architecture | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘architecture’

early morning Parkdale

Posted: January 11, 2023 in alleys, graffiti and street art, history, old buildings, windows and walls
Tags: alley, architecture, buildings, changes, Christina Mazzulla, Christmas, demolition, development, gables, globe, graffiti, Heather & Little, Jim Bravo, Jimmy Chiale, lanes, Lula Lumaj, mural, murals, Peter Dykhuis, Queen St. West, sculpture, stickers, storefronts, street scene, T-bonez, tibetan, Tsampa, urban ninja squadron, World Peace Monument

below: Pink faced, orange leopard spotted blast of colour…. A mural by Christina Mazzulla.

Settlement in what is now Parkdale began before 1850. In 1879 it was incorporated as a village and ten years later it became part of the city of Toronto.

below: Mural by Jim Bravo and Lula Lumaj from 2015, celebrating the history of Sunnyside Park. In the early years, part of the attraction of living in Parkdale was its proximity to Lake Ontario and such features as Sunnyside Beach and Sunnyside Amusement Park.

below: Christmas wreath on the globe outside Parkdale Library. This is the World Peace Monument, a globe surrounding a fountain. It was designed by Peter Dykhuis and fabricated in copper and bronze by Heather & Little in 2005. The metal sculpture has aged well but as we should all know by now, the city does not do water features well (i.e. I’ve never seen a fountain there; have you?)

In July 2022, City council adopted the Parkdale Main Street Historic District Plan. It covers Queen Street from Dufferin west to Jameson/Macdonell including this block of three buildings. It hopes to preserve many of the two and three storey brick buildings that line Queen Street and in turn, the character of the area.

below: Map of proposed Parkdale Main Street HDP. This map was found on a City website where you can also find other information about the project if you want.

below: Southeast corner of Queen and Dunn

below: A happy black and white bear to greet you

below: And a cow in a tea cup

below: Looking south on Lansdowne. Note the car blocking the bus stop.

below: Someone’s happy this morning

below: Looking south on Noble towards Queen

below: Northeast corner of Brock and Queen

below: “No Justice No Development” in the window of this former store.

below: Row houses. Each house shares a gable, or a peak, with one beside. Gables were very common in Toronto architecture, especially in the Victorian era, but in those houses each had its own gable. As people have decorated their houses, the resulting mix of colours, materials, and textures forms its own picture. This is not unique to this street – there are many other places in Toronto where homes with shared gables (both semis and rows) have been renovated such that the two halves look very different.

below: Bay and gable houses

below: Parkdale has always had a mix of many different building styles, both commercial and residential. The Tsampa Tibetan restaurant has an octagonal turret.

below: From rows of two storey houses to walls of glass and steel (on the other side of Dufferin, and the other side of the railway corridor).

below: Until a few years ago, this was Designer Fabrics store. The block of buildings was built in 1881 by J.C. Mussen, a Parkdale businessman. It was originally six storefronts. In 2020 there was a plan to build a nine storey condo on this site.

below: Like the building beside it, this grey building at 1354-356 Queen West may be demolished to make way for a condo development. There has been a long line of retail businesses in this space, from John Wanless’s hardware store in 1881 to Designer Fabrics (1950s to 2018). For more information about the building, see the website of Architectural Conservancy Ontario.

looking across Queen Street West, small tree and bus shelter on the south side, older buildings on the north side including a two storey brick building with front windows papered over

below: One person’s trash is another person’s treasure…. I had to double check just to make sure that it wasn’t real!

below: The bottom right section of a black and white mural by Jimmy Chiale.

below: “Danger – Restricted Area” says the sign

below: Nothing changes

below:Another demolition – this one is on Noble, immediately north of Queen Street West. An 8 storey condo has been proposed for this site.

below: Another building, another blue and white sign, another condo. As it turns out, this is immediately behind 1354-13656 Queen West (that grey building a few images above) which means that the 9 storey condo here will front on three streets: Queen St, Brock Ave, and Abbs St..

below: The struggle against colonialism continues

below: After a while there are just too many of these. It can get a bit disheartening. This sign sits in front of 1488 Queen Street West which is already empty and looking derelict at street level. The snails pace of development doesn’t help – neglected properties are a liability. They look horrid and contribute nothing to the neighbourhood.

below: Scan for nonsense

With thanks to @designwallah for helping to identify the artists of some of the murals in this post.

in transit

Posted: August 1, 2022 in old buildings, people, transportation
Tags: architecture, bus, College St., downtown, Dundas St., Filmores Hotel, mural, people, redevelopment, Ryerson, Ryerson School of Management, streetcar, TMU, Toronto Metropolitan University, transit, TTC

Yesterday, Sunday of the long August weekend, I was sitting on a streetcar after walking around downtown. I was in no rush; I was enjoying the scenery and the people watching. The streetcar detoured off route so I didn’t end up where I expected to. But no problem, I had my camera with me.

