boats | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘boats’

waterfront

Posted: April 10, 2022 in construction, locations, public art, waterfront
Tags: Aitken Place Park, Alice Aycock, anser, bench, Between the Eyes, billboards, boats, condos, eyes, ferries, fish, John Fung, Lake Ontario, Merchants Wharf, Nbii Dodem, Paul Figueiredo, public art, Que Rock, queens quay east, Redpath Sugar, reflections, Richard Deacon, sculpture, seagull, Sherbourne St., Shore Stories, sugar beach, Sundial Folly, Water Clans, waterfront

Let’s follow the fish! 🐟 It’s pointed east along Queen’s Quay and by coincidence that the direction I’m headed too… 😃

The seagull is not amused.

below: Harbour Square Park with “Sundial Folly” at the water’s edge. This art installation is the work of John Fung and Paul Figueiredo. It has recently been cleaned up. The sphere is hollow and there is a walkway that runs through it. An opening at the south side (water side) acts as a sundial.

below: Looking east from Harbour Square towards the Westin Hotel tower and the park by the ferry docks.

below: Tour boats and ferries still under wraps for the winter months.

below: “Shore Stories” a mosaic located by the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. It was made in 2012 by youth from the community under the guidance of AFCY (Arts for Children and Youth, an organization that may or may not still exist).

below: The “egg beaters” at 1 Yonge Street are now behind a fence. The installation is actually called “Between the Eyes”, and is by Richard Deacon.

below: It’s 830km to Kapuskasing and even farther to Cochrane, just keep following Yonge Street northwards.

below: “A Series of Whirlpool Field Manoeuvres for Pier 27”. by Alice Aycock

below: The walkway along the waterfront comes to an end where a very high concrete wall separates Redpath Sugar from the public space.

below: Que Rock murals, water theme, “Water Clans (Nbii Dodem)” four panels at Redpath Sugar.

below: Pink umbrellas and sugar filled ships, at Sugar Beach.

below: Queens Quay East at Dockside

below: Sherbourne Commons

below: New construction on Queens Quay East where many parts are being made of wood. A new park, Aitkens Place Park lies between the new building and the waterfront.

below: Vacant lot on the corner of Queens Quay East and Small Street.

below: At the foot of Parliament Street.

below: Anser eyes

below: Sweet and salty at the Distillery

January once again.

Posted: January 25, 2020 in waterfront
Tags: art, boats, bus shelter, city, CN Tower, construction, danger, fire rescue boat, Future Retrospectives, H T O beach, Hannah Claus, ice, Lake Ontario, Loop, Power Plant Contemporary Art, public art, Queens Quay, Scotiabank Arena, sea gulls, snow, streetcar, tug boat, Union station, walkway, waterfront, winter stations

It’s been a while since I posted here mostly because I’ve been away. But I’m back in Toronto and back to walking. The other day didn’t start as planned! A locked gate stood in my way.

Shortly after, I saw a sign …. I’m not sure that it references locked gates specifically, but at the minimum it’s a reminder to remain flexible.

As anyone Canadian city dweller knows, winter in the city rarely means white snow – the brown slush quickly takes over. Here, at Spadina and Queens Quay, the road has been painted red to alert drivers to the fact that this is a streetcar lane.

Lake Ontario has only begun to freeze, and only in quiet protected places. The first part of January was warmer than usual. Even as I type this it is raining and all the snow is melting. There probably isn’t much of this ice left this afternoon.

below: A “Danger due to” sign that has blown in from somewhere else but is just as relevant here as it is at any construction site.

below: The Music Garden hibernating for the winter.

below: Kayaks at Harbourfront resting for the winter months.

below: The fire rescue boat was out and about the other afternoon.

