construction | as I walk Toronto

Archive for the ‘construction’ Category

dense and denser

Posted: August 11, 2025 in construction, intersections, old buildings, public art, transportation
Tags: apartments, Canada Square, Catherine Widgery, condos, construction, demolition, development, Eglinton Ave., history, Ilan Sandler, KPMB, LRT, Mindshadows, North Toronto Collegiate, NTCI, Postal Station K, St. Monicas church, St. Peter, TTC, Yonge Street

…. another visit to Yonge and Eglinton

Of course, this is also the location of the Eglinton station on the mysterious Eglinton LRT. The underground walkways between it and the Yonge – University subway line are complete, as is the entrance on the south side of Eglinton. The latter is a large building and it will definitely help with the flow of traffic… but it sits idle.

below: All of the old Eglinton station bus bays are long gone.

below: Canada Square, home to Canadian Tire head office for more than 50 years, was built in the 1960s and 70s. It consists of two towers connected by a lower section – it is this middle connecting piece that has the vertical concrete slabs on the exterior. These verticals are on both the Yonge Street side (below) and this motif is repeated on the back of the building (see photo above, behind the new station entrance). Earlier this year, Canadian Tire announced that they had renewed their lease for another 20 years and that the building was going to be redeveloped/upgraded/modernized in the near future.

below: Northwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton

below: The Duke of York pub at Yonge and Roehampton

below: The old Postal Station K has been incorporated into a new condo development. The older building dates from 1936; it was built on the site of Montgomery’s Tavern (made famous in 1837 when it was the epicenter of William Lyon MacKenzie’s rebellion). It was a big square building but with Art Deco elements around the entrance. Because it was built in 1936, it actually featured (and still does) the Royal Insignia of King Edward VIII whose reign was very short-lived because he abdicated the throne only 11 months after being crowned.

below: North of Montgomery/Broadway more development. More cranes.

below: About 15 years ago, North Toronto Collegiate (NTCI) was rebuilt on Broadway. The new school was incorporated into a condo development. At the north entrance to the school is an artwork by Catherine Widgery’s called “Mindshadows”. It is a 20 foot high stainless steel cube on legs that is covered with numbers, letters, and words. Serene, provoke, laugh, loud, big, spirit, and up are some of the words.

below: View from Broadway of the North Toronto football field and track and some of the condos that surround it.

below: Looking north from Roehampton

below: At the south entrance to NTCI (on Roehampton) is another public art installation. “What’s your name?” by Ilan Sandler (2011) contains the first names of all the NTCI students since the school opened in 1912. Each name only appears once – but there are still 2053 different names such as Sven, Connie, Marlee, Janis, Lola, Ephraim, Bryan, and Snezana.

The neighbourhood that is north of Eglinton and east of Yonge has been the home of many apartment buildings for at least a few decades. A growing number of them have been replaced by taller glass and steel condo developments, especially since the city has targeted the area for “… tall buildings and an intense concentration of office, retail, institutional and residential uses…” (quote comes from Yonge Eglinton Secondary Plan, 2018)

below: Old style (1920s?) 4 storey walk-up apartments. There was a time when this type of architecture was common and these apartment buildings are (were) scattered around the city. There aren’t as many as there used to be although some, like this one, has been renovated and kept in good shape…. a testament to their good design.

below: Concrete building from the 1970s at 2323 Yonge …

below: … but it too has a blue and white development notice on the side of this building. Fifty eight stories with 40 car parking spots but room for 350 bikes.

below: St. Monicas church, an A-frame structure built in 1959, is set well back from the street with a parking lot in front.

below: One of the many stained glass windows inside St. Monica’s church. This image shows a window that features gold crossed keys which are a symbol associated with St. Peter. These are the keys to the Gates of Heaven. The church website describes this window as representing the (Catholic) Sacrament of Reconciliation (the pardoning of confessed sins).

below: Redesigned. From the KPMB website, this is rendering of the proposed new St. Monica’s church. It has been brought forward closer to the street which also allows for a new condo tower behind. That’s the plan.

below: Beside the church is St. Monica’s school. The original brick building was built in 1916. A few additions have been added over the years.

below: Changes are also happening to the west of Yonge Street. For instance, this building on Eglinton between Duplex and Henning is coming down.

below: Old, new, and in between

below: Remnants of what used to be.

below: As I am sure you are aware, I have blogged about Eglinton Avenue before. Back in 2015 (ten years ago!!) I posted this photo of Eglinton and Duplex. Both glass buildings are now gone. The Toronto Hydro Systems building (the short brick one) at the northwest corner of Duplex and Eglinton remains – it is the one with the coloured patches on the wall in the photo above.

below: Same corner, slightly different angle, taken this past week.

below: After the glass clad building on the northeast corner of Duplex and Eglinton came down, the backside of the Yonge Eglinton Center was exposed (on the right) as well as another tower (in an area that needs to be explored more!).

below: With thanks to my mother who walked with me that day.

