Posts Tagged ‘construction’

Laird and more

Posted: April 28, 2024 in construction, locations, old buildings
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These photos were taken on one of those rare days when there was snow on the ground, i.e. not within the past couple of weeks.   As usual, I am a bit behind but I thought that I should finish this page before posting snowy pictures is too weird.  Anyhow, let’s head to Leaside and walk up Laird Drive …

below: Condo building on the west side of Laird.  Like many neighbourhoods in Toronto, it’s an area in flux, full of changes.

Laird at Commercial, condo development on the left with a large crane, traffic lights, cars, 2 street signs for Commercial Road, Leaside

below: More facades, more condos.  This might be a new word for you but this is facadism; the facade of an old building gets incorporated into a new development.  It has become the most common form of heritage preservation in Toronto.  In 1921 this building was home to the Canadian branch of Durant Motors Inc.  They made cars.

blue metal container in front of an old brick building with decorative stone entrance, empty, facade being kept in making of new condo rising above it

below:  This is an example of the cars produced by Durant Motors.  With thanks to Wikipedia, this is a 1923 Durant touring car.

1923 Durant Motors touring car, image from wikipedia, red car,

1923 Durant A-22 touring car 9th Annual Saturday Night Cruise-In, June 28, 2014, Hastings, Minnesota, photo by Greg Gjerdingen

 

below: The lion and crown on the lintel over the window (once a door) is the crest of the Imperial Bank of Canada for whom this structure was built in 1941.   No facadism here.  The whole building is now a restaurant/pub.  When I was researching to find out if this building has heritage status (it doesn’t), I discovered that this bank was robbed by the Boyd Gang in 1951.  It was the biggest bank robbery in Toronto at the time.  Edwin Alonzo Boyd and his various gangs committed eleven bank robberies between 1949 and 1952.   He even escaped from Kingston Penitentiary in 1951 before getting caught again in 1952.

red brick building with a stone decorated door frame, a lion in a medallion

below: Olde Yorke fishe and chipe restaurante at the corner of Laird and Lea.    This too is a heritage site for its cultural value.  It was historically known as Osmond’s Restaurant and was constructed as a red brick building as early as 1923.  John Osmond owned the property and it was his family’s home as well as a restaurant. In fact, it has always been a restaurant.  It was known as CNR Restaurant in 1926 because of it’s association with the Leaside railway station.   It was also used as a lunch room or cafeteria for the workers in the local factories and industries.

Old Yorke fish and chip restaurant on Laird, old house,

below: A sign of the times, a cannabis shop.

two adjacent buildings on laird, on the left, an older two storey house, now nuleef cannabis and on the right, square building, painted yellow, a music school

looking north on laird, billboard on right, construction sign

below: Sales office for The Leaside Residences, open by appointment only.  Not just luxury condos, but luxury boutique condos.  Apparently there will be two buildings of 8 storeys each and they will include studios to some 3 bedroom townhouses.  Studios start at $600,000.

low rise building, one story, sales office for new condo development, leaside residences

below: Large shopping area on east side of Laird, just south of Wicksteed.   A big parking lot surround by big box stores.

shopping complex on laird, parking lot, big box stores, in winter,

condo construction with red crane reflected in a large window in a building across the street from it

below: Another vacant lot, Laird and Parkhurst, just south of Eglinton.

lowrise yellow brick building across a vacant lot covered with snow

snow covered vacant lot behind a metal construction fence, yellow brick building in the background

no entry, road closed sign in front of concrete barrier, empty road behind it

below: Closed to traffic but there was nothing to stop me from walking down that road.  Looking north to the back of Canadian Tire that is on Eglinton.  The back of the hoardings along Vanderhoof can also be seen.  Under that snow is a hole full of water.

yellow danger tape on metal poles, making temporary fence in front of hole in ground that is full of water, top frozen and covered with a layer of snow., back of a Canadian Tire store in the background

below: Still looking north but a more east.

looking across vacant lot towards new condo development

below: Laird and Eglinton and a sad sight (or site, your choice) – an unopened Laird subway station on the southwest corner.

on Laird, looking west to intersection with Eglinton, Laird subway station there, new and not open yet, line of stores on north side of Eglinton

below: The original plan was to walk Laird but we’re so easily called away and Eglinton beckoned.   Looking west…

looking west on Eglinton, from near Brentcliffe,

below: Four storey apartment buildings on the north side of Eglinton.

housing on north side of eglinton Ave

below: Lots of this type of residential buildings on Eglinton.  Walking east.

a man walks his dog on sidewalk, on south side of eglinton, row of lowrise buildings, residences, on the north side

below: Just east of Laird is Brentcliffe where there is now a large new development on the southwest corner.

