The Yonge Eglinton Square Coalition — a group of residents representing the four quadrants of the Yonge Eglinton intersection — wants to thank all the volunteers who attended meetings and rallies, handed out flyers, made placards, wrote letters to council and called individual councillors in an effort to protect open space and save Yonge Eglinton square. Unfortunately the majority on council didn’t share our view.

And finally a video that makes the point that the square is well used on a warm spring day.

And here is a thoughtful piece from online Toronto urban design magazine Spacing about why the square must be saved.

Andre Le Roux's placard with detailed design is on right of speaker Lydia Levin.

One of the arguments given for covering over the Yonge Eglinton square with retail is that the space is uninviting as it is. No question about that — for many weeks this winter its main attraction was a dumpster.

Open space needs seating not dumpsters.

People need somewhere to sit to rest, to people-watch, catch some Vitamin D-loaded sunshine, eat their lunch. In cities where outdoor seating is provided, not only do people love it, businesses do too because cafe seating in particular creates a buzz that brings more people in to shop.

When New York City department of transportation discovered that Broadway had only 15 cafe seats per 1000 yards, compared to 444 seats on Copenhagen’s Stroget and 353 seats on Melbourne’s Swanston St., it decided to improve. When the NYC Plaza Program (yes, NYC is building plazas throughout the city), seating was key. And locals and tourists flocked to the well-appointed outdoor spaces.