Royal York to Kipling

Posted: July 11, 2025 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, transportation
Tags: Alfio Bartoletti, Bloor st. west, construction, fountain, graffiti, history, islington, Kingsway, Mimico Creek, Moises Frank, murals, Nate Galbraith, new buildings, parks, reflections, residential, sketchnate, street art, subway, TTC, workmen

This walk started from Royal York subway station. In general, I walked westward first along Bloor Street (to Islington) and then on Dundas West. The stretch of Bloor West at Royal York is part of The Kingsway neighbourhood.

below: Squares of yarn, some crocheted and some knit, cover a red frame heart similar to others that ShowLoveTO have placed around the city.

below: There are more yarn decorations around the metal frame protecting this tree on Bloor Street West.

below: Also, a little Zen Garden Planter to support the CNIB since June was Deafblind Awareness Month – the planter accessories were provided by The Gardener, a local flower store.

below: Bloor West – bike lanes, sidewalk patios, and construction. Welcome to summer in the city!

below: Bloor West glass towers

below: One wall of Brentwood Library and the small garden on the north side of the building.

below: Old gnarly tree with Kingsway Baptist church in the background

below: Just west of Royal York, at Montgomery Road, the subway emerges from underground.

The Mimico Creek passes under Bloor between Royal York and Islington. Tom Riley Park follows the creek on both sides north of Bloor until it then passes under Islington close to the intersection of Islington & Dundas West.

below: Another angle of the subway at ground level. Here is looking east as it runs through Tom Riley Park (and if you could see further, you could see where it goes back underground at Montgomery)

below: Islington subway station and bus bays. A very large parcel of land on the northwest corner of Islington and Bloor is taken up. Opened May 1968.

below: A messy corner, at Aberfoyle & Islington (just north of Bloor)

below: Just north of Bloor, Islington passes under railway tracks.

below: Islington Towers with a fountain in front. The parts of the fountain that are brown were once blue. It was designed and constructed by Alfio Bartoletti in the 1960s.

below: Across the street from the Islington Towers, a highrise with a more modern design (for better or worse, your decision!).

below: Corner of Cordova and Central Park Blvd with new condo development

In this part of Toronto, Dundas is north of Bloor.

Now you are in Islington village, home to over 20 murals depicting scenes from the history of the neighbourhood. I documented these back in 2014 in a blog post, Islington Heritage Murals. The murals are still there and are in good shape.

Are cars always getting in the way of public transit?

below: Not a heritage mural, but painted by Moises Frank for a collaborative project between Arts Etobicoke and the City of Toronto, the Dundas West #NoVacancy project.

below: On the same building as the above mural, is this painting. Once it was the Chinese Food Gallery, now it is vacant and surrounded by a fence. A development notice sign on the fence says that a permit for a five storey mixed use building has been applied for.

As you walk west on Dundas, you approach the intersections of Dundas, Bloor, and Kipling. There is a lot of construction, happening here, mostly condos.

below: A park, Dunkip Park, is also being created. Dun as in Dundas plus kip as in Kipling.

below: A very big hole in the ground.

below: Kipling Street bridge over the railway tracks

below: Looking east along the railway tracks from on top of the bridge at Kipling (back towards Islington).

below: Kipling subway station is the west terminus of the TTC Line 2 and was opened in November 1980. It connected Line 2 of the subway with GO service to the west. Pictured here is part of the south side showing three of its twenty concrete arches. These are similar to the arches at Islington station, but not identical to them.

below: North side of Kipling station, back in 1980 when it first opened, north side bus bays

below: Graffiti stickers in the parking lot. A well-suited duck in a hurry by giacco.ca and a boxy snail by Sketch Nate (aka Nate Galbraith)

below: Eastbound out of Kipling station. The older Line 2 subway trains still have a window that you can look out.

Ontario Line – north end of Pape

Posted: June 22, 2025 in construction, locations, stores, transportation
Tags: catchoo, construction, Cosburn, Donlands, graffiti, hoardings, lemon bucket orchestra, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Pape, people, Ritz restaurant, stickers, subway, trp 613, TTC

On a hillside along the Don Valley Parkway (DVP), there is a large construction project underway. This is where the new Ontario Line subway will go underground after crossing the DVP by bridge.

From this angle it’s difficult to see the work that has been done on the north side of the DVP but the ground has been cleared for construction of the support pillars for the large bridge that will take the LRT from Don Mills Road to this point at the top of Pape.

