Toronto House showcases the city during Pan Am Games

City of Toronto Media Relations has issued the following:

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News Release:  July 9, 2015

Toronto House showcases the city during Pan Am Games

The Toronto City Hall rotunda has been transformed into a pavilion called Toronto House for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. Toronto House offers interactive displays that showcase why the city is a great place to live, work and play.

“I invite Torontonians and visitors to visit Toronto House to learn more about our great city,” said Mayor John Tory. “The site will feature attractions for all to enjoy throughout the duration of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games.”

During the Games, Toronto House will feature a dynamic, video display showcasing everything the city has to offer. The video captures 24 hours in the life of Toronto by weaving together imagery from Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods, architecture, green space and culture to immerse the viewer in a personal look at Toronto. The City partnered on the project with Interactive Ontario to produce the unique video. Silverpoint Media created the visuals and SenovvA provided the hardware that makes the immersive 320° projection possible.

"Toronto House showcases the quality of Toronto's digital media industry from both a content and technology perspective," said Interactive Ontario Executive Director Christa Dickenson. "We are proud to highlight the leading edge work of companies like Silverpoint Media, one of Interactive Ontario's many innovative member companies."

Visitors to Toronto House will also have the opportunity to leave messages on postcards to the city, which will be on public display in the pavilion. A photo booth has been set up for people to share their photos via social media using the hashtag #HostCity2015.

There is also an exhibition of a series of colourful community "live art" murals that were painted by residents and visitors who attended the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Albion Arena and the Mel Lastman Square community celebrations for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games Torch Relay. Residents and visitors used stencils to create the large murals to tell their stories about what the Games mean to them. From this theme, local artists and people who attended the celebrations collaborated to create the bespoke murals.

Tours of City Hall will be available to residents and visitors four times a day, 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Toronto House is a free, accessible spot to explore Toronto through images, art and the written word and will be open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The video will be shown each day of the Games from noon to 8 p.m.

More information about the creators of the digital video is available at www.interactiveontario.com, www.silverpoint.ca and www.senovva.ca.

Toronto is proud host city of the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/panam2015.

This news release is also available on the City's website: http://ow.ly/PphAv

Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. Toronto is proud to be the Host City for the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.

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Media contact: Strategic Communications, 416-392-6976, media@toronto.ca