Now on at the Harbourfront Centre is “Future Retrospectives” which is a group exhibition of works by artists and designers who use the past as a lens to look at the future (until 29th March).

below: The coloured shapes with the words, are the work of Hannah Claus. They hang on a clear background so the installation on the wall behind shows through (also the work of Hannah Claus). In fact, the two go together. At first I thought the coloured shapes represented tombstones but in fact they are a replica of the plaque on Hochelaga Rock. This rock commemorates the village and people encountered by Jacques Cartier in 1535; it is on the McGill campus in Montreal. It is also featured in the photos on the far wall. The English words (bottom half) start with “Near here was the…”. More information.

below: Will we be able to understand a future time? Also part of Future Retrospectives.

below: Timeless. Eternity. Waiting for the bus.

below: This is ‘Loop’ an interactive “Winter Station” public art installation. In past years, there have been 5 or 6 different art installations along Queens Quay as part of the Winter Station project. This year, there is just this one which is located at York Street Park. The circles are large enough for two people to sit face to face. There is a metal bar which can then be moved back and forth between the pair. This movement makes an inner circle spin and activates some lights. It is the creation of Olivier Girouard ; it is scheduled to remain here until the 9th of February.

below: Harbour Street, looking east towards Yonge Street from the elevated walkway that runs north from WaterPark Place, over the Lakeshore and under the Gardiner.

below: Reflections on the walkway.

below: After passing under the Gardiner, the walkway wraps around the west side of the second floor of the Scotiabank Arena (originally the ACC).

below: The south entrance to Union Station, from the walkway. This is also a good view of the new glass platform over Union Station (train shed roof?) – this is something that I need to check out in more detail.

below: Also under renovation is the Bay Street exit of the Scotiabank Arena. A new walkway between it and the building being constructed across the street is almost complete. It is on the same level as, and immediately beside, the railway tracks. This walkway will connect to the new Union Station bus terminal

below: Exit onto Bay Street and look up! Upward. And to the future…. wherever that leads us.

beach morning

Posted: August 23, 2019 in nature, waterfront
Tags: beach, black eye susans, boats, clouds, daisies, dog, flowers, Kew Beach, Kew Gardens, Kew Williams, Lake Ontario, life guard, lobelia cardinalis, monarch butterfly, muskoka chairs, paddle boards, people, rocks, sane, sky, walking, water, zinnia

As August marches relentlessly along the daylight hours shrink. One advantage of the shorter days is that sunrise isn’t at a time that starts with the number 5. I’m not a morning person but I like to take morning pictures.

below: Pinkish sky as the sun rises.

below: There was an enormous flock of birds flying low over the water together. Can you see the swimmer?

below: Ready for the day

below: Reading on the beach… just after 7 a.m.

below: A group of women on their paddle boards (not quite so early. I had breakfast part way through my walk that morning).

below: Mother and son.

below: At 11:15 the life guards row to their stations.

below: Kew Williams house, now on the grounds of Kew Gardens. Kew Williams (1873-1956 ) built the house in 1902 on the grounds of what was then The Canadian Kew Gardens, a campground resort opened in 1879 by his parents, Joseph & Jane (nee Henry) Williams. Joseph Williams sold the house and 20 acre property to the City of Toronto in 1907. A year later the property became Kew Gardens.

The gardens are very well maintained. They are in full bloom at the moment and looking gorgeous. I will leave you with a few pictures of flowers, colourful ones to brighten your day.

below: A stalk of lobelia cardinalis grows among the black eyed susans.

below: A monarch butterfly finds a bright red flower.

below: A pink zinnia

below: Gaillardia pulchella, also known as firewheel or Indian blanket

below: Three white daisies growing with smaller orange flowers

rainy day walk by the waterfront

Posted: June 30, 2019 in nature, reflections, waterfront
Tags: basketball, birds, boats, Canada geese, city, CN Tower, Coronation Park, Empire Sandy, flood, granite, H2O park, Lake Ontario, Little Norway Park, M.S. Kane, muskoka chairs, Ontario Place, puddles, Queens Quay West, rock, sailboats, sanbags, sand, swan, Trillium Park, water, yellow umbrellas

This has been a wet spring along the waterfront. Lake Ontario has been at its highest level in years. Earlier, I had posted some photos that I took of Woodbine, Kew and Balmy beaches and the high water levels there (blog post, “water logged”). The other day I visited the beaches and walkways at the other end of the city’s waterfront, from H₂O beach to Ontario Place.

below: Flooding at H₂O Beach

below: All that water makes for some colourful reflections!

below: Looking west towards the old Canada Malting Company silos as the dark clouds signal an approaching storm.