It has altered the quiet East York neighbourhood at the north end of Pape.

Ontario Line construction has also affected Pape Avenue. Here at Cosburn, a long stretch of what used to be stores and restaurants are now behind plywood hoardings. The main entrance to the station will be on the northwest corner of Pape and Cosburn. The final decision on the look of the station is not yet made (according to the Metrolinx website) but at least some of the renderings show that Infrastructure Ontario is involved and maybe the site will include other uses such as housing or offices.

Demolition has started but it looks like this project is going to take a while. The subway is going to run just west of Pape, under these buildings. Construction will kill (has killed?) street life but traffic shouldn’t be affected as much. Someone somewhere made that decision.

below: Some of the buildings from the back side, behind the plywood

below: There is a large Coca-Cola advert on the side of the building that is about to be demolished.

below: Bethany Baptist Church

below: There are little semi circular “ears” at the top of this building. I doubt that they had a function but along with the 3-D pattern across the top of the building, it adds a little bit of interest to the street scene.

below: Cat and dog at Floyd … while the crossing guard takes a break.

Back in November 2024, I posted some photos of the changes around Pape station (at Danforth). I ended that post just north of Danforth with the comment, “There is another station under construction at Cosburn, a few more blocks north but that’s for another day.” I guess that you could say that now is that day.

below: The top sticker is for the Lemon Bucket Orchestra and on the bottom it’s something about Kirby and Zaku and if you are into such things you might understand the reference.

Queen West-ish

Posted: June 3, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: #spud1, Alanna Fields, Alex Garant, birdo, Christina Mazzulla, CONTACT, Contact photography festival, Cosmo, Daniel Bombardier, Denial, doktor karayom, electric coffin, faces, Flips, gardens. flowers, graffiti, Jerry Rugg, lovebot, Queen West, slaps, snake, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, stickers, swan, Ted Hamer, urban ninja squadron, visual noise, white squirrel

A Lovebot! What a great way to start a day. These two “live” at Nadege Bakery on Queen West. The one on the left looks a little like mint ice cream with chocolate chips! Or else the poor guy has some wickedly strange skin condition.

below: Washing the window makes for more reflections!

below: The Ordinary

below: And the not so ordinary

This is a “walk with friends” post. Last Wednesday I walked with the Wednesday Walking Gang, most of whom I have known and walked with for years. Our “route” took us around the neighbourhoods to the west and south of Trinity Bellwoods Park. We walked on streets such as Walnut, Stafford, and Shaw.

We saw houses, lots of houses… some new…..

… some old …

…. and many in a row

… and even one with a pirate flag

below: It’s great walking in May when spring gardens are in full bloom. There were lots of front yards with interesting plants to look at.

below: Purple irises

below: White clematis flowers

below: Geraniums in the window.

below: There’s something in the window – and it doesn’t look like flowers!

below: Ready for summer?

below: Utility pole replacement in progress – wow! are those poles tall!

below: Three hoppers (funnels?), remnants of an industrial past.

below: Queen Street, looking east from Shaw.

below: Queen West at Walnut Ave where 7-Eleven gas is on the southeast corner (and gas is 135.9/litre). St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church is the large red brick building on the north side of Queen West.

below: The north end of Toronto’s Stanley Park (not quite as big as the one in Vancouver!)

There were two billboards, back to back, near King and Strachan that were part of the CONTACT Photography Festival. They both had large images from Alanna Field’s “Unveiling” series.

There were other portraits seen along the way….

below: An orange painting on a white garage door, by doktor karayom. Here little people seem to be emerging from this poor person’s head. A little foot in one ear and an exploring hand reaching into the other. Two cheeky little faces too. I can’t imagine that that would be comfortable!

below: A bit more realistic, but still with a touch of macabre – young person with four hazel eyes painted by Alex Garant.

below: Normal eyes, blue eyes, on this woman with the long brown hair. Painted by Spud1

below: There was also the face of a queen, a portrait of Queen Victoria, in a Queen West (no, not Queen Wet!) mural near Trinity Bellwoods Park by Electric Coffin and Denial (aka Daniel Bombardier).

below: Four goofy faces in all the wrong colours – great whimsical silliness

below: There are no human faces here in this Birdo (aka Jerry Rugg) mural but there is an alligator (crocodile?) with red eyes and big teeth as well as a shark lurking at the bottom.

below: Owl in the night sky, a painting by Christina Mazzulla

below: For many years there has been a white albino squirrel that lives in or near Trinity Bellwoods park. Here, Ted Hamer has painted it on a Bell box by the sidewalk on Shaw.

below: Swan

below: A large snake is coiled up and squeezed into the confines of the fence.

below: Rowell Soller’s work covers the front of this garage.

below: Curves by Flips

below: One could argue that this is actually a bench.

below: Urban Ninja Squadron gets together with Cosmo and away they fly!

below: A warning sign – this area is remotely monitored…

below: Do you have any photos sitting around the house just taking up space?

below: Can you see the donuts?

