Posts Tagged ‘Bloor Street’

from Bay to Christie

Posted: May 20, 2025 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores, transportation
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… 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.

smaller Bay station entrance, beside The Momo House, with people walking past

One of the Bay station exits is at Cumberland Terrace.

view from Cumberland Ave., into the glass wall of Cumberland Terrace, people sitting at tables for lunch, reflections of tall buildings behind

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

empty fast food stalls in the basement level of cumberland terrace, korean food, and falafel places,

the basement level of cumberland terrace, with lots of mirrors and square ceiling lights, but no people, mostly closed

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).

looking down an alley downtown, with tall glass and steel buildings

mannequin in a window, with reflections, behind metal bars from scaffolding

young man carrying a ladder, under scaffolding on sidewalk

 

A woman in a green t shirt and blue shoes sits on a circular bench on Bloor Street, with a laptop, outdoors

Many people crossing Bay street on north side of Bloor. intersection of Bay and Bloor. TD bank on the southwest corner

intersection of Bay and Bloor. building on the northwest corner has cladding removed for renovations, man sitting on corner begging, other people walking by, traffic,

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?

architecture of windows and cladding, two buildings downtown

people walking past st laurent store, large black off-white coloured building with no windows

woman in beige sweater and orange pants walking abong bloor street

below: People watching from behind glass

2 white mannequins in a window, one in dark glasses and the other in tight fitting cap, looking out a window, with reflections of trees and traffic

bloor street, reflections as well as street scene,

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

looking west on bloor from avenue road, past the front of the art gallery of ontario, crane in the distance, cement truck on street

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

in front of the art gallery of ontario where renovations are occurring, hoardings, looking east on bloor

construction and renovations of part of the crystal structure at the entrance to the art gallery of ontario

workmen and equipment, renovations of part of the crystal structure at the entrance to the art gallery of ontario

people walking on the sidewalk, bloor street, in front of the art gallery of ontario

below: Red car….

a bright red car parked on bloor street, in front of new condo building, and a building with a black and white striped awning in the front

below:  … and red maple leaves

sign on brick wall at varsity stadium, arrow pointing right to varsity pavilion, witn lots of red maple leaves on blue background above the sign

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).

man on electric bike in bike lanes on bloor in front of OISE building

people waiting for traffic lights, before crossing St george, at bloor, by the bata shoe museum, reflections in the window of the building beside them

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

people crossing bloor at st george, by the bata shoe museum, reflections in the window of the museum

reflections in the window of bata shoe museum on bloor, showing buildng across the street, blue sky, clouds, and people passing by

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.

looking west on bloor at huron, north side of the street

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.

conversion of church into condos, northwest corner of bloor and huron

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.

looking east on Bloor street, north side of street, traffic, new construction, church being turned into condos,

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.

front, and entrance of, tartu college, a highrose student residence on bloor street, made of concrete in the 1970s

a group of people standing on the corner or Robert and Bloor as a red car turns right beside them

old black and white graffiti stickers on a one way arrow sign

side of a woman in a navy blue sress, god watch, and holding a phone case, as she walks along bloor street,

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

red dress hanging in a garden outside a church, as a memorial to missing 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.

a woman in a head scarf walks past a small memorial garden, that has a large rock in the middle, heart garden

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

shrubs and a tree in front of a mural for the annex in bright colours, houses in blues and reds, 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.

Mirvish village development on southwest corner of bloor and bathurst, glass and steel with some concrete, standard new condo street level design

a woman sits on a low concrete wall around a planter, on bloor, two cyclists pass by, another woman is pushing a stroller on the sidewalk

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

looking south on Markham street from Bloor. Still a construction site while Mirvish village makeover is underway.

below: Little wavy curled features on the roof

two storey brick building on bloor, market on lower level, language school, CCLCS, on the upper. roofline has two little wave-like curly features

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

upper levels of a row of three storey brick stores along bloor, the two in the middle are painted yellow.

below: Gold Leaf Fruit Market at Palmerston and Bloor

Gold Leaf Fruit market on the northeast corner of Palmerston and Bloor.

below: Northwest corner of Palmerston and Bloor

northwest corner of palmerston and bloor, 3 storey red brick row of buildings,

four young women standing on a street corner, al with a drink in their hand, with traffic going by and street scene behind them.

looking out the window of a coffee shop, word coffee is in window, but reversed, street scene with stores and traffic.

two women in a coffee shop, one is working at a table by the window, the other is seated at another table

below: Todays Specials

outside a book store, on a table, books for sale, with sign that says Today's Specials, prices as marked

below: Bloor Fruit Market

bloor fruit market, west side, two street art murals on the side of the building, lots of produce for sale outside, red brick building,

man in grey shirt is choosing berries from the bloor fruit market where there are lots of berries in plastic containers, blueberries, strawberries, and black berries,

below: Table for two

on the sidewalk, two small red plastic chairs wth a table between them, a man walking past, street scene in the background, Bloor Street

below: Just a little monkey sunbathing in the window!

little stuffed grey and light purple monkey sitting in the window of a store with 3 mannequin feet behind it.