below: The Empire Sandy docked along with the tugboat, M.S. Kane

below: Toronto’s fire rescue boat, the William Lyon Mackenzie, docked beside Fire Station 334. It was built in 1964 and is named for Toronto’s first mayor.

below: Queens Quay at Spadina, looking west

below: A streetcar starts to head north on Spadina

below: Playing basketball in the rain.

below: An old blue canoe at Little Norway park. A training camp for the Norway’s Air Force was located here (SW corner of Queens Quay and Bathurst) during WW2. The large rock that you can see in the photo is a 3000 pound boulder brought from Norway in 1976 to be part of a permanent monument to the people who trained and served here. In 1986 the space became Little Norway Park.

below: Looking back towards downtown and the CN Tower from the western end of Queens Quay West.

below: Lots of big puddles at Coronation Park

below: Yellow flowerpot islands

below: Someone has tied a string of small Canadian flags to the railing at Coronation Park. Happy Canada Day weekend!

below: Toronto skyline from Trillium Park, from the green trees of Coronation Park on the left and past the CN Tower to Billy Bishop airport on the far left.

below: Large granite rock in Trillium Park

below: Ontario Place, where TSN was playing to no one.

below: Flooding by the marina at Ontario Place. In the foreground is what appears to be an electrical box.

below: The Canada geese have these Muskoka chairs to themselves.

below: From the northwest corner of Ontario Place, looking west over Lake Ontario towards Etobicoke and Mississauga

below: There was also flooding on Lakeshore Blvd.

below: Puddles in an almost empty parking lot, CNE grounds.

spring, across the water

Posted: May 15, 2018 in locations, nature, old buildings, waterfront
Tags: abandoned, baby geese, blossoms, boats, breakwater, cameras, catkins, Centre Island, cherry trees, ferry, flowers, geese, houses, Lake Ontario, nature, path, people, pictures, pier, red alder, reflections, sailboats, sakura, spring, Toronto Islands, trees, Ward's Island, water, willow trees

A trip to Toronto Islands on a sunny spring day.
Photos and stories – an eclectic mix of history and nature that resulted from wandering around the eastern portion of the islands.

below: From the ferry, looking toward the glass and steel of the city.

Toronto Islands is a collection of at least 12 small islands. In the early years the island archipelago was really a peninsula of sandbars and ponds; it was connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of sandy shoreline. This landform was created over centuries by the action of waves, winds and lake currents – washing away portions of the Scarborough Bluffs and depositing this material to the west in a five-mile-long hooked shape. This process of natural “landscaping” continued until the spring of 1858, when a particularly powerful hurricane created a channel four to five feet deep through the peninsula. By June of that year, the Eastern Gap was a waterway, and the Toronto Islands came into being.

below: On the ferry between the city and Centre Island.

The first buildings on the islands were the Blockhouse Bay garrison built in the 1794 by the British at Gibraltar Point – it included a blockhouse and storage structures. A second blockhouse and a guard house were built soon after, only to be destroyed by the Americans in the Battle of York in April 1813. The lighthouse at Gibraltar Point built in 1809 still stands (sorry, no photo).

In 1833 Michael O’Connor built a hotel on one the islands. He used a horse-drawn boat to ferry customers across from the mainland to his hotel. At that time, there was still access by road but it was a toll road. In 1836 it cost sixpence for every four-wheeled carriage drawn by two horses. Smaller ‘vehicles’ paid less. In 1858 the hotel (now Quinns Hotel) was destroyed during the same hurricane that turned the peninsula into an island. The hotels were destroyed but the islands remained popular. With no road access, ferries were needed and many people ran private ferry services until they were bought out or amalgamated into the Toronto Ferry Company in 1892. It was privately owned until 1926 when it was purchased by the City of Toronto for $337,500.

Many houses and businesses, (hotels, restaurants, bowling alley, laundry, theatre etc) were established over the years from Hanlon’s Point in the west to Wards Island in the east. Today, residences are only in the eastern section of Wards Island and on Algonquin Island.