Eglinton Ave, looking east from Brentcliffe, snowy, people have just got off a bus, sign saying open house for the new condo building on the corner, high rises in the background at Don Mills

below: From the back (taken on Brentcliffe)

two identical condo towers side by side, reddish lower parts (about 8 stores, and glass above), construction site out the back with fences and trailers, sign says gate 2

below: There is a skyway between two buildings in this development which seems to be called Upper East Village.  From their website –  An 1160 sq foot, 2 bedroom apt on the 9th floor is available for $1.4 million.  Also available, a 1750 sq ft., 2+1 bedroom on the 18th floor, for a mere $2.5 million;  It’s a corner suite if that helps.

orange and black traffic cones sit on a road that passes under a pedestrian bridge between two condo buildings, words on bridge say Upper East Village, snow on the ground

below: The view from Brentcliffe, looking northeast back towards Eglinton.  Those new buildings are probably the ones being built at Don Mills and Eglinton (where IBM once stood).

on Brentcliffe Ave., looking northeast over a vacant lot with a fence around it, to houses on Vanderhoof, and highrises on Eglinton

below: More on Brentcliffe

abandoned grocery store cart beside a TTC bus stop pole adjacent to white building with blue boarded over window

below: A patchwork of worn plywood make the hoardings along the south side of this redevelopment site on Wicksteed.  (Wicksteed runs parallel to Eglinton)

long wall of worn plywood hoardings, grass beside it, along Wicksteed, looking west towards Laird

below: One of thousands of these blue and white signs that can be seen around the city.  The surprise here is that the proposal is for a commercial development – a shopping complex for SmartCentres REIT.   The plan dates from 2021 but the hoardings pre-date that.  This site has a long history that goes back to at least 2011 but I haven’t tried to figure it all out!  Rumour says that part of the issue is that previous commercial developments on the other side of Wicksteed turned out to be so ugly AND it was thought to be a Walmart that was going to be built.

blue and white toronto development notice sign, posted on plywood hoardings, large new condo in the background

part of a wall made of weathered pieces of plywood, wood some bits of white and red paper stapled to it, a faint white arrow pointing right

fence with lock and chain, vacant lot seen through the gap in the gate,

empty metal shopping cart lying on its side on the other side of a chain kink fence with a large hole in it, ground covered with snow

below: Wicksteed approaching Laird with an older white structure, a remnant of Leaside’s past.  Back in the day, the Leaside Aerodrome was nearby.  It was built in 1917 to train Commonwealth pilots for the last days of WW1.

on Wicksteed, just east of Laird, an old corrugated metal building with rounded roof, large garage door, chainlink fence beside it and a large tree

facade of white metal metal building with large garage door in center, and roofline of three curves, rusted portions,

below: Not the type of building that you would usually associate with an auto shop.  Also, remember the very first picture in this post?  It included a street sign for Commercial Road.  Well, this building is nearby, but on Industrial Road.

auto shop on industrial road in leaside

This part of Leaside used to have much more light industry than it has today. There are still industries there today but they are closer to the train tracks that cut through the area – running northeast from the from the south end of Laird (where it meets Millwood).

below: For instance, I saw this interesting piece of equipment. I am not sure what this large machine does but the sign on the fence says Coco Paving.

large machinery in yard of Coco Paving Co., behind fence, with snow,

The area may also be impacted in the near future by Metrolinx and the Ontario Line. Somewhere in the Leaside, Wicksteed area is going to be the new home of a large maintenance and storage facility. Has an actual site been selected? A story to look into….

I will leave with one last photo – it’s not a complete summary of what Laird is, but it’s a start.  It’s the view from the Home Depot parking lot looking west towards the construction of new condos on Laird.

machinery for rent in parking lot of a home depot store, parking lot behind it, condo construction with cranes in the background

 

Just what the doctor ordered?

Posted: April 23, 2024 in construction, locations, public art, reflections
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below: I’d heard that the old Coach Terminal was no longer in use (since mid 2021) but I hadn’t heard anything about its present status.  Now I know: Empty.  Abandoned.

old Toronto coach station, now empty with metal fence blocking entrances

below: Apparently the land is owned by the city. There is talk of redevelopment that includes affordable housing, office space, etc. I am not sure where the plans are at (does anyone?) at the moment.

old Toronto coach station, now empty with metal fence blocking entrances, Elizabeth street view, newer high rises in the background

below: Concrete.  Just a concrete wall…  But an interesting use of concrete.

decorative concrete wall, with vertical geometric designs

below: The sign says “weather” and the weather this day is miserable.  Wet. Grey. Luckily I had a rainy day plan….

plastic coated wire bundled up and inserted between brass plaque and wood pole, lots of staples and bits of old paper in pole, artwork scratched onto the brass, including the word weather

I was meeting friends at Starbucks at Sick Kids.

a woman enters through the large glass doors of Sick Kids newer building on east side of Elizabeth street

below: This is when I learned that Sick Kids Hospital is in two buildings that are across Elizabeth Street from each other.  Only one has a Starbucks!

