locations | as I walk Toronto

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a tale of two bridges

Posted: September 15, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings, transportation
Tags: Canadian National Railway, CNR, construction, dump truck, Eastern Ave., GO Transit, Leslieville, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Queen St. East, Riverdale, Riverside, street, traffic, train, trucks, TTC

Traffic on Eastern Avenue near Broadview has faced construction and traffic delays over the past few months. The slow downs are ongoing as work on the railway bridge progresses. This work is because Metrolinx is adding tracks to make room for the new Ontario Line. Like many parts of the city, there are many changes occurring in the area.

Demolition on the north side of Eastern, and poof, gone, one large 5 storey Self Storage facility at 356 Eastern. Removed to make way for new tracks. The beige house faces Lewis Street.

… and now sitting gutted on the south side is another not old building (South side of Eastern Ave between Broadview and the railway tracks).

South side of Eastern, from another angle.

West side approach to the Canadian National Railway bridge

Along with the new railway line, Metrolinx is building what they are calling the East Harbour transit hub. This involves a new Ontario Line station as well as a new GO station on the Lakeshore East and Stouffville GO lines. Eventually, plans are to have TTC streetcars or LRT link here (it is directly south of Broadview and there is a plan to extend Broadview).

below: Construction along the railway line, south of Eastern Ave

below: One side (the east side) of the railway tracks has been demolished. Ultimately the whole bridge will be replaced but it is being done in stages to allow GO trains and VIA rail trains to continue running throughout the process.

A constant flow of dump trucks back and forth, in and out, of the construction site south of Eastern (on both sides of the railway tracks). The 38 acre site that includes the old Lever Bros (Ponds, Sunlight etc) soap factory is being redeveloped at the same time – it extends south to Lakeshore and west to the Don River.

Looking west on Eastern Ave, back towards downtown.

405 Eastern Ave, immediately east of the railway bridge, is also under construction. It has nothing to do with transportation as it is a new Enbridge building. A large 3 storey building with both offices and industrial (computers?) will probably be built here.

Makes sense, gas pipelines on site.

Just north of Eastern Ave, the railway tracks cross Queen St East., crossing over a bridge of the same style and vintage. Once upon a time this was a level crossing with a railway station on the northwest corner, the Riverdale station on the Grand Trunk Railway. This is soon to be the location of the Riverside Leslieville station on the not yet built Ontario Line.

So far the bridge is still intact but it too will be completely changed by the time Metrolinx is finished. The station itself will be on the bridge (if their drawings & plans are to be believed).

Here there will be 6 tracks – 4 for GO Transit and 2 for the Ontario Line.

Union Station and beyond

Posted: August 19, 2023 in construction, locations, people, public art, transportation
Tags: Bremner, construction, David Rokeby, John McEwen, Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square, Maple Leafs, Pixel Cube, Scotiabank Arena, signs, statues, Union station

Welcome back!

below: Posing with the men of Legends Row

below: The CN Tower peaks out from behind glass buildings on Bremner.

below: A slightly different angle, but still looking west on Bremner towards the Rogers Centre, which of course everyone still calls the SkyDome. The very east end of Bremner is also known as Raptors Way in celebration of the Toronto Raptors NBA Championship win in 2019 (that’s basketball for those of you who don’t follow such things).

below: Maple Leaf Square. The three rusted metal cones form “Search Light, Star Light, Spot Light” (1998) by John McEwen. At night, light shines through the thousand star shaped holes in the metal.

below: South entrance to Union Station.

below: More public art with lights can be seen in the foyer at 25 York Street (enter at Union Station in photo above and turn left). Thirty thousand lights suspended from the ceiling and they are constantly changing colour. This is David Rokeby’s “Pixel Cube”.

below: If you had turned right instead of left into 25 York, you would find yourself in the foyer of Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Pictured, larger than life on the wall, are 90 Ryan O’Reilly, 16 Mitch Marner, and 88 William Nylander.

below: Russell Peters gives directions?

below: Although much of the Union Station renovation is complete, there are still mystery parts behind temporary walls and plastic barriers.

below: The walk from the railway side of the station to the TTC portion is now covered. No more dodging the elements!

below: Construction on Bay Street, immediately north of the railway tracks.