The Ward’s Island community began in the 1880s as a settlement of tents. Up until then, that eastern end of the islands was mostly wetlands. The first summer colony on Ward’s in 1899 consisted of just eight tenants, each of whom had paid a fee of $10 rent for the season. The number of tents grew each year. In 1913, the city felt it necessary to organize the community into streets. The evolution from tents to cottage structures progressed in stages with the building of floors, the addition of kitchens and then porches, resulting in the creation of the homes.

In 1953 the municipal government changed their policy toward the Toronto Islands landscape and its residents. Businesses were removed and the systematic demolition and burning of homes began. More of the islands became parkland. There are 262 houses on Wards and Algonquin Islands today, down from about 630 residences on all the islands. The last of the Lakeshore houses was removed in 1968 but traces of them still remain.

below: The pier on the Lake Ontario side.

below: Sandbags along the shore. Last spring there was a lot of flooding here and the island was closed to visitors – sort of. Ferries didn’t run and the park facilities were closed. The islands are very flat and low so it doesn’t take much extra water to flood.

below: There is a small amusement park, Centreville, on Centre Island.

below: Island transport that can be rented if you don’t want to walk.

below: Boats moored QCYC (Queen City Yacht Club), one of the three yacht clubs on the islands.

below: Sakura trees in bloom. The trees were donated by the Sakura Project. The aim of this project was to strengthen Japanese Canadian relations by planting cherry trees in visible locations across Ontario. Between 2000 and 2012, 3,082 trees were planted at 58 locations. The trees on Centre Island were planted in 2011.

below: Catkins from a red alder tree. They almost look like raspberries packed tight together.

below: An early family of Canada geese.

below: The pier at the eastern end of Wards Island is bad need of repair. To the right is the entry into the Eastern Channel (or Eastern Gap).

below: Looking over to Algonquin Island. Once upon a time this island was just a sandbar.

and back to the mainland.

rerouting the Don

Posted: May 7, 2018 in construction, history, locations, waterfront
Tags: boats, channel, flood control, gravel, Hearn, Keating channel, Lake Ontario, Lower Don River, masts, Port Lands, redevelopment, salt, ships, Villiers Island, water, waterfront, wetlands

a lot of masts from sailboats standing upright, a man walks on one of the boats as he gets it ready to go back in the water after the winter

Getting ready for spring. RCYC (Royal Canadian Yacht Club) is nearby.

There are a few changes happening down at the Port Lands.

below: Aerial view of the present configuration of the Keating Channel, Don River, and part of the port lands beside a drawing of the planned changes. Rerouting the Don River will create an island, Villiers Island.

In the 1880s, the lower part of the Don south of the former Winchester St. bridge (just north of Gerrard St) was straightened and the mouth of the river was placed in a channel to create additional harbour space and industrial dock space for boats in what is known as the Port Lands. This project was called the Don Improvement Project. The Don River now empties into the inner harbour through the Keating Channel. Lakeshore Blvd passes over the very south end of the river and because of its height (very low), boats can not enter the Don River. Boats may still enter the Keating Channel by going underneath a lift bridge at Cherry St. The straightening of the Lower Don also allowed for construction of the railway line parallel to it.

below: The cars are parked on vacant land between Lakeshore Blvd and Lake Ontario/Keating Channel. Mounds of gravel have been dumped off the end of Essroc Quay and beside Keating Channel. You might also have noticed the nine green bins that have been laid across the water (very left side of the photo). They too are full of gravel. These are part of the beginning of the renovations of the port lands. The Keating Channel will remain, but the area south of it is slated to be changed. In the middle is the GFL (garbage collection) transfer station. The low reddish brown building was a recycling facility. It was the site of a fire a few months back and most of the south end sustained substantial damage.