Elizabeth street, bench on sidewalk, bridge over the street connecting two sick kids hospital buildings

below: Inside the bridge with its zigzagging light

interior of pedestrian bridge, glass walls, a zigzag shaped light in the ceiling, white floor,

below: A white goose

a white goose (not real) on a ledge by a fake orange door on a wall between real windows

below: One side of the atrium, 8 storeys high, in the older building on the west side of Elizabeth

large multi storey atrium of Sick kids hospital, with elevator and stairs and window to rooms on the sides

below: On the east side of Elizabeth Street is the new Sick Kids’ Patient Support Centre – we didn’t venture too far past the main entrance and bridge to the other building, but there was a lot to see just in this space!

coloured lights, glass walls, stairs, atrium of Sick kids

interior at Sick Kids, glass walls, painted murals on interior walls, chairs, coloured lights

blue stair case, hanging public art beside it,

a security guard sits in a chair by a door, a large mobile, or hanging public art installation with hundreds of metal bits floating in the space,

below: Swirly squiggly LED lights turn an ordinary ceiling into something more.

squiggly LED ceiling lights at Sick kids

below: Gerrard Street entrance to Toronto General Hospital (TGH)

Gerrard street entrance to Toronto General Hospital

below: Part of a conference room door.

fractal like design on door to conference room in hospital

below: There aren’t as many photos from TGH for a couple of reasons. First, regrettably (in hindsight) we didn’t explore much of it and second, although hospitals are generally public spaces they are also places where people expect privacy. So you’ll have to settle for some empty chairs and artwork in a waiting area. I suspect that a wander around all of TGH would provide ample material for its own blog post, just not today.

artwork on wood paneled wall and above three blue chairs

below: After TGH we entered MaRS – they call themselves “North America’s largest urban innovation hub”.  A modern building that incorporated part of an older stone structure that was built in 1913 as the original home of Toronto General Hospital.   Ooops, it’s not a building, it’s a “Discovery District”.

interior of mars tower, large escalator

below: 1923 view of Toronto General Hospital with College Street in the immediate foreground and University Avenue on the right.  There weren’t many tall buildings 100 years ago!

1923 colour postcard of Toronto General Hospital, a brick building on College Street

photo credit: Photo found on Wikimedia Commons, image is in the public domain.

As it turns out, MaRS doesn’t like cameras.  It was the only building that morning where security approached us.  Apparently you can take all the photos you want if you use your phone but cameras are not allowed.  Snuck in a few before we got told off.

interior of mars building

a man sits at a wood table, in front of a room with red sofas and chairs, with a glass wall between them

inside atrium of MaRS discovery district, large multi storey space with glass ceiling

below: Here’s the tunnel leading to Queens Park subway station.   Brightly lit but with the minimum of planning and imagination.

people walking through an all white tunnel connecting to the subway, well lit,

below: Back at ground level it’s a bit more interesting.

glass wall and large doors, university avenue entrance to mars building,

below: In front of MaRS is a sculpture of two men talking.

outside mars building on college street, two people are talking, also two bronze statues, buildings on college street

below: Dr. James Till (left) and Dr. Ernest McCulloch (right) having a discussion in the rain (with an onlooker).  There are lots of seats available so if you are passing by you can join the conversation.   The two men were involved in stem cell research at the Ontario Cancer Institute and at Princess Margaret Hospital in the 1960s.  They were pioneers in the field.

Doctors Till and McCulloch, bronze statues

below: Dr. McCulloch needed some help keeping dry!

statue of a man, bronze, holding a real red umbrella

below: Pardon the raindrop – across College Street from MaRS is (the first phase of?) the new Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus (part of the University of Toronto).

below:  When I saw it, my first reaction was, “This looks familiar” … i.e. the recessed glass withing the window frame is reminiscent some concrete buildings used back in the 1960s such as the Clarke Institute just down the street (built in 1964).  There is also a similar “modernist” building from the same era at Yonge & Roehampton (just north of Eglinton).  I thought that it was interesting to see an older architectural “detail” show up in a modern building.  It’s a nice change.

closer look at cladding features, Schwartz Reisman building, new building on College St

below: Walking on University Ave… which is a mess on the southbound side between College and Queen Street West because of infrastructure upgrades.  Apparently the water mains here were 150 years old.

people walking in the rain on University ave where there is construction, yellow fence, Queens park building is in the background

below: Campbell Family Building, part of the front facade and doorway.  This building was constructed in 1935 for the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario (later Ontario Hydro).  In the 1990s it became part of Princess Margaret Hospital.  Audrey Campbell was the daughter of Roy Thomson and it is her family that the building was named for (because of donations obviously).

front door of Campbell Family Building, an old stone building with large decorative glass rectangle above the door, but behind yellow construction fence because of work being done on University Avenue

below: Across the street from Princess Margaret Hospital, part of TGH.