below: A typical day in downtown Toronto? Construction vehicles caught in the gridlock.

below: Intersection of Bay and Front (that truck is still there!).

below: At street level, something is happening with the gold tinted glass windows on the Royal Bank building. No opportunities to play with reflections in the angled glass walls. As an aside, if you want to discover how many plainclothes security people are lurking in the area, put your camera over the wall and aim it at the building. Then smile.

below: Heading north, Bay and Wellington

Let’s start with A

Posted: August 11, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings
Tags: anthropology, Knox College, Louis B. Stewart Observatory, Philosophers Walk, purple prairie clover, Que Rock, Queen Alexandra Gateway, Thomas Haskell, Trinity College, U of T Art Museum, University College, University of Toronto, Walter Yarwood

In this case A is a very fancy letter and A is for Alexandra – as in Queen Alexandra. This is a post on one side of the Queen Alexandra Gateway at the north end (at Bloor Street) of Philosophers Walk. A little bit of history – This gate was built by the Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire to commemorate the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall in 1901. Originally it stood slightly to the east, at the north end of Queens Park Drive (at Bloor). The names and relationships of the British monarchy can get confusing! The Duke of Cornwall was also Prince George (who later became King George V). Queen Alexandra was his mother – the wife of King Edward VII

on a stone gate pillar, two metal pieces, a crown and the letter A, gatepost is for Queen Alexandra Gateway

Or maybe A is for Architecture.

below: There is plenty of that as you walk along Philosophers Walk including this juxtaposition of old stone and new glass. The reddish structure was built in 1897 to house the Toronto Conservatory of Music. The glass addition to the now Royal Conservatory of Music opened in 2009.

below: The aged copper at the top of Trinity College (built 1920s) is another example of the architectural details to be seen here.

… and now A is for Academia as we find ourselves surrounded by the University of Toronto.

below: Front of Trinity College

below: Ivy covered walls.

below: Hart House – financed by Vincent Massey and named after his father, Hart Massey (of Massey Ferguson). Vincent Massey was the 18th Governor General of Canada (Feb 1852- Dec 1859).

below: “He came and preached peace. ” Faces and felines above a Knox College window.

below: Impressive stonework around a University College door.

below: University College window.

below: Purple prairie clover in front of University College (and no, sadly it doesn’t start with A).

below: Not all University buildings are old and built of stone. This is the McLennan Physical Laboratories building (originally from 1967 but with many updates).

A is for Art.

When I walked this route, the Art Museum at the University of Toronto (in University College) was showing a few artists including the graduating projects of the 2023 Master of Visual Studies graduate students Durga Rajah, Nimisha Bhanot, Omolola Ajao, and Sarah Zanchetta. That exhibited end on the 22nd of July (I am a bit behind in posting). Here is an example – I leave it to you, A the Audience, to decide if it is A for Art in this case.

below: Title: “@ranaayyub Proud of the Muslim women in India who are sticking their neck out and speaking against the tyranny of the Indian state, (Rana Ayyub)” 2023 by Nimisha Bhanot. The image is taken from a short video posted on Instagram in April 2022 by Rana Ayyub who is a journalist at the Washington Post (born in Mumbai India).

A is for Anatomy. But yikes, the anatomy is not where you’d expect it to be!

below: Part of “Consuming Caribbean” series by Thomas Haskell.

A is for Artefacts although I may be grasping at straws here…. (Art -efacts perchance?)… “Resurgent Artefacts” is the name of another of the installations at the U of T Art Museum. It consists of words written on the wall as well as spoken plus a visual aspect. The words begin with: “this morning, a hole appears in your stomach. you rinse dishes that roll inward. sprinkle flowers which disappear. your heart beat ragged like stems rotting in still water. it is no small devastation. sprung without antecedent or count in. just a slow sink. a mossy bog.”… there is more, 8 feet high. Full text on artist’s instagram page

below: The visual part of Jasmine Gui’s “Resurgent Artefacts”, floor to ceiling designs on Japanese paper. A single picture probably doesn’t do it justice.

A is also for Astronomy.