Thanks everyone!

from Bay to Christie

Posted: May 20, 2025 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores, transportation
Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, Bloor Fruit Market, Bloor Street, concrete, construction, Cumberland Terrace, cyclists, Gold Leaf Fruit Market, Heart Garden, Katherena Vermette, mailbox, Markham St., monkey, OISE, pedestrians, red dress, reflections, renovations, ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, Tartu College

… a walk along Bloor Street on one of the rare warm days in May.

With respect to the weather, it’s been a crazy May – first cold, then warm, then cold again. As I write this, my windows are closed and the furnace is on. These are the coldest days in May since 1967 they say. I was going to make jokes about Hell freezing over but the Leafs didn’t win.

One of the Bay station exits is at Cumberland Terrace.

The lower level of Cumberland Terrace, especially along the north side, sits mostly empty.

From Cumberland Terrace, I headed to the corner of Bay & Bloor Streets and then westward from there. This is some of what I saw (and, for a change, I managed to keep the photos in the order that I took them).

below: Cladding changes at Bay and Bloor. The older concrete window frames are disappearing. Does anyone know if this type of recessed window feature has a name?

below: People watching from behind glass

below: From Avenue Road, looking west, where the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) dominates the south side of Bloor.

below: Renovations now underway on part of the “crystal” structure at the front of the AGO.

below: Red car….

below: … and red maple leaves

below: The OISE building (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) was controversial when it was built in the late 1960s but it has aged into a good example of classic late modern concrete architecture. As an extra note – if you are interested in Toronto’s concrete architecture of this period, check out “Concrete Toronto: A Guidebook to Concrete Architecture from the Fifties to the Seventies”, edited by Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart (many people contributed chapters to the book).

below: Reflections in the windows of the Bata Shoe Museum at Bloor and St. George.

below: Looking west on Bloor at Huron Street where the old church on the northwest corner is being renovated and expanded. Bloor Street United church was built in 1880 and was originally a Presbyterian church. In 1925 it was one of about 70% of the Presbyterian churches that merged with the Methodists to form the United Church of Canada.

below: The Bloor street facade of the church is being retained and updated while maintaining the church itself intact. A new condo tower is being built on the site, set back from the church building.

below: Looking east on Bloor Street. This view also shows the new building to the west of the church that is also part of the same project.

below: Tartu College building – another example of concrete architecture; it was designed by Elmar Tampold. Tartu College is a not for profit student residence and was named after the city Tartu in Estonia.

below: Red dress to symbolize missing and murdered Indigenous women.

below: Heart Garden at Trinity St. Pauls church at Bloor and Major. There are many of these gardens across the country and they are all dedicated to victims of the residential school system.

poetry, on wood, on a wood wall in a garden, heart garden,

Words on the first panel – by Katherena Vermette An other story this country has an other story one that is not mine or yours but ours

below: Colourful Annex mural by Planta Muisca

below: Bloor at Bathurst, southwest corner. This is what replaced Honest Eds – one had character and the other doesn’t and I think you know which one is which.

below: Markham Street is still closed as it is part of the large construction site on the old Mirvish property.

below: Little wavy curled features on the roof

below: From Sammie’s to Jimmy’s, with Real Nails in between. Square buildings, flat rooflines.

below: Gold Leaf Fruit Market at Palmerston and Bloor

below: Northwest corner of Palmerston and Bloor

below: Todays Specials

below: Bloor Fruit Market

below: Table for two

below: Just a little monkey sunbathing in the window!

below: Koreatown, mailbox

below: Waiting for the green light.

below: Christie subway station

And last, a shout out to Alternity Cafe where my smoothie was a fabulous pale bluish turquoise colour, thanks to the addition of “blue magic”.

another downtown loop

Posted: May 12, 2025 in construction, locations, people, public art, transportation
Tags: boats, Carlton, construction, Destinie Adelakun, downtown, Gardiner Expressway, glass, harbour, Harbourfront, Heritier Bilaka, Jordan Sook, June Clark, Laura Donefer, Love Park, Maple Leafs, owl, Queens Quay, reflections, Segun Caezar, steetcars, Transit Through Time, TTC, Union station, York Street