Toronto General Hospital on University Ave., Robert McEwen Atrium, glass,

below: South on University Ave

looking south along the west side of university avenuse, from princess margaret hospital, on a rainy april day

below: Digging up the street in front of Mt Sinai Hospital

workman standing on sidewalk watching red digger dig up the street in front of him

a person stands under a small porch, beside stone columns, with Canadian flag behind

below: In a small space between two buildings on University Ave are a few small sculptures.  The building on the left is Mount Sinai Hospital where there is now an art gallery. The building on the right is Princess Margaret Hospital.

bronze sculpture outside, human like figure walking upright, greenish tinges

below:   This is a small part of the interior of the Hennick Family Wellness Gallery at Mount Sinai Hospital. All of the pieces are the work of Sorel Etrog (1933-2014, Canadian).

red sculpture in a gallery, human like shape made of two large screws

There is a plaque in Mt. Sinai that tells the story of The Ezras Noshem Society (Ladies Aid in Yiddish) led by four Jewish women who started raising money in 1913 for a new hospital. By 1922 they had raised $12,000 and in 1923 the Hebrew Maternity and Convalescent Hospital was opened at 100 Yorkville. They seem to be known only as Mrs. Cohn, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Spiegel, and Mrs. Adler (and others).  They also opened a Jewish Old Folks’ Home in 1917.
Contrast that to the “Hall of Chairs” – a hallway with the portraits of all the past “Chairs” of the hospital, all men.

below: Large mural on the side of the parking garage behind Mount Sinai Hospital

large colourful abstract mural on the side of parking garage behind Mount Sinai Hospital

below: Love Locks

large heart shape grid of metal wires with some filled with locks, in artwork called heart locks, on wall of parking garage

It would have been nice to get a break in the weather but the rain just kept coming.

a group of people huddled together in a bus shelter on dundas, a cyclist going past them, other people on the sidewalk

a man runs along dundas, on the street, cars there too

So a warm, dry place with coffee – with a shout out to Carbonic Coffee on Baldwin as well as thanks to Jeff, Paul and Perry who walked with me today.

taking pictures of cups of flat white coffee in a coffee shop

three people walking in the rain, on dundas street, one man has a black and white striped umbrella with a red border

from Keele to Dundas West

Posted: April 11, 2024 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art
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A short walk between two subway stations….

below: Westbound subway enters Keele station.

black and white photo of a TTC subway headed to Kipling, enters Keele station at section of track that is above ground, buildings in the background

below: A view to the east of Keele subway station where the tracks are elevated and there is a large parking lot underneath (free parking on the weekend!).

elevated subway tracks on east side of keele station, with parking lot below and pedestrian entrance, highrises in the background

below: Some of the buildings that formed the north wall of the parking lot beside Keele station are no longer all there.  Only one of the buildings remains.

street art on the back of a brick building, parking lot in front

below: The demolished buildings were covered with street art including a mural featuring King Midas.  Where he used to be there is now a tall crane above and a large hole below.  Increasing density at transit stops is a good idea but this is yet another square box in glass and steel with bland and nondescript street level “appeal”.  I am not sure if it is the developers or the city planning office that is responsible for the lack of imagination and/or variety at street level; that requires more research and another blog post.

large crane and orange barriers along the edge of a construction site on bloor near keele station

below: When buildings come down, others are revealed.  Angles briefly open up.  Obviously (now) LMP, JETR, TEMPO and friends were here.

large tags on outside of building revealed when building beside was demolished

below: Running behind the south side of Bloor is this alley There has been street art here for years.

graffiti and street art in an alley behind Bloor near Keele subway station

below: Some of that street art, like this Uber5000 painting, remain intact.  Lucky yellow birds!  It’s also nice to see an old Lovebot (upper left corner).

uber 5000 mural with three yellow birdies sitting around a red table. One is reading a newspaper

below: Others haven’t fared so well – A waving hand and the top of a red cap are all that remain of this Elicser Elliott piece.  I doubt that the fat white letters are an improvement but that’s the way it goes.

old mural by elicser mostly tagged over by giant white fat letters, only the very top of original can be seen 0 a red cap and a hand.

below: An urban night scene.  King Kong once stood over it.

part of a mural, night scene, city, highrises with lights on, in black and white

below: Someone has hung this little framed picture on an exterior wall.  I think that it is an image of a flower or plant of some sort.

small framed picture surrounded by graffiti on an exterior wall in a lane

below: Another Uber5000 work with a yellow birdie in a red cap.

uber 5000 mural in an alley, a yellow bird in a red cap, a man with square red framed glasses

below: A Buddha prays among the lotus flowers and leaves.

mural in back of building, with window above it, stairs in front of it, buddha, lotus flowers and lotus leaves

murals on two sides of a building in an alley,

below: Another mural that has been left untouched is Movie Art Decor featuring Alfred Hitchcock directing ‘Psycho’ along with Marilyn Monroe and a topless Bruce Lee.