Or in this case, the Louis B. Stewart Observatory on Hart House Circle. The original building was the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory. From Wikipedia: “The original building was constructed in 1840 as part of a worldwide research project … to determine the cause of fluctuations in magnetic declination. Measurements from the Toronto site demonstrated that sunspots were responsible for this effect on Earth’s magnetic field. When this project concluded in 1853, the observatory was greatly expanded by the Canadian government and served as the country’s primary meteorological station and official timekeeper for over fifty years. The observatory is considered the birthplace of Canadian astronomy.”

A is for Anthropology. That’s the study of humanity, or what makes humans human. You could say it’s the study of cultures and societies and how they develop or interact. Here someone from the Anthropology Department has planted food? I am not sure what is growing here….

below: Also outside the Anthropology building is this cast-bronze sculpture called ‘Cedars’ (1962) by Walter Yarwood.

A is for Anishinaabe

It is also our last stop on this wander through part of the University of Toronto. Now we are at Spadina, just north of the Daniels Building/Architecture faculty where this design was painted on the large north window in November 2021 by Que Rock.

Anyone for B?

a quick check on Osgoode

Posted: August 6, 2023 in construction, locations
Tags: construction, cyclist, Metrolinx, Ontario line, Osgoode station, pedestrian, sidewalk, sidewalks, street, subway, traffic, transit, transportation, University Ave.

At the end of last year there was some controversy about removal of some of the trees from the park in front of Osgoode Hall to make way for Metrolinx and the new Ontario Line subway. (see post here – tree removal ).

Well, the trees did come down and subway construction has begun. The northbound lanes on University Ave north of Queen are closed and of course traffic chaos has ensued.

below: One entrance to Osgoode station on the southwest corner of Queen and University (looking north). On the Metrolinx website, the old building that now houses Rexall will become a new entrance to the subway. Or at least the facade of the building from 1929 is being retained. Before it was a Rexall drug store it was a CIBC branch.

below: Pedestrians crossing Queen Street, east side of University Ave (looking south)

below: The other entrance to Osgoode station is on the northeast corner of University and Queen. (Looking south in this photo.) A new entrance is planned for this location too except that it will be within the black wrought iron fence that surrounds Osgoode Hall. This frees up space on the busy sidewalk.

below: The bike lane on westbound Queen Street comes to an abrupt end and the corner is quite dangerous.

Walking north on University Avenue

below: Looking south on University from Armoury Street. This is the section of University that is closed to traffic.

below: University Club of Toronto, a Georgian building, with just one edge of the US Consulate General visible on the left side of the photo.

below: Weaving of traffic at Armoury Street (in front of the US Consulate General).

boom town

Posted: July 22, 2023 in locations, public art
Tags: art, blue, boom town, booms, eyes, Gardiner, Lakeshore, reflections, the bentway, Waterfront BIA, waterfront reconnect, York St.

Something to smile about!

He’s happy to be hanging out under the Gardiner with a friend….

while another of the gang lurks nearby, keeping an eye on the situation….

Together they are part of “Boom Town”, a temporary creative intervention to brighten the day of passers by. A colourful contrast to the Lakeshore and the Gardiner above it, brought to life by the people at the bentway as well as the Waterfront BIA.

starting at Queen and Sumach

Posted: July 15, 2023 in construction, history, intersections, locations, old buildings
Tags: abandoned, Ashby Place, Canadian flag, Cherry St., Dominion Pub, Elicser Elliott, heritage, historic, houses, Inglenook school, mural, Rowell Soller, stores, Sumach St., Sweet Marie, terrace houses, the Magic Building, William George Storm

First, let’s get our bearings….

below: This was, until recently, the Dominion Pub. It is on the northwest corner of Queen St East and Sumach. It was a popular spot with a decent patio. When I saw that the Dominion was closed and the property for lease I decided that I’d better document the area. There is just so much happening, or about to happen, here in terms of development.

below: Directly opposite, on the northeast corner, is this row of buildings – 502, 506, and 508 Queen Street East. The buildings appear to be empty but there is no development notice sign. Only 502, Sweet Marie Variety, is considered of any historic value.

below: Just to the east, more of the same. One is for sale – It’s just over 1600 sq ft, and can be yours for $1,800,000. These pictures were taken on the 1st of July and as I write this almost two weeks later, it is still on the market. Care to be a commercial landlord? Or maybe hold onto it in hopes that a developer wants to buy you out?