Good morning! The weather forecast said that there was a chance of drizzly rain and they were right but it wasn’t that much and it didn’t last for long. Not the best day for sunny blue sky photos of the city, but since when has that held us back?

below: You probably don’t recognize where this photo was taken (unless you are familiar with the Victoria Hotel). This is Yonge Street, just south of King subway station, and it is also where I started walking the other day….

below: Contrasts of old and new at the corner of Yonge and Wellingon. Architectural trends as well as the material used are a product of their time.

below: The old stone entrance with a large circular window over the door and an arch that matches those over the other windows. There are also little details in the stonework that you just don’t see in modern buildings.

below: The more recent development to all glass buildings with oversized (i.e. extra tall) ground floor levels.

below: But such extensive use of glass is not entirely new. Downtown skyscrapers have been built using steel frames and glass since the 1960s. I think that the TD bank tower was one of the first, if not the first, in 1967. But that’s not this building… this is part of the large RBC complex on Bay Street between Wellington and Front. The bright pink plants along the sidewalk are wonderful!

below: The south part of the RBC building is very photogenic! Its gold coloured glass as well as its angles and nooks make for some interesting pictures. The older stone Union Station is hiding in the bottom left corner.

below: A recent addition to the streetscape in front of Union Station are these bland blocks of concrete. Such imagination! So much thought went into their design! Really? That’s what someone thought would be a great addition to Front Street?

below: There were some complaints about the older ones… the Jersey barriers that were meant to be temporary but then never went away…. in fact, many of them are still here….

There are 2 art installations in the West Wing at Union Station. The first is a group exhibit, “A Transit Through Time” featuring six Black artists – Destinie Adélakun, Pixel Heller, Segun Caezar, Heritier Bilaka, Rico Poku and Camille Kiffin. Each artist is responsible for one panel…

below: The picture in the foreground, the woman with a red head scarf and blue blouse, is the work of Segun Caezar.

below: “Gelede Queens” by Destinie Adelakun – people in ornate costumes pose in front of a large fireplace and mirror. According to UNESCO, “Gelede is performed by the Yoruba-Nago community that is spread over Benin, Nigeria and Togo. For more than a century, this ceremony has been performed to pay tribute to the primordial mother Iyà Nlà and to the role women play in the process of social organization and development of Yoruba society. “

below: “Self Knowledge” by Heritier Bilaka

below: This large butterfly, by Jordan Sook, is part of another installation called, “Nothing More, Nothing Less”. Apparently there are more butterflies around Union Station. Have you seen any?

below: Ontario Square between Queen’s Quay and the waterfront where a large image from Alex McLeod’s “Liquid, Gold” can still be seen. I wrote a blog past about this picture and others from this series a year ago, “Liquid, Gold and other matters“

below: This “Carnavale Amulet” basket is made of glass and was created by Laura Donefer. It is on display at Harbourfront along with several other of her pieces.

below: A few boats are docked in the harbour. The bridge over the harbour is no longer just blocked, but is now severed.

below: Protecting the young trees

below: Dead and not alive; dead and dead. Patio season on the waterfront hasn’t begun yet.

below: On the south wall of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery a very large photograph by June Clark still hangs. This is left over from last year’s CONTACT Photography Festiva.

below: Getting ready to clean up the city?!

below: Still quiet now, but getting ready for summer…. water taxis to take people to Centre Island.

below: Patriotic red and white, but a very sad Canadian flag.

below: Love Park on the southeast corner of York and Harbour is now complete. This public space was created when the exit ramp from the Gardiner to York Street was removed. It is difficult to see from ground level photos, but the pond is heart shaped.

below: A beaver has made its home in the pond.

below: There is also an owl that has a great birds eye view of the park. Someone else has a great view too!

below: Looking north on York from Harbour Street towards the Gardiner Expressway and beyond. Love Park was behind me to the right when I took this photo.

The old multi level parking garage at Lower Simcoe and the Lakeshore is on its way down. Demolition is well underway.

below: Dwarfed by the new condos around it, the stairwell and elevator shaft from the garage stands on its own. Whose picture is at the top? Someone blowing a giant bubble – must be quite the wad of gum!

below: The other stairwell.

below: “Don’t trespassing”!

below: The demolition as view from the other side of Lakeshore Blvd.

below: A lot of concrete! Under the ramp to the Gardiner

below: The northeast corner of York and Lakeshore

below:

below: York Street at Lakeshore Blvd where the old green Gardiner Expressway travels directly above the Lakeshore

below: Just after taking the above photo, there was much noise from the honking of horns, as this black car decided to take a short cut to the ramp by going north in the southbound lane on York Street.