Access to the western portion of the port lands is via the Cherry Street bridge.

below: Here it is being lifted to allow a boat to pass through the Keating Channel. This bridge was built in 1968 and is at least the fourth bridge at this location.

below: In 1900 a wood swing bridge was built with just a single railway track that was operated by the Grand Trunk Railway. There are still remnants of the tracks that serviced the industries located in the area.

below: Two steel drawbridges were subsequently built here, one in 1912 and one in 1932. This is a circa 1915 photo of the lift bridge at Cherry Street.

photo from the Toronto Archives of the liftbridge at Cherry Street, open position, black and white photo taken about 1915, found on Wikipedia.

source: Originally from the Toronto Archives Fonds 1244, Item 1482 but found on Wikipedia

The plans for the redevelopment of this area show that the south end of Cherry Street will be moved to west of its present location – the jog in Cherry where it joins the Lakeshore for a short distance will be eliminated.

below: This is a close up shot of Essroc Quay at approximately the new location of the new Cherry Street bridge. The Keating Channel is in the foreground. This quay, and the water channel behind it, will be turned into wetlands and parkland. Essroc is a landfilled pier and is publicly owned as is Cousins Quay (the one behind it with the GFL transfer station).

below: A new fence too.

below: Looking across Essroc Quay to the Toronto skyline

There are many reasons for rerouting the Don River. The Port Lands are no longer used by many industries, land use has changed. As the city grows and changes, this area has become prime real estate but it is also a flood plain. Before any development can occur, flood control measures need to be taken. The Cherry Street Stormwater and Lakefilling project will stabilize the local shoreline, protect land from flooding, and create a new landmass to begin the re-naturalization of the Don River’s mouth. The river would be re-routed through the middle of the Lower Don Lands between the Keating Channel and the Ship Channel. The area being filled will become part of ‘Promontory Park’, a new major green space across the harbour from Toronto’s skyline.

The project will also allow for a realignment of Cherry Street so that it no longer merges with Lakeshore for a short distance. At the moment, the Cherry street and Lakeshore Blvd intersection is problematic, especially for pedestrians. Once upon a time there wasn’t much reason for people to walk there I guess. Now, if you are on the wrong side (the west side) of Cherry street, you get stranded at Lakeshore.

The Keating Channel isn’t exactly beautiful. Lakeshore Blvd and the Gardiner Expressway run along the north shore of the channel. There has been discussion & debate about the fate of these roads but so far nothing has changed. Will they demolish this section of the elevated Gardiner? Or won’t they? (Probably not).

below: The very south end of the Don River at the moment. Not much to get excited about is it? It looks like there is work being done under the bridge? (something’s happening there but I don’t know what). Hopefully it will look better in a few years.

The Ship Channel is south of the proposed changes described above.

below: Piles of salt on the south side of Ship Channel. These arrive by ship. The old Hearn Generating Station is in the background.

And south of it all, Cherry Beach.

More info on the Cherry Street Stormwater and Lakefilling project

waterfront in the grey of winter

Posted: January 13, 2018 in waterfront
Tags: #TOwaterfront, boats, bridge, footprints, harbour, Harbourfront, ice, Lake Ontario, park, pink sign, Queens Quay, snow, umbrellas, white chairs, winter

It’s been a while, I know. Part of my excuse – the holidays got in the way. But more importantly, it’s been very cold with bitter winds adding to our discomfort. The very cold days are beautiful with their bright blue skies. Although I have walked once or twice in -20C weather, the pictures here are from a warmer day when it was possible to take pictures without freezing my fingers off. Unfortunately, in the winter warmer often means greyer. I thought of calling this post “In Search of Winter” but that would be silly as no search is needed, it hits you in the face and it surrounds you. Everyone is talking about the cold.

below: Winter in the city isn’t always picturesque. Salt and sand and snow mix together to form slush. Brown ugly slush, especially on the roads and sidewalks as seen here on Queens Quay West. Of course, if you live in Toronto you are already well aware of this!

below: H2O park now has a pink #TOwaterfront sign (sculpture?) to go with its yellow umbrellas and white Muskoka chairs. The weakened winter sun tried to break through the wall of clouds.

below: The other morning there was a small group of Toronto firemen all dressed for the icy water as they practiced winter rescue procedures. Both men were tethered to the shore.

below: Just a few footprints in the snow. I wasn’t the only one walking this way but there certainly weren’t any crowds.

below: A cold and lonely barbecue, as well as one under wraps, waiting out the winter on the dock.

below: Access to the docks along the waterfront was discouraged. It was easy to get out there but I suspect that if I’d fallen in I would have gotten in trouble, and not just from being wet. I wonder how thick the ice was there?

below: Instead of comic relief, we have colour relief!

below: Ducks on ice. Have you ever seen a duck land in the snow? It looks exactly like a landing in water but with a much shorter skid at it comes to a stop. Or maybe that was obvious because how else would a duck land?

below: More ducks… ducks swimming in the small patch of open water. There can’t be much food for them these days.

below: Lake Ontario with the Port Lands and the Toronto Islands in the background. Windswept snow on the ice.