movie art decor mural in black and white with Alfred Hitchcock and Bruce Lee

a white swan painted on a sidewalk box

below: It looks a bit like a big white shark is coming after us.

text throw up tag street art

below: Stop!

a hand with open palm in a mural beside a small sign that says parking reserved

below: Remembering 1995.

text graffiti scrawled on wall, says remember 1995, of course not

below: Sunny backyard spaces

single storey extension on the back of a building in an alley, with street art painted on the side,

below: More backyard spaces.

small steps up grassy hill at the back of a building, alley view

below: Looking west towards Keele Station – alley, subway tracks, and a few highrises.

an alley behind bloor, looking west towards keele subway station

below: Waiting at Dundas West Station

a man in a red jacket sits on a bench at Dundas West station, waiting between two TTC streetcars

Dundas West station is at Dundas and Bloor.  Also on this corner is the Giraffe Building.   Many years ago (2007?) this property was bought by a developer who wanted to build the Giraffe Condos, a 27 storey project.  To promote the condo development, the typical two storey stores that were there became the Giraffe building that we have now.  But the city rejected that proposal saying that the structure was too high and the site seems to have been in limbo ever since.  It has changed hands a number of times.

along Dundas West, east side of giraffe building,

  In 2018 the site, along with one or two adjacent properties was purchased by a partnership between two companies, Trinity & Timbercreek.  Lo and behold, a 27 storey condo with 354 units was proposed and this time accepted.   Back to square one?    But that isn’t the end of the story… In January the site was back on the market.   It looks like not much is going to change for a while yet.

below: Northwest corner of Dundas and Bloor with a streetcar covered in a lipstick advertisement.

northwest corner of Dundas and Bloor, people crossing with green light, TTC streetcar covered in ad for lipstick, giraffe building,

below: Graffiti break dancer behind the Giraffe building

red on white painting of a break dancer, graffiti

below: Sarah has claimed the cat in the doorway.  Cool hat.

cat cartoon character, with purple hat over its eyes, white trench coat, mural in a doorway in an alley

below: A green laser beam from a fiery eye?  A burning tall skinny structure (like the CN Tower)?

external metal staircase outside building beside a mural on the other wall, an eye, with red flames on the top, a green laser-like beam coming out of the eye

below: That’s a strange way to open a door.

doorway mural, male character, in green clothing
below: A miserable little impish guy with an oversized green tongue.

If you are interested in the street art in the alley above,  there is a blog post from 2015 titled ‘old friends’ that shows more pictures (from 9 years ago!).  You can get a better idea of what has changed and what hasn’t.  King Midas is there too.

southern Spadina, from Dundas to Ireland.

Posted: March 9, 2024 in alleys, intersections, locations, stores, transportation, waterfront, windows and walls
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Spadina has many faces –  It starts at Eglinton as Spadina Road where it runs south through Forest Hill.  It’s journey southward then continues through a number of different parts of the city including a spot where there is a block missing at Casa Loma.  Pedestrians can use the Baldwin Stairs but traffic has to detour around the castle.   At Bloor it changes to Spadina Avenue and widens to allow streetcar access down the middle of the road.   Here, it is also the western edge of the University of Toronto.

Just north of College Street,  Spadina becomes Spadina Crescent as it forms a circle around what is now the Daniels Faculty of Architecture building.   South of College Street to Dundas  the neighbourhood is somewhat eclectic with a mix of Kensington Market and Chinatown.

three people waiting for a green light before crossing spadina, a woman in a long yellow and grey plaid coat and a couple talking to each other

on a pole at an intresection, a yellow button for crossing signal plus lots of papers, posters and graffiti, a cyclist goes north on spadina in the background

people buying fruit and vegetables from a market, on the sidewalk,

chinese food store on spadina, with some items on display on the sidewalk

2 asian women on sidewalk, talking together, one has a clear plastic bag with 2 cauliflowers in it.

below: Celtuce and asparagus for sale.  Celtuce was new to me – I’ve never seen it before.  It is also called also called stem lettuce, celery lettuce, asparagus lettuce, or Chinese lettuce.  Unlike other lettuces, it is the stem that is eaten (although the leaves are also edible).

box of celtuce for sale at a fruit and vegetable market in chinatown, also a box of asparagus tied in bundles,

below: Collaborative mural under the window, the work of June Kim and Curtia Wright. East meets West, painted back in October.

mural with tigers and women face, under window on chinatown store

part of mural with tigers and women face, under window on chinatown store

a woman walks along spadina, pulling a shopping bag on rollers, walking past a store with displays on the sidewalk

head mannequin of a young boy, wearing a fur hat, in the window of a store

window display of asian chinese store in chinatown on spadina, metal grille in window as well, tea cups, silver piggybank, porcelain figurines,

below: Holy Chinatown window Batman!

window display, chinese and asian new year items, lots of red, plus one batman toy in blue

below: A Canada Post mailbox decorated originally with an image of the Year of the Rat (from Lunar New Year calendar) stamp issued in 2020.