below: One more change of viewpoint… South side of Queen, looking west to Sumach Street

below: Stepping back in time (can anyone date the cars?), to the same intersection but from the other side, Queen Street looking west at Cherry Street.

black and white vintage photo of Queen street, looking west, at Cherry street

City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 1488, Series 1230, Item 2285, plus some enhancing with Photoshop

below: The building on the corner with the mansard roof is still there. The bright green part of the building lost its roof in a fire a few years ago. Both buildings date from before 1884.

below: The fire also destroyed one of the row houses immediately beside, leaving a vacant lot in its place. 469 Queen is a terrace house built in 1877. The ivy covered building (the Magic Building) faces Sumach Street.

below: The brick warehouse/factory at 489 Queen Street East was built in 1884. This building has been renovated and turned into office space.

below: Just east of the old warehouse is another short row of terrace houses from the same time period.

below: A little further east

below: And a little more…. a row of flat roofs on two storey brick store fronts. They also all have three narrow windows on the upper floor.

Jumping back to the start, the Dominion Brewery opened in 1878 and was in operation until 1936. The original owner was Robert T. Davies who bought the site in 1877; he had worked previously at his brother’s brewery, Don Brewery which was only about two blocks away. A large part of this structure still stands, especially the part facing Queen Street. The lower right corner of this image shows the Dominion Hotel which was attached to the brewery but wasn’t part of it.

below: The Dominion Hotel as it appeared in 1945. The little tower and fourth floor no longer exist. The hotel was built in 1889 by Robert Davies (same as first owner of the brewery).

An older black and white photo of the Dominion Hotel. Once upon a time it had a tower.

This image was found on Wikipedia but is originally from the City of Toronto Archives, listed under the archival citation Fonds 1257, Series 1057, Item 520. (public domain).

below: Painting by Rowell Soller on Queen Street

below: From under the scaffolding in front of the Dominion Pub.

below: The front entrance of the Magic Building on Sumach Street, south of Queen (that’s the ivy covered one a few photos above).

below: Not only does the building have a lot of ivy on its walls, it also has a painting by Elicser Elliott with a red-capped man at ground level.

below: The box on the sidewalk across the street from the wizard painting has also been decorated by Elicser Elliott.

If you walk south on Sumach, it is a short block to King.

below: Looking down the alley to another street of row houses, Ashby Place, with newer Corkdown developments behind that.

below: A closer look at a couple of the houses on Ashby Place – they’re small!

below: This is the northeast corner of King and Sumach. This intersection has more than 30 of poles, or at least I lost count at 30. Most of them are for the 504 streetcars.

below: Southeast corner of King & Sumach… a mix of old and new

below: On the northwest side of the intersection are a couple of old brick houses that still survive.

below: When I looked for old photos of the area, I found this one…. If I am not mistaken, it is the same location as the photo above but from a different angle. The building that looks like it’s going to collapse any minute has been replaced by Central Auto. On the right hand side of this photo there is a striped brick building in the background. This is a church at the corner of King and Bright.

old vintage black and white photo of housing at King and Sumach

Housing – Nov 3, 1936, 472 and 474 King St. and 42 Sumach. City of Toronto Archives, Series 372,

South of King Street, Sumach curves to join Cherry Street at Eastern Avenue. As you travel south, Inglenook School is on your right. Between 1834 and 1890 this site was the home of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, refugee former slaves from Kentucky who started Toronto’s first taxicab company. The school was designed by William George Storm (1826-1892) as Sackville Street School. Storm also added the tower to St. James Cathedral and designed the wrought iron fence around Osgoode Hall amongst other things.

white car parked in frontof an old school building, brick, two storey, with condo development going on behind, is now Inglenook community school.

Inglenook School’s claim to fame is that it is located in the oldest continually-operated school building in the Toronto District School Board.

From here Sumach Street becomes Cherry Street. The Distillery District is the next attraction on the route before Cherry crosses the Lakeshore (closed at the moment) and heads through the Port Lands to Cherry Beach. But all that excitement will have to be found in other blog posts!