pedestrians on sidewalk outside clothing store on bloor street, mannequin in the window

signs on the sidewalk for stores along bloor street in koreatown including a restaurant ad for Sapporo premium beer, pictures of plates of food in the restaurant,

below: Koreatown, mailbox

older black mailbox with lid open, on a white wall beside a door on Bloor street, also on the wall, Korean lettering in blue and red

below:  Waiting for the green light.

two cyclists in the Bloor Street bike lane, stopped and waiting for a green light, traffic on the street including a school bus.

woman walking alone on sidewalk with purse over her shoulder and wearing a navy blue sweatshirt that says talentless but connected on the front of it

below: Christie subway station

entrance to Christie subway station, TTC, sidewalk in front, blue bins,

subway stopped at Christie station, one man isgetting off, can be seen through windows, while a woman sits by another window

three men on a subway train, two are standing by the door, looking at their phones. the third is sitting with arms folded and eyes closed

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”.

fork in salad bowl with avocado dressing, drink beside bowl is a pale turquoise coloured smoothie in a glass

6th Annual Yorkville Exotic Car Show

Posted: June 20, 2016 in events
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The 6th Annual Yorkville Exotic Car Show was on Bloor Street yesterday, Fathers Day.  There were 11 different groups, or corrals, of cars…. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, BMW, Aston Martin, Maserati, and many other car makers were represented.  There was lots of sun and lots of people!

Men looking a black car. All you can see of the car in the picture is the roof.

below: A line of Lamborghinis parked on Bloor Street.
The cars were behind ropes and the spectators had a red carpet to walk on.

Several lamborghinis parked beside each other on Bloor Street as part of the Yorkville exotic car show. Lots of people are looking at them.

a man with grey hair and black glasses is pointing to the front of a black sports car with its hood up. He is pointing out something to the woman beside him who is dressed in black with black hat and holding an umbrella over her head. They are behind a barrier at an outdoor exotic car show

below: A cute little 1959 BMW Isetta 300.
There are no side doors; the front of the car swings open with the steering wheel attached.

a yellow 1959 BMW Isetta 300 with its front door open - the front of the car opens up, parked on Bloor street for the Yorkville exotic car show.

below: A black BMW i8 electric car with its front scissor doors open.

A black BMW i8 electric car with its front scissor doors open.

Four men are looking at a turquoise 1960 Corvette at an outdoor car show. it has its front hood open and a sign by its front bumper says that it belongs to Corvettes of Durham

reflections of a crowd at an exotic car show in the side panel of a bright blue car. The people are standing on a red carpet which comes out a magenta colour in the reflection.

A young man holding his bike stands behind a metal fence while looking at a grey sports car at an outdoor car show in Yorkville

below: Porsche, with German plates

A dark grey Porsche with German licence plates is parked on Bloor Street, beside an older white Porsche, for the 6th annual Yorkville exotic car show.

people looking at, and taking pictures of, a black and orange Lamborghini at a car show, outdoors, Yorkville

parts of two cars parked beside each other in a car show, one is blue and the other is silver. The front wheel of the blue car is reflected in the side panel of the silver car which has G Reddy painted by the rear window.

below: Mercedes GTS

silver mercedes gts car, viewed from behind the back passenger side wheel, parked on Bloor St. for a car show. Some people in the background.

below: Chevrolet Belair convertible, with matching fuzzy dice

an old convertible car, Chevrolet Belair, with top down, turquoise car with matching white and turquoise interior

below: A Porsche from the 1960’s with its engine in the back.
Not much trunk room in this car!

two older classic Porsches, both white, parked in a car show, the one in the foreground has its trunk open to show the engine in the back of the car. Lots of people looking at the cars

below: Another Porsche, a 1961 Roadster

front end of a white 1961 Porsche Roadster

close up of the front grille of a Lexus car showing the L Lexus symbol and the diamond pattern of the metal work.

below: Pink and pink.  Standing in front of a pink Bousoughini from BGarage Ltd.

A little girl in white skirt, pink T-shirt, blue hat and big sunglasses stands in front of a fancy pink car at an outdoor car show

the side of a pink lambourghini, bousoughini, with a reddish car behind it.

below:  Morgan in two shades of blue, from the front.

front end of a two toned blue Morgan car in a car show outside on Bloor Stree, with a rally car in different colours beside it.

below: Same Morgan, but from the back.

back view of a Morgan car, California plates, shiny metallic blue colour, people looking at the cars in the background, car show

below: Shelby, from the 1960’s

man sitting in a folding chair beside a classic grey sports car at a car show

a man in a black short sleeve shirt and a yellow baseball cap is cleaning and polishing the rear window of a yellow Corvette at a car show, lots of onlookers in the background.

below: Tuscan Speed Six by TVR (British)

a purplish green shiny sports car, a Tuscan, by TVR motors, parked on Bloor St. for the Yorkville exotic car show.

below: Pininfarina is an Italian car design company.

close up shot of the front side panel of a white Maserati Pininfarina car, reflections of a red carpet make the bottom part of the car look pink

a boy walks past an orange lamborghini

dark green convertible in the foreground, people looking at in the background

A father is taking a selfie of himself with his son in front of a yellowish green sports car at a car show.

below: Photos of reflections in the front of a Rolls Royce.
It seems I’m not the only one who takes reflection shots.

a person using a GoPro to take a picture of reflections in the chrome on the front of a Rolls Royce