as I walk Toronto

In the early 1900’s brothers George and William Dempsey bought a store on the northwest corner of Yonge and Shepard from the Sheppard family.  It became known as Dempsey Brothers.

 below: The store in the 1960s

In 1989 the property was sold to developers but the store remained on that corner until 1996.  At that time it was moved a few blocks north to a site on Beecroft Ave; the site is now known as Dempsey Park.  The building was renovated and became the home of the North York Archives, an arrangement that didn’t last long.  In 1998 Mike Harris and the provincial Conservative government of the day amalgamated the old city boroughs into one City of Toronto.  North York ceased to exist and their archives merged with those of the new city.  Instead, the old Demspey Brothers store is home to Beecroft Learning Centre.

The restored Dempsey Brothers store, now at 250 Beecroft Avenue.

Where Dempsey’s once stood, there is now this….

… a 7 Eleven and a McDonalds. I doubt that anyone thinks “nice corner” when they look at it.

below: Looking southeast from the front of Dempsey Brothers store many years ago.

The billboard is an ad for Simpsons, a department store that is long gone.

For a long time, a grocery store stood where the billboard is in the above photo.  But now that corner is changing again.

below:  An attempt to replicate the location and angle of the above photo

below:  Looking south across Sheppard Ave. East at the north side new Hullmark Centre including the new subway entrance. 

below:  Looking north up Yonge Street from just south of Sheppard Avenue.
The new Whole Foods store is the first building on the right.

The southwest corner is also undergoing major changes.

below: The greenish coloured Emerald development is almost complete.  And yes, the tops of the buildings are meant to curve that way!