Marlee Ave

Posted: July 12, 2023 in construction, doors, locations, stores, windows and walls
Tags: barber shop, belt line, doors, Eglinton Ave West, filipino variety store, Glencairn, graffiti, houses, Jasnine, Marlee Ave., residences, stores, street, ukranian grocery market

Marlee Ave runs parallel to the Allen Road, one block west. It is like a lot of streets in Toronto – it’s a place where people live, shop, and/or work but it’s not a place where you’d visit otherwise. As it turns out, it is also a street in the midst of many changes… and that too is true of so many streets in the city.

It’s north end is at Lawrence Avenue where there is a large shopping center.

below: Marlee is a mix of residences and commercial buildings such as this small plaza.

below: DGA Filipino Variety store – Imported Beauty Products, Homemade Kakanin, Special Halo-Halo & Gulaman Sago, Money Remittances, and much much more!

below: Odessa Russian (Ukranian) Market

below: Seen in a convenience store window

below: As you can see, the barber shop is now open

below: Laundry on the balcony of one of the many sixplexes (six apartments in the building) on Marlee.

below: Someone has a sense of humour – Gate XXX. It must be restricted.

below: Mural painted for Kirsch Cosmetics by Jasnine

below: Another house waiting to be demolished (demolition notice on the fence).

below: One developer has painted all the houses that are empty and boarded up – they are all black

below: Glencairn subway station on the University Line, midway between Lawrence and Eglinton. This section of the subway runs above ground down the center of Allen Road.

A few blocks south of Glencairn, the Kay Gardiner Belt Line crosses Marlee

below: A community garden on the Belt Line

Marlee ends at Eglinton Avenue

This section of Eglinton Avenue West suffered through years of construction mess – lane reductions and sidewalk closures – while the Eglinton Crosstown LRT was being built. The whole process started in 2011. It’s still not running and no one really knows when (if??) it will become operational. The different groups involved in this fiasco are arguing amongst each other and the lawsuits have begun. Until recently, there was a website where you could get updates on the Crosstown, thecrosstown.ca, but it has disappeared.

below: Someone loves Andrea! … and on the lovely note I will end this post. Love to all!!

from the Distillery to Nathan Phillips

Posted: July 9, 2023 in alleys, construction, locations, old buildings, public art
Tags: 60 Queen St. East, Cherry St., city hall, construction, Darwin Peters, development, Frantz Brent-Harris, hoardings, Jamii, Mashkiki, Mill St., Morningstar Quill, nathan phillips square, old city hall, Ontario line, people, Queen St., sign, St. Lawrence market, subway, walking dogs, West Don Lands, Yonge St.

My previous post was about wandering around the Distillery District which by the way is 20 years old now. Back in 2003 it was surrounded by a part of the city that seemed to have been forgotten. In 2015 the PanAm games were held in Toronto. Athletes Village, i.e. housing for the athletes competing in the games was built new in what was now being called the West Don Lands. After the games, this housing was converted to “746 market-priced condos, 41 market-priced town homes, 250 affordable-rent apartments, 257 student dormitory units for George Brown College, office and retail units, and a YMCA recreation centre.” (Wikipedia) Development in the area continues on all sides of the Distillery.

below: Southside view of the new development on Mill Street (east of Cherry).

below: Northeast corner of Mill and Cherry. Part of this complex is a new Anishnawbe health centre.

below: Eastbound on Eastern Avenue at Trinity Street

below: Fire hydrant in a field of chicory, vacant lot surrounded by a fence.

below: Down and out. Grounded. Election signs left over from the recent by-election for mayor.

below: A large section of land at Parliament and Front that will become the site of Corktown station on the new Ontario Line is surrounded by hoardings. From here the line goes northwest to a new Moss Park station at Queen & Sherbourne – or it goes southeast to the existing railway tracks by the Lakeshore where it surfaces before a new station, East Harbour, at the foot of Broadview ( south of Eastern).

below: Nicholson Lane

below: There is a new mural on the St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre painted by Darwin Peters from Pikangikum First Nation..

below: On the Esplanade

below: Photography exhibit along the Esplanade, “Mashkiki” by Morningstar Quill about life in Pikangikum First Nation. This photo shows a group of young women making ribbon skirts.

below: The exhibit was produced with the support of Jamii, a non-profit arts organization.

below: For those hot summer days when we’re all looking for a bit of relief!