And last, a shout out to the Toronto Maple Leafs as I walk through the Scotiabank Centre back to the subway. As I write this, the Leafs tied at two games apiece with the Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Go Leafs Go!

below: Carlton in his regular blue and white attire as well as in his St. Pats costume. Love the curly wig and the clover leaf shaped glasses! You can catch Carlton in the store at Scotiabank arena (along with a lot of other Toronto team paraphernalia!).

everything’s for sale

Posted: March 26, 2025 in construction, locations, stores, windows and walls
Tags: architecture, cars, chairs, Domestic Tank & Equipment, fences, Liquidatorz, murals, old cars, puzzle, railway, redevelopment, Rona, Scarborough, signs, vacant, walls, Warden Ave.

below: Signs. I always read the signs. As I approached the fence, I was preparing to read about yet another condo so I was pleasantly surprised to read, “building with Electronic Gaming and Bingo Hall”! Apparently Dolphin Gaming has submitted a number of applications for developing this site over the past few years and finally, back in November the plan for a lowrise building with plenty of parking was approved.

I came across the above sign a few weeks ago when a small group of us explored a rather forlorn section of Scarborough. “Forlorn” can be fun because often it equals interesting photography opportunities. It was still winter then; back when there was still snow on the ground.

Many people react to seeing a group of people with cameras walking in their neighbourhood. Some of the natives are friendly and want to talk, even if it’s just a minute or two of small talk. We can be a chatty group. A number of times during this walk we were asked if we were looking to buy. When we asked if what they had was for sale, the answer was frequently, “everything is for sale”. I can not vouch for how true that is, but in this section of Scarborough it certainly felt possible.

below: Signs!

below: Oh no! I can picture the driver jumping out of his Cybertruck already for his shift in a school bus!

below: Most of the architecture is one storey brick buildings, long and low. This type of roof over the entrance probably has a name, canopy? awning? – it seems very 1960s or 1970s.

below: Largest in Canada! Pink windows say: Open to the public…. We can finance your kitchen for a few dollars a week….Big or small, we auction it all… (and more)

below: Old style bus shelter with no ads.

below: Railway tracks cross Warden Avenue at a level crossing

below: A large pile of old used wheel rims

below: “Puzzle” created by Elaine Teguibon, Tara Dorey, Raymond Cho, as well as youth employment program artists, 2011. Funded by the City of Toronto. It covers the front of the Youthlink building .

below: It has a couple of Mediah murals and a Scarborough 3D sign, and now its for sale…. (more details at: Scarborough Mediah blog post)

below: More for sale! All one storey. This is steps the new Eglinton LRT (we think!). It is zoned M4A-225 which is industrial. Also sneaking into the picture – You might recognize the large white city of Toronto water tower near the corner of Warden and Eglinton.

below: Domestic Tank & Equipment with its wall of small panes of window glass. There must have been hundreds of these types of buildings in Toronto once upon a time.

I tried to find some history on this building… instead I learned a lot about “liquid storage solutions since 1952”. Industrial use tanks are actually quite interesting!

below: Where an Electronic Gambling & Bingo Hall just might go …

As I was taking the above three photos, I had my back to another very large abandoned site which happens to also be the place where I ended the walk. A large and very empty Rona store occupies a large chunk of prime real estate. It was made redundant when Lowes and Rona (both were big box hardware and building supply stores) merged a few years ago. A second, but very active, Rona store is only a block or so away.

below: It is quite a large piece of property. Present asking price is just over $50,000,000.

below: Although I know that big box stores are big, they look even bigger when they are empty. There doesn’t seem to be much to them – some beams to make a metal frame, add a few pipes and some wires, and wrap it on all sides. An engineer or a contractor may disagree, but it looks so simple.

below: Over and out!

Thanks to the usual Wednesday walking group for letting me join them once again – All bundled up for walking on a winter day!

around Wilson station

Posted: March 4, 2025 in construction, locations, public art, transportation
Tags: art, clandestinos, concrete, condos, development, Downsview airport, fourplexes, graffiti, houses, kiss n ride, murals, parking, redevelopment, Shalak Attack, street art, subway, Ted Bieler, tiles, TTC, Wilson Heights, Wilson station

Wilson subway station, on the University side of Line 1, opened in 1978 and was the end of the line until Downsview station just to the north opened in 1996. It is not a thing of beauty. Concrete. Austere from the outside. It’s entrance from under the Allen Expressway is dark, gloomy, and depressing.

below: Northwest entrance to the station, nestled up against the Allen Expressway.

below: Walkway to southwest entrance

That stretch of the subway runs down the median of the Allen Expressway.

below: Although the platform has a roof, it is open at the ends and in the winter it is cold. There are a few of these pod-like waiting areas, circular glass structures with benches for those wanting a tiny reprieve from the wind.