Stay warm everyone!

And don’t lose your gloves! There are so many lost and lonely gloves out there… I hope that this one isn’t yours because if you’re like me, you lose at least one every winter. I wonder they end up? In landfills? … where archeologists of the future will dig up all these single gloves and mitts and wonder what it says about our society? [smile!]

Ontario Place 2.0

Posted: July 10, 2017 in landmarks, locations, waterfront
Tags: bikes, boats, Brigantine Cove, cinesphere, city, climbing, CN Tower, crochet, cyclists, flood, graffiti, Lake Ontario, nature, Ontario Place, people, purple cone flowers, rocks, sailboats, skyline, stickers, street art, sunbathers, sunbathing, Trillium Park, urban ninja squadron, walkers, water, William G. Davis trail

After parts were shuttered 40 years ago, Ontario Place has re-opened to the public. The spherical Cinesphere and the buildings that are over the water are not open but the grounds are.

below: Canadian and Ontario flags fly along the docks of the Ontario Place Marina.

below: Double trouble. Hot x 2

below: Those are some very big boats!

There is also a new park, Trillium Park, that has been built on the eastern end of Ontario Place. It is 7.5 acres of green space with a 1.3 km trail (the William G. Davis trail) winding through it.

below: Trillium Park provides new angles from which to view the CN Tower and the Toronto skyline.

below: It is also a spot from which to watch airplanes as they take off from Billy Bishop Airport.

below: Sunbathers

below: Rock climbing

below: Water levels in Brigantine Cove, like all of Lake Ontario, are higher than usual.

below: There are still some traces of the amusement park rides that were once there. There is no water in the boat ride, but the bilingual warning signs are still on the rocks. “Keep hands, arms and head inside boat. Stay seated.”

below: Tbonez (urban ninja squadron) must have been to Ontario Place recently

below: Crochet street art, marine life, discovered clinging to the underside of a small wooden bridge.
This picture is upside down.

below: A painting of a man painting and of his shadow painting.

below: And last, music events are held at Echo Beach, a section of Ontario Place. The day that I was there a steady background noise from the electronic (techno? I’m out of date on newer music genres) music permeated the park. You couldn’t escape it. This isn’t the best picture but I didn’t get very close – my poor head! I was interested in the palm trees but I couldn’t get the right angle. There are other music events happening this summer so maybe you can time your visit to coincide with music that you like!

summer in the city, July edition

Posted: July 29, 2016 in general Toronto, people
Tags: boats, fun, games, kids, lake, Lake Ontario, men, people, police, pride, summer, sun, waterfront, watermelon, women

July is almost over – yes, summer is flying by.
So far, it’s been a good one!

below: Staying cool and having fun in the Yonge Dundas square fountains

below: A giant bite from a giant watermelon slice

below: A Bay Street hug and kiss.

below: An impromptu serenade

below: Watching the entertainment at the waterfront – it’s magical

below: Making comfort at Afrofest, Woodbine Park

below: A Canada Day kiss.

below: Leave your message by the outdoor facilities!

below: A mother and daughter stroll on the waterfront

below: Posing, Pride fun

below: Blowing bubbles by the lake.

Happy August everyone!

constant evolution

Posted: August 26, 2015 in graffiti and street art
Tags: boats, cat, faces, garages, graffiti, Graffiti Alley, lane alley, monkey, murals, painting, parka, people, raccoon, spray paint, street art, uber 5000, urban, walls, wanted woman, yarka

It was busy in Graffiti Alley on Saturday afternoon.

…. the finished wall

below: This cat is new. It replaces a painting of a woman’s face

below: Another woman’s face is different but instead of being painted over, this one has been drawn on with black marker. The little red and yellow guy is a recent addition too.