These photos are glimpses of life in the city as seen through a streetcar window as it passes by. Most of them were taken through glass… and often the streetcar was moving… so please don’t expect technically perfect shots!

below: Northeast corner of Spadina and College streets.

below: “The Best in Town”for banana boats! cones! sundaes! shakes!

below: Dundas at Bay. Ryerson School of Management, Best Buy, and Canadian Tire.

below: Reflections on Dundas

below: Surfacing from Dundas subway station

below: The newest mural near Dundas and Victoria.

below: University buildings at Dundas and Church – and the rebranding of Ryerson as TMU (Toronto Metropolitan University).

below: Ran out of gas, northeast corner of Dundas and Church

below: Dundas and Mutual. An old building put to a modern use.

below: The sign says it all. Every time I pass Filmores I am surprised to still see it standing. I thought that it was supposed to be torn down months (years?) ago. I was also surprised to see Filmores on sites like Expedia, Hotel.com and Booking.com. You can’t actually book one of their “straight forward rooms” on these sites, you have to call or email the hotel directly. If you want to know more than that, you’ll have to do your own research!

below: You might be able to stay at Filmores, but you can’t eat at The Love Cafe anymore.

below: Christmas wreaths on the doors of Dunhill Electric Co.

below: Dundas and Ontario Streets, Royal Oak Inn

below: Dundas and Parliament, north side

Happy trails!

crumbling castle

Posted: November 28, 2021 in locations, old buildings
Tags: architecture, dome, house, Max Heiduczek, railings, statues

I heard from two different sources about a “castle” that was about to be torn down so when I found myself in the neighbourhood, I had to stop by and take a look at it myself.

below: Screenshot from Google street view, dated January 2021. All of the shrubs have been removed and the black fence has been replaced with the same fencing that you see surrounding most construction sites.

below: The house as it looked in mid-November, east side. The lower windows are now boarded up as well.

Apparently the house sold in 2018 . The previous owner, Max Heiduczek, lived in and worked on the house for more than 40 years. He bought the property in the 1970s but had to sell when age and health concerns became an issue.

below: Minaret, dome, rooftop terraces, and a replica of Michelangelo’s David.

below: The tower has little blue windows.

below: South side of the house

The current owners applied to subdivide the property into pieces. In August 2021 conditional consent was given by the city for this severance.

College – Dundas – Lansdowne

Posted: September 20, 2021 in doors, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: ads, architecture, Canadian flags, College Street, dolls, doors, Dundas Street, dystopia, graffiti, houses, Junction, Lansdowne, murals, posters, reflections, stickers, stores, streetcar, the Junction, windows

Three streets, College, Dundas, and Lansdowne, form a small triangle in the west end. The following pictures were taken on a summer day a couple of weeks ago when I was walking in and around that triangle.

below: Mural – railway bridge. Just west of here, Dundas crosses a set of tracks – the same line the services Pearson airport and points beyond.

below: Eating Dominos in the doorway

below: Small part of a freaky display of dolls and similar toys along the wood rails surrounding a sidewalk patio

below: More dolls from the same place – what does that do to one’s appetite?

below: Colourful umbrellas cover a makeshift patio on the street

below: New sidewalk on College Street with a large mural in the distance…..

below: Beanstalk mural on the side of the coin laundry on the northeast corner of College and St. Clarens. Maybe that’s Jack at the bottom… 😀

below: Orange house, northwest corner of College and St. Clarens

below: …. and an orange car, an older Porsche convertible, in an alley around the corner.

below: Lost Time

below: Reflections, TTC streetcars and the pope

below: In a convenience store window – get your keys cut here, or buy a mask, but watch out for the five deadly terms used by a woman. Fine? Go ahead!

below: Faded signs in another store window

below: One of life’s little blue daisies watching you

below: Is this dystopia?

below: College at Margueretta

below: Canadian flags on old store windows

below: A door with a frosty scene in duplicate.

below: Even birds might want to get mail!

below: Happy mail

below: Dundas Gas Bar

below: Outdoor displays

below: An ad, blue and peeling

below: Vacant lot on Lansdowne between College and Dundas

below: Northeast corner of Dundas and Lansdowne – some architecture ages better than others.