side of a canada post mailbox with chinese characeters, one male and one female, on the side, also stickers and graffiti slaps on it

below: Waiting for the streetcar

a young man is waiting for ttc streetcar on spadina, standing in front of an advertisement featuring the large face of a woman

a large yellow school bus turns right onto spadina from queen street, two men are standing by the street car tracks

below: Looking eastward along Queen Street West with a web of streetcar wires overhead and many tracks underfoot.   The new Ontario Line subway will cross here with a new Queen-Spadina station being planned.   Between Sherbourne (Moss Park) and Spadina the Ontario Line will be under Queen Street.  West of here the tracks will swing south to a station at King and Bathurst.

looking east along queen street from spadina, people crossing the street, ttc wires above and tracks at street level

below: Another eastward looking view, this time from a bit farther south at Adelaide, a street that has become canyon-like as it makes it way through the older brick buildings in foreground and then the taller glass buildings as it gets closer to Yonge Street and the downtown core.

people crossing Adelaide Street at Spadina, looking eastward along Adelaide with Yonge street in the distance, large tall buildings on both sides of adelaide

below: And a little bit more south again… the CN Tower rises into the fog as it peeks out between two glass condo buildings at King and Spadina.  South of King is the new development “The Well” that opened recently.  I have blogged about it previously (Well, Well, Well, 27 Nov 2023)

CN tower peaks through between two highrise glass condo buildings, above where two people are repainting a billboard

Spadina is also a major access point to Lakeshore Blvd and the Gardiner Expressway.  This section of the road is rather barren if you are on foot (unless you are a concrete aficionado LOL)

below: Another eastward view – Both Lakeshore Blvd westbound (but not eastbound!) and the Gardiner Expressway are elevated and they run parallel as they cross over Spadina.

ramp to the gardiner expressway, plus upper levels of the gardiner, looking east from spadina

below: Standing on the northwest corner of Spadina and Queens Quay.  This is where Spadina ends – at the waterfront with some of the docks and parks that have been redeveloped in recent years.

a couple stands on the northwest corner of spadina and queens quay

below: Looking north up Spadina from Queens Quay.

view from queens quay looking north up spadina, with gardiner crossing over, lots of ttc streetcar wires overhead

below: Look!  Continue walking towards the waterfront but be careful crossing the bike lanes of the Martin Goodman Trail!

on the street, paved with bricks, the word look has been painted in blue on white background,

below: Spadina Wave Deck

Spadina Wave Deck on Queens Quay, where the sidewalk arches up over the water, glass condos rise up in the background

below: The Omni Coastal, a tug boat, is docked at Spadina Quay.

a boat tied up at a dock, with city street scene behind

thick grey rope wrapped around a metal post

below: Pulling back a little farther… the CN Tower is still hiding in the fog.

toronto waterfront at spadina quay, omni coastal tug boat is docked, condos on the waterfront, CN tower obscured by fog, grey cloudy day

below: Ahoy matey!

caution sign on a wood tree planter that someone has written the word pirates on, so sign now says caution, pirates!
below:   It’s a much quieter scene in the winter when fewer boats are here.  In the background, the Canada Malting Company silos still stand strong.

view of Toronto waterfront, looking west from Spadina Quay, towards large Canada Malting Co silos, boats in the foreground, but not many because it's winter, some wrapped in white, foggy grey day

lamp post, black with downward curved top, in music garden, with condos behind,

below: Looking for the signs of spring and finding the beginnings of tulips and daffodils in the Music Garden

small daffodils and tulips starting to grow in a garden in front of a large willow tree

small wood bird house with a blue roof hanging from the branch of a tree

below:  Some useful information: “Bathrooms, Where can they be found?”  Number one on the list is Billy Bishop Airport and I can attest to the fact that yes, they have bathrooms (check in the ferry terminal building).

sign on sidewalk on waterfront re information on where to find a bathroom in the area

below: Another red tugboat in the fog – this one is the Radium Yellowknife.

red fire boat docked at Toronto waterfront, on a foggy day

below: The silos have been under wraps as they have been renovated.

scaffolding and blue tarps around the curved ends of the canada malting co silos

below: Built on reclaimed land in the early 1900s, the silos have been empty since 1987 and  had fallen into disrepair.   Although they are now missing a couple of letters, the silos are in much better shape.  I am not sure if there is any use planned for the structures but the site is being turned into a park, Bathurst Quay Common.

below: If you walk past the silos, you come to Ireland Park with its memorial to those who fled the Irish famine in the 1840s.   The park also has seven sculptures cast in bronze by Rowan Gillespie of Dublin Ireland. The installation is called ‘Arrival’.  These figures match an earlier installation on the Customs House Quay in Dublin, ‘Famine’ (1997).  A third installation in Tasmania Australia completes the trilogy.

