this August. All other entrances will remain open.
The YUDC, which has been working on design concepts to improve the west end of the mall for four months, hopes to replace and refresh the overall exhausted area and its tenant spaces. The total budget for the summer project is $750,000.
One issue the YUDC will attempt to address with the reconstruction is that of climate control in the west end vicinity. Cold air typically blows into the BMO near the entrance, but by expanding the entrance and the interior space of the bank, this problem is solved.
The two patio spaces in the west end will also be revamped. This renovation will allow the new owners to stay open later at night, creating separate outdoor entrances,
which is an improvement in response to student complaints about the lack of late-night food options. Edey says this is being done to make York Lanes more compatible with students’ schedules.
“Students don’t always eat breakfast at 8:30 a.m., lunch at noon, and dinner at 6:30 p.m. and York Lanes should accommodate that,” he says.
It has not yet been decided which tenants will occupy the two new spaces, but YUDC hopes to have a decision made by the end of June.
“I’m excited that our students and visitors will be the first to experience our fresh, new look come late August,” said Jim Baliotis, operations manager at York Lanes.
This west-end renovation is just one set of many upgrades set for York Lanes in the future. Edey says that after the west-end reconstruction is complete, YUDC will be looking to work on the full common area, and then the east end of the mall.