And with that, I’ll leave you with a few pictures of some of the architecture in the area.

Rambling Leslieville

Posted: March 6, 2020 in alleys, graffiti and street art, intersections, old buildings, public art, stores
Tags: alley, architecture, Bruce Jr Public School, Carlaw, dolls, Dundas, Elicser, Elicser Elliot, Evond Blake, fence, flags, graffiti, houses, J. Chiale, Leslieville, lovebot, Mediah, murals, old cars, Pierre Poussin, Queen St. East, residential, streets, think, trees, urban ninja squadron

below: Think! or rather Stop and think. Above that, tbonez with The Forge Fury in another urban ninja squadron sticker.

below: There is a new public art installation nearing completion at the corner of Carlaw and Dundas. When the project is done, the obelisk shaped sculpture by Pierre Poussin will be in the middle of a small park. It is made of laser cut rusted metal and will feature internal LED lighting.

below: Shadows of the trees along a winding trail.

below: There really aren’t enough fairies in the world. The ones that are supposed to clean my home haven’t shown up yet either.

below: This looks like it was once an artwork pasted to a wall. An eagle’s head is still visible at the very top. Are those its feathers at the bottom by the shoes – one dark blue and one red stiletto.

below: The northwest corner of Pape and Dundas. The “This is Toronto” mural by J. Chiale is still there.

below: An old and worn sign

below: A not so old sign with three lovebot stickers on it.

below: Old cars seen in an alley. Any ideas on what model and year the brown car is?

below: Santa Claus hasn’t returned to the North Pole yet! This front yard looks quite barren

below: … compared to this one! I am happy to report that the “doll house” still exists. There is at least one Santa Claus in there!

below: Not quite every inch (centimeter!) is covered. Christopher Robin and Tigger, Ernie and a Picachu. Tweety bird in a blue jacket and a white horse, Dora the Explorer is eating an apple.

below: These stickers still exist! A Star Wars family with a dirty back window.

below: Usually if a couch is waiting for the garbage man it’s sitting closer to the edge of the street!

below: Symmetry at the back of Bruce Junior Public School built in 1923.

below: And then there is the asymmetry created when one side of a semi-divided house explodes upwards.

below: Leslieville has two murals. This one covers the side of the building plus the back in pink, red, and orange stripes. This Guidant Bikeshare mural was painted by Mediah, aka Evond Blake, in 2017.

below: Nearby at the intersection of Queen and Jones is this mural by Elicser Elliot (2016).

below: The Coca-Cola Coady Sweets ghost sign is still there but the convenience store under it has been replaced by a Spanish restaurant.

below: Queen Street East

below: This is on the wall beside a vacant lot on Queen Street East that has been empty for years.

below: Another vacant lot but more recently so.

below: An alley view, behind Queen Street East

below: Waiting for spring?

below: Dundas Street East

And how can we end without re-visiting the doll house?!

across two bridges

Posted: February 25, 2020 in construction, history, intersections, landmarks, locations, transportation
Tags: architecture, Bathurst St bridge, bridge, city, downtown, Garrison Crossing, metal, Puente de Luz, railway, Sir Isaac Brock Bridge, street art, tracks, TTC streetcar, Wellington Destructor, yellow

This is another “walk about” post; in fact, it is the product of two nearly identical walks a few months apart.

below: Standing at the corner of King and Spadina while TTC workmen clear the streetcar tracks of excess dirt and sand.

below: Looking east along King Street. The LCBO on the corner is now closed.

below: Spadina, south of King.

below: Looking through a parking lot on Wellington.

below: Looking south on Draper Street

below: The CN Tower from Draper Street

below: Construction continues on the old Globe and Mail site south of Wellington and north of Front.

below: A pink pig still celebrating Valentines Day.

below: Looking east along the tracks from Portland Street. In November when I walked here, there were many movie trucks parked along Front Street.

below: The new condos on the north side of Front Street that face the railway tracks.

below: Crossing the Puente de Luz, Toronto’s yellow pedestrian bridge over the railway tracks.

below: On the south side of the railway – the green building is the Library District condo.