In Ireland Park statue of man, very thin, ragged clothes, upraised arms, representing Irish immigrants to Toronto during Irish famine in 1847

head and shoulders of a cast bronze statue of an Irish immigrant at Ireland Park on Toronto waterfront, part of a memorial to Irish immigrants to Canada during the famine years in the 1840s

below: Along the exterior walls of the silos, a few signs have been posted that tell the story of Irish immigration to Canada.  This is one of those signs.

sign half in English and half in French that tells the story of the ship called The City of Toronto that brought irish immigrants to Canada in 1847.

Arrival of the City of Toronto – When the steamer City of Toronto dropped anchor at Rees’s Wharf on Sunday, 6 June 1847, City officials had no way of knowing the boat was a harbinger of the chaotic and overwhelming migration season to come.  The City carried 700 people.  More than half of the adults on board were “indigent” migrants from Ireland, all traveling at the expense of the government. 
Given reports of ongoing distress and hunger in Ireland, the volume of immigrants was expected to be high that year, but Toronto was still unprepared for the tidal wave of Irish Famine immigrants now cresting its shores.  Toronto, with its population of 20,000 would eventually receive 38,000 immigrants in 1847. 
Steamships arrived filled to capacity with passengers exhausted and sick from their weeks-long journey.  Many of those who had been deemed healthy by doctors at Grosse Ile were beginning to show signs of typhus.  
The logistics of receiving, triaging, housing, treating and transporting (or burying) this wave of newcomers fell to a group of municipal and provincial officials, who had to make do with rudimentary medical and settlement infrastructure and resources.

black and white photograph of a woman sitting at the back of a streetcar, looking through the window

 

animal spirits watching over

Posted: February 8, 2024 in galleries
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The Art Gallery of Ontario has recently acquired two new paintings by Ojibwe artist Travis Shilling.   Both paintings are from a series of 11 paintings titled “Tyrannosaurus Clan” that depict varies spirit animals looking over, or observing, people building a pipeline through a subdued coloured landscape.  The people are unaware that they are being watched; there is no interaction between the two.

  below: An owl perches on a piece of heavy equipment in this painting that is simply titled “Owl”.

painting by Travis Shilling, men digging for a pipeline, with image of an owl rising above it. owl is perched on roof of digger

below: A dinosaur type creature embodies other species in “The Excavators”

painting by Travis Shilling, men digging for a pipeline, orange green and purple dinosaur

painting by Travis Shilling, men digging for a pipeline

It’s a mess!

Posted: January 27, 2024 in construction, intersections
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Queen Street is now closed to all traffic from just east of Bay Street to Yonge Street and again between Yonge and Victoria Streets…. for about four and a half years (any bets on 5 years? or more?).  The new Ontario Line subway is being built here.  There will be 4 stops along Queen –  Moss Park which is between Sherbourne and Parliament, then Yonge, Osgoode, and finally a stop at Spadina & Queen before the line heads south to King Street and then the Exhibition.

Because of the existing infrastructure in the area there wasn’t much room for construction, hence the takeover of the street. 501 Queen streetcars and buses are diverting along Richmond and Adelaide streets.

It all makes for a complicated mess for pedestrians.

below: The first warning sign of changes ahead, a little orange sign that says that the sidewalk on the north side of Queen Street is closed between Victoria and Yonge.

street scene, Queen St. East in front of Metropolitan United Church,looking west towards Victoria Street.

below: Queen and Victoria, looking west towards the construction

Queen Street East at Victoria. Street to the west towards Yonge street is closed, green and metal fence blocking traffic and pedestrians, construction site for new Ontario Line subway

below: Looking south on Victoria from Queen

looking south on Victoria Street, west side,from Queen, winter, some snow on ground, green fence blocking off Queen street for construction of ontario line subway

below: Ontario Line hoardings.

two people walking on sidewalk on Queen Street between Victoria and Yonge, fabric hoardings advertising construction of the Ontario line subway on their right

looking through metal construction fence, workmen on a construction site talking to each other

below: Northeast corner of Yonge & Queen

below: Looking east from Yonge

below: Westward view past concrete barriers and wobbly green and metal fencing

below: Crossing Queen Street

below: From the Eaton Centre looking east past Yonge Street.

below: Entrance to the Queen subway station

hoardings create a path across Queen street to provide access to Queen street subway station

below: A break in the construction zone for pedestrians.

hoardings create a path across Queen street to provide access to Eaton Centre

below: Barricade across the sidewalk on the south side, by the Eaton Centre

below: Queen Street is closed in front of Old City Hall

tower of old city hall with road construction in front of it

intersections – McCowan and Sheppard

Posted: November 11, 2023 in construction, graffiti and street art, intersections, locations, transportation
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After years of false starts, indecision re routes, and all the other consequences of being City Council’s favorite political football, the new Scarborough subway extension is underway.

on black hoardings around metrolinx site, pink subway symbol, fallen street signs on their side at bottom of hoardings