below: Inside the station a concrete wall sculpture by Ted Bieler entitled ‘Canyons’

What drew me here in the first place …. To help brighten up the area, some of the concrete, both inside and out, has been covered with murals by Shalak Attack, Bruno Smoky, and Clandestinos,

below: An owl and a woman’s face at the two south entrances.

below: There is a lot of street art along Wilson Avenue but most of it is under the Allen Expressway and is not well lit. Some of it is also looking very dirty.

below: Pink flowers inside the station

below: Circular “Kiss ‘n Ride” still exists.

below: Exit at Wilson Heights

below: Northeast side of the station, along with the Allen Expressway

I took most of these pictures back in the summer but I hadn’t taken the time to blog about what I had seen. When I drove past Wilson again recently, I noticed that the parking lot on the east side (towards Wilson Heights) is now fenced off. Now it is a snow covered vacant lot.

below: Parking lot before

below: … and after. You can still park your bikes here, but no more cars.

below: There is a City of Toronto development notice sign on the side of Wilson station. It looks like the city may be serious about affordable housing at this site. Apparently this has been in the works for a number of years but faced some opposition form those who wanted to keep the parking lot. Just shy of 1500 units in six buildings are planned on the site along with community space and a public park. The percent allotted to affordable housing varies from 35 to 48 percent, depending on the source of the information.

To the west of the station, on the north side of Wilson, is the remains of the Downsview Airport lands.

below: One of the four winners of the ‘XOXO Downsview, Talking Fences’ competition of 2023, is “Aandi wenjibaayan?” which translates to “Where are you from?” It was suggested by Lakhvir Sandhar. The other three winners have their words displayed elsewhere on the Downsview property.

vintage photo taken from low flying airplane of bishop-barker airplane limited,

Photo credit: Toronto Public Library online digital image archive

The south side of Wilson is retail and is now Wilson Village. It is also where you will find Billy Bishop Way named for Canadian pilot. It is nowhere near Billy Bishop Airport (that’s WAAAAY south, on the island, or the other one in Owen Sound) but is a nod to Downsview’s history as an airfield and its role in airplane manufacturing.

William Avery Bishop was born in Owen Sound in 1894. He was a Canadian flying ace during WW1.

below: Looking southeast past the old metal fence that surrounds the parking on the northwest side of Wilson station. Big box retail on the other side of Wilson, and newer midrise to highrise residential development on the other side of the Allen.

Very close to the planned “affordable housing” but on the south side of Wilson, there is already a new community being built.

There are many older single family homes to the east, in a quiet neighbourhood squeezed in between Wilson and the 401.

I even discovered an old moose hiding in the bushes! The “Moose in the City” project goes way back to 2000 when 326 life-sized moose sculptures found homes around the city. Each one was decorated by a local artist. I am not sure how many still exist but it can’t be more than a fraction of the original.

Other moose: Scarborough moose near Kennedy and 401, moose at St. Clair and Bayview. Any others?

To the east, Wilson is becoming a canyon of midrise buildings, replacing the older residences, often fourplexes and sixplexes.

The development is more intensive as you get closer to the Allen and the subway line…

… on both the north and south side of Wilson

behind Dundas, near Dufferin

Posted: February 5, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art
Tags: alley, aner, Anna Urra, Christina Mazzulla, construction, Dufferin, Dundas West, Fabian Lopez, garages, graffiti, lanes, Mony Zakhour, murals, Paula Tikay, redevelopment, Supermalo5, three sisters, tikay, vacant

below: View from a lane that runs behind the north side of Dundas West, walking west of Dufferin. The alley also runs east of Dufferin but that will have to wait for another day. The large brick building on Dufferin is St. Annes parish hall. St. Annes church is behind, facing Gladstone Ave. The vacant lot on left was a parking lot not long ago but now it is now a construction site.

below: It looks like changes are coming on the Dundas West side of the lane as well. A concrete wall/fence has been partially demolished and there are construction fences behind some of the buildings. According to the Urban Toronto website, two 8 storey developments have been proposed – one fronting on Dundas and the other on Dufferin, with the alley remaining between them.

below: Behind Dundas West… but not for much longer.

below: Artwork by Cuban artist Supermalo5, aka Fabian Lopez who always includes a little question mark in his work along with the incorrect equation 2 + 2 = 5

below: Two big round black eyes

below: Street art painting, abstract, by Mony Zakhour

below: Screenshot from Google street view, captured in 2019. The houses on the left are now gone – you can see the blue and white development notice sign in front of them. They are now part of the vacant lot/construction site pictured above. You can also see that the lane here is Boland Lane. It runs perpendicular to Dundas West.