below: Bathurst Street at Fort York Blvd., with the overhang from the library which is on that corner.

below: Bathurst streetcar southbound.

below: The grassy green mound that separates Fort York from the city…. with the city creeping up behind it.

below: Orange bars across the eyes, graffiti

below: The Bentway, under the Gardiner Expressway (a previous post on the Bentway)

Garrison Crossing is actually two stainless steel bridges, both over railway tracks. Both have spans of close to 50m. In the middle is a peninsula of land that is in the process of being developed into condos and a park. Almost 20 years ago there was a proposal to build a bridge here – to be opened in 2012 for the anniversary of the War of 1812. Mayor Rob Ford was opposed to it (too much money) and the plans were shelved. A change of mayor (and some help from developers) and a change of plan again. Construction began in 2016. It provides a much needed link between the two sides of the railway lands.

below: Southern span – walking north from Fort York

below: City view from the new park in the middle, train tracks (difficult to see in this picture) on two sides of the triangle.

below: Yellow construction fences still line the edge of the path through the middle section between the bridges.

below: People crossing the northern portion of Garrison Crossing (looking south).

below: Looking northwest from the second span of Garrison Crossing towards Strachan Avenue and beyond.

below: Garrison Crossing ends at Wellington Street close to Stanley Park

below: Found – one city snowplow parking lot, between the railway tracks and Wellington Street (at the end of Walnut Ave).

below: Immediately to the east of the snowplows is the old brick building. It has its own access road from Wellington including a bridge with three arches. The road is overgrown and blocked by a fence. There is no sign by the road.

below: It took some time on google but I finally found the answer to the building above. Here it is in 1925, the year that it was built – the Wellington Destructor. It was used until the 1970s when burning garbage was banned; it has been a heritage building since 2005. I found the photo online on a CBC News webpage where there a great description of the building and its history, along with some pictures of the interior.

below: And that brings us back to the Bathurst Street bridge over the railway tracks on the south side of Front Street. Did you know that it’s officially called the Sir Isaac Brock Bridge? It spent most of its life as the Bathurst Street Bridge until 2007 when it was renamed.

below: It is a steel truss bridge that was built in 1903 (one of the oldest bridges in the city). It’s first life was a railway bridge over the Humber Bridge but in 1916 it was disassembled, moved to Bathurst, and reassembled.

below: Bathurst bridge, 1919, from the west (Lake Ontario is on the right hand side).

vintage black and white photo of railway tracks and bridge over Bathurst street, 1919, from Toronto City Archives

The view from the Municipal Abbatoir Building, looking southeast. The building with the water tower on top is the Matthews Blackwell meat packing company. On the left, you can see part of the cylindrical tower belonging to Consumers Gas Company

below: Someone has given this rusty guy some eyes! He too is watching out for interesting stories. He’s also thankful that you made it this far! At least he can’t roll his eyes!

off the beaten track

Posted: February 13, 2020 in alleys, construction, history, locations, transportation
Tags: architecture, basketball, car, carving, dog, door, houses, lanes, Paul Hahn Lane, rink, roof, skating, slate, stairs, streets, subway, SUmmerhill, TTC

Walking up Yonge Street without actually walking on Yonge Street…. with all it’s distractions and wrong turns. We eventually get somewhere and that somewhere may actually be where we want to be!

below: I didn’t know that such a place existed! It’s at Davenport and Belmont in case you feel the need….

below: I smiled even more when I went around the corner and encountered this sign

below: Toronto layers

below: The old stone stairs at Ramsden Park. A bit muddy at the bottom but that never stopped me.

below: Waiting for spring… or at least for some snow to melt.

below: An after school skate.

below: Old and new – exploring the lanes that run parallel to Yonge. This is Paul Hahn Lane.

below: Trespassers will be prosecuted. If you can’t read the sign, does it still count?

below: As you go north, Paul Hahn Lane becomes Sam Tile Lane.

below: The caterpillar isn’t where it was. Is this an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland reference? Actually it’s a children’s clothing store but that doesn’t stop my from quoting Lewis Carroll, or at least a short passage. Alice’s interaction with the caterpillar is too long to include here!

an empty storefront in a red brick building, black awning in front, words on awning say Advice from a caterpillar

“In a minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth and yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the mushroom, and crawled away in the grass, merely remarking as it went, ‘One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will make you grow shorter.’ ‘One side of what? The other side of what?’ thought Alice to herself. ‘Of the mushroom,’ said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight.”