below: Post more Bills

below: Working on the new north market building, St. Lawrence Market.

below: Looking westward from Front and George streets.

below: Lower Sherbourne

below: McVeighs Irish pub in an old building that is now surrounded by new developments, Richmond and Church.

below: The steeple of St James Cathedral peaks through the gap.

below: This is “Afrophilia”, an installation at the Toronto Sculpture Garden by Frantz Brent-Harris, a Jamaican artist now based in Toronto.

below: A closer look at two of the heads.

below: Crossing King Street.

below: Queen Street East

below: The present state of the northeast corner of Queen and Church (60 Queen St. East). Before becoming a placeholder for yet another condo development, it was a Shawarma’s King restaurant. That old yellow building may be living out its final days – since 2018 a very tall (54 to 57 storeys) building has been proposed for this site. The original proposal had the usual blah glass and steel at street level as shown on the condo website (queenchurch.com) but in November 2020 the existing building (and a couple of nearby buildings on Church St) was added to Toronto’s Heritage Register.

below: Queen Street is now closed at Church Street for work on the new Ontario Line subway. Rumour says that it will be closed 4 (5?) years. Yes, years. The subway will run under Queen Street and connect to the Yonge line at Queen and the University line at Osgoode.

below: Peering over the fence?

below: Looking west along Queen Street towards Yonge (behind the hoardings).

below: Trying to look west along Queen at Yonge.

below: The glass roof of the Eaton Centre is also being renovated and updated. Scaffolding now dominates the upper level of the mall.

below: More Queen Street closed… the closure runs as far west as Bay Street and Old City Hall.

below: Feeding the pigeons at Nathan Phillips square.

below: Group shot! A school group visiting City Hall.

below: Constructing a rainbow heart

below: …. which became an attraction before it was finished

below: Empty planters. Ugliness on Queen Street, right in front of Nathan Phillips Square and City Hall. Neglectful. Toronto can build it but Toronto can’t maintain it.

below: Mayor Gao for mayor! I don’t think that this was a serious candidate?! But then again, there were 101 people on the ballot in that by-election so maybe he was…..

around the Distillery, June 2023 version

Posted: July 6, 2023 in locations, old buildings, people, public art
Tags: 6ix Art Outdoor, art, Balzacs, construction, cranes, Distillery District, heart, millstone, people, pride, sculpture, Terran McNeely, trees

below: The sparrows around Balzacs Coffee shop are as brazen as ever. If you decide to lure them away by throwing crumbs elsewhere, the pigeons will join in the fun.

below: East entrance to the Distillery, on Cherry Street. I suspect that everyone who visits the Distillery takes this photo.

below: Part of a display of some of the products produce by the Gooderham and Worts distillery over the years. The distillery complex built by Gooderham and Worts started producing spirits in 1862. At one time it was the largest employer in Toronto. It also once produce half the spirits made in Canada.

below: There are now many old photos of the Gooderham and Worts distillery from years past scattered around the Distillery District. This one is ” The Office Entrance”. The door is still there, as are many other features seen in the photo.

below: Approaching Parliament, with the large heart painted in rainbow colours for Pride month (June).

below: Home is Toronto

below: Old millstone from the windmill that pre-dates the dsitillery.

large stone, round with hole in middle, plaque attached, old millstone from the distillery, made in 1832

“This millstone brought from England on the schooner ‘Kingston’ to the town of York 1832 was used for grinding grain in the historic windmill of Gooderham & Worts. The windmill stood 52 feet southwest by south of this point. It was the eastern limit of the famous ‘Old Windmill Line” on which the original plan of the city of Toronto was based.”

below: Note on the bakery door – Please make sure that the pigeon doesn’t come in with you! Patty the pigeon wasn’t there the time that I went in.

below: The line of painted head and torsos is back. The shapes are all the same but each has bee painted by a different artist. They are part of the ‘6ix Art Outdoor’ exhibit.

below: Two of the sculptures still under wraps. This is at 6least the second time that they have been on display. They were lined up in same place last August. If you want more information about them, I blogged about the 6ix Art Outdoor last year. (follow link).

below: The inflatable couches are there because through July there are night time showings of various movies, Italian movies for the most part I think.