as I walk Toronto

Let’s take a ride up the south end of Rhodes Ave.  Why Rhodes?  In a two block stretch (from Queen to Gerrard) there are mostly residences but there are some interesting other things sprinkled amongst the houses.  The photo above is the side entrance to Velotique, a bike store, on the corner of Rhodes and Queen St. East.

below: Just north of Queen Street is the Toronto Gospel Lighthouse Church which has been on this site for about 50 years.

below: I am not sure if this is still a working church. Their facebook page hasn’t been updated in over a year.   Also, the yellow paper on the wall is an application for consent to divide the lot into 6 smaller lots and build houses on them. The six blue notices are applications for minor variances from the zoning bylaws, one for each dwelling. By the looks of it, the plan is to build 6 three storey semi-divided houses here. Each house required 29 minor variances – the house is a little higher, the driveway a little narrower, the front yard a little smaller, etc than the present bylaws. The case was heard at the end of January but I don’t know what the verdict was.

Farther up Rhodes Avenue is an old building that was once the home of the local chapter of the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization.  It was put up for sale in 1969 and subsequently purchased by the Islamic Foundation of Toronto and turned into a mosque.

below: The Fatih Mosque (when I first saw it I thought it said Faith Mosque!) with it’s two small minarets topped with gold cresents that adorn the front entrance.

below: Right beside the mosque is house with no working front door.   It also has a sign in the window – a building permit of course.  There is will soon be a three storey building with three apartments if the sign is correct.  Here the development process is farther along than at the church down the road as this site already has a protective fence around the tree that’s growing city property.

A church, a mosque… and a Buddhist church.  I thought Buddhists had temples but this one is a church.  Is there a difference?  Or is it just a translation thing?  Ahhhhh, online they are a temple.  This is the home of the Blooming Forest Bhikkhuni Buddhist Association.   The “about us” page on their website is a pdf written in Vietnamese so I can’t tell you much about them!

below: At the corner of Rhodes and Gerrard is the Flying Pony Coffee Shop with its bright and colourful doors both in the front…..

below: … and at the back.

The houses on the street are a mix of large and small, old and newly renovated.   Here is a selection of them, and of their doors….

below: … and a picket fence too.

below: And at the last house, I leave you “Happy Holidays” greetings from Santa and myself.   Santa’s busy already, driving the train around toy town in preparation for another Christmas!

Are you a fan of photos of doors?  Check out the blog Norm 2.0 for links to many more!