below: At Summerhill there is no way to parallel Yonge because of the train tracks. A shout out to this young man who just previous to this moment stopped to ask me if I’d taken some great photos today. I answered that it was a bit grey to get great pictures and he concurred.

below: Infrequently photographed (the daring architecture!) and not well known, this is Summerhill subway station. It has no bus connections and the only major destination nearby is the large LCBO in the old CPR station a block away (i.e. not many people use this station).

below: Something old ans something new. I was wondering if the slate tiles on the upper storey were originals when I noticed the unobtrusive addition to the white and black house.

below: Looking south towards Rosedale station (view blocked by the white and blue temporary building for the construction next to the bridge). Tall downtown buildings in the distance. The tallest one is at 1 Bloor East and it is partially hidden by the Hudson Bay Centre tower on the other side of Bloor Street (the squarish building) and another tower that I am not sure of.

below: Another of the many “it’s a street, no it’s an alley”, passages that you find in Toronto.

below: The rust and metal of an alley infill house

below: In an area of smaller narrow houses on small lots, some creativity is required if you want to expand.

below: A concrete lined hole in the ground with access from the alley but also from the street? The beginnings of a larger development?

below: Along the way I happened upon the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club in its winter plumage.

below: Foiled! I was going to walk up through and David Balfour Park but the path is blocked… so back to Yonge Street I’m afraid.

below: He looks about as happy as I felt at that moment… but at least my arm is still intact.

below: Once on Yonge Street I discovered that traffic is even worse than usual because of lane closures. Water main repairs and/or replacements by the looks of it.

below: This is now close to St. Clair Ave and a subway station so this is where I called it quits. The days are still short and although the temperatures aren’t too bad, a cup of coffee seemed like a great idea at that moment (see the Aroma sign in the upper right corner? It was calling my name).

below: Someone doesn’t seem to mind being in traffic!

Stay positive & enjoy the trip, you’ll get there!

Oh, by the way, the photos may not be anything special (the grey day and all that) but I still had fun with them.

a dome above all else

Posted: July 25, 2019 in locations
Tags: architecture, cathedral, church, coptic, cross, doors, Markham, mosaic, mural, St. Marks, Steeles, tiles, Warden, windows, wood

I was driving south on Warden the other day when I spotted a large church dome.

This is St. Marks Coptic Orthodox Cathedral near Warden and Steeles. The Coptic, or Egyptian, Church is believed to have been founded by St Mark at around AD 42 in Alexandria Egypt. It split from the rest of the Christendom in 451. In the 600s, Egypt was ruled by Islamic conquerors but it wasn’t until the 12th century that Coptics became a religious minority.

Construction of the church began around 2008/9 and was completed by 2015. It was officially opened by Pope Tawadros II who is the 118th pope in the Coptic church. The Roman Catholic Church and the Coptic Church are the only two religions in the world led by a “pope”.

below: Seven large carved wood doors. The colour of the exterior is reminiscent of desert sand.

A large mosaic mural across the top of the church is almost complete. It has been grouted and now is being cleaned.

below: Come out of Egypt my son, Matthew 2:15

below: The interior of the church is massive; under the dome, the nave is just over 29m high. There is seating for 1800 people.

As I was walking around the church, I spotted another cross just to the north – the Toronto Christian Community Church – with a different style of architecture. The name of the church was also written in Chinese but the church functions in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. It was built in 2001.

north from the beach

Posted: February 21, 2019 in alleys, doors, history, old buildings, stores, windows and walls
Tags: alley, architecture, blue sky, bus shelter, Danforth station, East Toronto, GO, history, houses, Kingston Rd., lane, laneway, Lyall Ave., Main st., old, residential, snow, stores, streets, trees, turret, Woodbine, York station

It was a beautiful day on Monday when I visited the “Winter Stations” (scroll down to next blog post), cold but sunny. I decided to walk north on Woodbine since I haven’t done that for a while.

below: Playing with mirrors while waiting for the washroom at Woodbine Beach because there is only one women’s washroom (why is there only one?)

below: From portholes to demolition holes – I made it as far as Queen and Woodbine where there is a large hole in the ground

… because just north of there I discovered alleys and small streets that I don’t remember walking. Who can resist the allure of a red door?

below: I went to Norway

below: And I passed the North Pole

below: I even walked past this No Trespassing sign. The old cars parked the house behind caught my eye but this was as far as I ventured.