below: A quick look at what else is in Boland Lane

below: “Embrace what makes you unique even if it makes others uncomfortable”

below: “Perfection is the enemy of greatness”

Continuing behind Dundas….

below: Layers, old and new as well as wood, brick, and glass.

below: Rooftop decks and terraces above and street art covered garages below including a flaming hot kitty painted by Christina Mazzulla.

below: A trio of grey masked foxes (wolves? dogs?) covering two doors. This painting goes back to at least 2017 and possibly 2015 and before.

below: The lane meets Awde Street, with a teal colored garage door. Awde is only a block long, and is not the original Awde Street. Apparently what is now Croatia Street was once Awde (1908) and there is a plaque to prove it.

below: That brownish wall in above picture (where there is now a stack of firewood), was once covered with a painting. This is it in 2015.

below: Awde Street, streetview from 2019.

At this point, the lane makes a 90 degree turn towards Dundas – and lo and behold, there is even more artwork to see ( also by Mony Zakhour?)

below: On the north side of Dundas West, there is a large mural titled, “Three Sisters” painted by Paula Tikay and Aner Urra. I discussed it in a blog post from 2019 (Three Sisters, Tikay and Aner)

… and that’s the end of the alley!

Small bit of trivia: I once found my great-great-grandfather, John Marshall, and his family in a Toronto phone book from about 1910 (I can’t remember the exact year). They were on Gladstone Ave. When I went to see if I could find the house, I discovered that the number corresponded with a vacant lot (parking lot?) adjacent to St. Annes church.

Cliffcrest

Posted: January 28, 2025 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, history, locations, transportation
Tags: Americana Motel, Cliffcrest, Hav a Nap Motel, Henry's Motel, houses, Kingston Road, motels, mural, mural routes, radial railway, redevelopment, Scarborough, Scarborough Heritage Murals, signs, Stop 17, stores, T&YRR, winter

Cliffcrest is a neighbourhood in Scarborough that includes a section of Kingston Road between Brimley and Bellamy Roads. The southern boundary is Lake Ontario including the eastern portion of the Scarborough Bluffs.

below: At the corner of Kingston Road & St. Clair is one of the Scarborough Heritage Trail murals funded by Mural Routes. It is “In The Way of Progress” and shows a Kingston Road radial railway car at Stop 17 with Scarborough High School (later changed name to R.H. King Academy) in the background. It was painted in 1996 by Phil, Jennifer, and Jamie Richards.

below: 1922, Kingston Road looking west towards St. Clair with Scarborough High School near the intersection.

Source: City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1488, series 1230, Item 2064

In 1893 the Toronto and Scarborough Electric Railway, Light and Power Company started running a one car train along Kingston Road. The tracks went as far east as West Hill. A couple of years later, this line became part of the Toronto and York Radial Railway (TYRR). The TYRR had four branches radiating from the city, one to the west, 2 northward, and this one east along Kingston Road. The stops on the Scarborough route were numbered, starting at Victoria Park Avenue. Stop 17 was at St. Clair East & Kingston Road.

below: This 1922 photo is actually from a bit farther west, at Victoria Park. What I wanted to show was how the railway tracks just ran between the road and the sidewalk. Very simple infrastructure! Not too feasible in a city, but in 1922 this neighbourhood was more rural than urban (and they still got transit!)

1922 photo of Kingston Road, looking west from Victoria Park

Source: City of Toronto Archives, Series 71, item 1607

below: You can’t see it in this photo but the mural above is on the wall of Stop 17 Variety (by the parking lot on the right).

below: From 1973, forty years ago – looking at the southeast corner of Brimley and Kingston Road. The bus is northbound on Brimley.

black and white photo by Richard Glaze taken in 1973 at the corner of Brimley and Kingston Road, found on Transit Toronto website

Photo Credit: Richard Glaze photo 1973, Transit Toronto website. If you are interested in anything to do with transit in Toronto, check out their website. They have an extensive collection of photographs, maps, and documents. They also feature all the latest news about slow downs, route changes, and service advisories (among other things).

The same motel is still on that corner of Kingston Rd and Brimley. I don’t have the exact replica photo but this is what the Hav a Nap Motel looks like now.

below: Moving slightly west, photo taken from approximately the corner of Brimley and Kingston Road.

Once upon a time, Kingston Road was a major east west route in and out of the city. There were many motels along here. Their heyday was the 1950s and the bigger, fancier ones are long gone, leaving behind some of the smaller ones.

below: As a shoutout to these motels and their stoy is this sidewalk box decorated with images of old motel signs. The Americana and the Roycroft signs can be seen on this side.