When there is no planned route and you’re only following your nose or sticking to the sunny side of the street, you can run into some surprises. There were a lot of older houses – here are a few of them:

below: There are still some of these Victorian rowhouses closer to downtown but I wasn’t expecting to find any here. As it turns out, this was part of the village/town of East Toronto. In 1888 it was a village with about 800 residents. It became part of the City of Toronto twenty years later (and with 4200 more people).

As it turns out, one of the streets that I walked on, Lyall Avenue, is a Heritage Conservation District. The street was surveyed in 1884 and by 1888 a few houses were built on some of the fifty yard lots. Most of the development occurred between 1909 and 1924. It was definitely a middle class neighbourhood. The full report published in 2006 appears on the City of Toronto planning department website.

below: This house stands alone. A very typical older Toronto house.

below: This tidy well-kept workers cottage can only be accessed from the lane.

below: A white picket fence and wicker furniture waiting for spring.

All of the above houses were north of Kingston Road where the lots sizes were fairly big. South of Kingston Road, the houses are narrower and close together. (or joined together).

below: This square, substantial sized brick building is on Kingston Road. Between Woodbine Avenue and Main Street, Kingston Road runs along the crest of a ridge.

below: Newer residential buildings on Kingston Road.

below: 1922, looking west along Kingston Road from Main street. That’s almost 100 years ago, and there were streetcars running here even then. No cars, just a horse and wagon.

old black and white picture from 1922 of a dirt street with a street car track, hydro poles beside the road and a house

Photo credit: City of Toronto Archives. Found online in a ‘Beach Metro’ article where you’ll find more history of the area.

The next three photos are some of the typical two storey, flat roofed, brick, all in a row, stores and businesses that were built in Toronto in the early 1900’s and later. If I remember correctly, these were all on Kingston Road.

below: A warm and colourful summer scene painting behind a chainlink fence that surrounds the playground at Kimberley Junior Public School.

below: Mural at Gerrard and Main.

below: The last architecture picture – this building with a turret at Kingston Road. Here Main Street becomes Southwood Drive.

below: Looking north on Main Street from Gerrard. Here the streetcar turns towards Main subway station. The bus shelter in the middle of the street is definitely old style – one of the few remaining in the city. From here Main street is a bridge over the railway tracks.

below: From the bridge, looking southeast over Danforth GO station. Prior to 1940, this was the location of York Station as well as the Grand Trunk Railway’s main freight yard. The yard stretched along Gerrard Street and employed several hundred people. At that time, Gerrard Street was called Lake View Avenue (could you see Lake Ontario from there?).

below: York station in 1890. It was renamed Danforth in 1922 and demolished in 1974 to make way for the GO station. The freight yard is to the right.

york railway station in 1890. train is letting off passengers

Photo credit: Toronto Public Library. The picture was found online in an article on Danforth station that appears on the Toronto Railway Historical Association website

below: Hanging out on the Danforth

But I didn’t hang out for long. From here to Main Street subway station is only a few steps and that was enough walking.
My writing can be almost erratic as my walking! I hope that I didn’t lose you along the way.

demolished – Davisville public school

Posted: February 4, 2019 in construction, old buildings
Tags: architecture, brick, building, davisville, Davisville Junior Public, demolition, heritage, modernist, MTSD, school, school for the deaf, trees

I walk past Davisville Junior Public School fairly often…. or should I say, I used to walk past it.

I didn’t think about it too much until I heard that it was going to be demolished – or was it going to be saved? Maybe I should take some photos of it as apparently it has some architectural value, an early 1960’s Modernist building. Then, back in November, a construction fence appeared around the property. One of those metal wire temporary fences that you see all over the city. So much for saving the building.

Photos from November:

The building was also home to the Metropolitan Toronto School for the Deaf as well as Spectrum Alternative School.

below: Notice on the fence, permit to remove 21 trees. A new elementary school is being built on the site. In the meantime (for 2 years), Davisville Junior Public is being relocated to Vaughan Road in what was previously the Vaughan Road Academy. Originally, the plan was to build the new school on the property (there was a large playground) and then tear down the old (Globe & Mail Feb 2017)

below: I past by the site for the first time in a few months and discovered that most of the school is now demolished. Only a small portion by the front entrance remains and I suspect that that won’t be around for much longer.

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