Once upon a time, the extension was to only go to Scarborough Town Centre and was derided as the “One Stop Subway”.  Now it seems to be three stops from the present Kennedy station with the end point being at McCowan and Sheppard.  In true Metrolinx style, it seems like the last station is going to be called Sheppard East.  Such imagination! … to have three stations called Sheppard!  That seems to be the situation at present…. as for tomorrow’s situation?  Who knows…..

printed on hoardings around metrolinx site, map of scarborough subway extension from Kennedy to Lawrence to Scarborough Centre to McCowan

In case you’ve never been to that intersection, let me show you what’s there…..

below: Looking west on Sheppard approaching McCowan with Metrolinx site on the right hand side.  This construction site is very large and dominates the area.

looking west on Sheppard towards mccowan, metrolinx construction on right side

below: One of the entrance gates to the Metrolinx construction site.  Note all the stacked concrete sections that will form the tunnel walls.

gate across entrance to construction site, red crane inside, also partially curved structures that will form walls of circular subway tunnel

metrolinx site for mccowan station on SHeppard subway extension, red crane,

below:  This blue object is part of the equipment needed to move dirt brought to the surface by the Tunnel Boring Machine that is working underground (There is also a TBM working out in Rexdale on the Crosstown West).

large blue piece of equipment on construction site, made for moving dirt that has been removed from tunnel by tunnel boring machine

It is a very big machine

below: Gate B

Gate B of metrolinx sheppard extension site on mccowan, watch for oncoming traffic sign,

In general, the area south of Sheppard is residential while the area north of Sheppard is industrial or commercial.   Canadian Tire is on the northwest corner.

below: Apartments on Sheppard (south side, east of McCowan)

man walking past low rise apartment building with balconies, green fence beside sidewalk

below:  Because of the angle from which this photo was taken, the exact locations are slightly unclear.  The Medical Clinic is 4651 Sheppard East.  To the west of that is a vacant lot that used to be a gas station and it is on the SE corner of McCowan and Sheppard; it is in the process of being redeveloped.   The apartment building is actually on the SWt corner of McCowan and Sheppard.

apartment building and lowrise plaza with medical clinic, sheppard east

below:  looking east on Sheppard from McCowan

TTC bus shelter beside sidewalk on Sheppard East, hoardings or metrolinx construction site Sheppard East station, are behind the shelter

 

below: Walking McCowan north of Sheppard is partially impeded by a fence across the sidewalk…. but it is easily bypassed.  Nugget Avenue is just beyond the fence.

chainlink fence across sidewalk at Nugget Ave

below: Looking southeast from McCowan and Nugget where West Highland Creek branches.  The large Metrolinx site fills the triangle formed by McCowan, West Highland Creek, and Sheppard Avenue.  The white apartment building in the distance is on Sheppard Ave.

creeks north of Sheppard

The creek’s concrete bed might make for easy management of the water flow but it makes for an ugly scene – unfriendly to both nature and people.  There are parks north of here on both branches of the creek but here where most of the land use is industrial or commercial, little attention is paid to the esthetics.

dead vines on chainlink fence beside concrete bottom creek

graffiti on concrete sides of west highland creek

below: Dufferin Concrete at Nugget and McCowan

concrete plant in Scarborough

below: Nugget Avenue crosses West Highland Creek.  The plaza at 20 Nugget Ave, with the red and white stripes, was shut down (bought out) by Metrolinx.  Apparently, the two-acre property is needed for an emergency exit and underground tail track for the future Sheppard East Station.

bridge over creek at Nugget Ave

empty two storey plaza, lower level painted with red and white vertical stripes

empty building behind construction fence, red and white vertical stripes on lower level, window on upper level, three signs for businesses, Best Housewares Inc., BestFare travel and tours, and Babhis Beauty Salon

old banners on a chainlink fence advertising boxing week specials, ads for restaurant food,

below: Spotted on a bulletin board at a bus shelter on Nugget (It’s a collection of bible verses).

on public message board at a bus shelter, 4 pieces of 8 1/2 by 11 paper with typing on them, a collection of bible verses

below: Immediately north of Nugget Avenue are train tracks. This is the western edge of the large CPR Toronto Yard.  If you are interested in this yard and some of the trains, I blogged about it previously (Around the marshaling yards – with love and peace).

black tanker cars on railway bridge over McCowan

downward arrow shape painted in yellow and white on blue concrete under a brdge

below: North side of tracks along McCowan

concrete waterway and tunnel for west highland creek as it goes under the railway tracks

a banner for welcome to sheppard east village on a pole, with an autumn tree behind

vertical banner on pole on sheppard east for east sheppard village, picture of three people on banner

traffic signs and warning signs at entrance to construction site on mccowan road

dirt track uphill to the tracks

flock of birds on a wire

Dupont Street – the western end

Posted: October 26, 2023 in construction, locations, old buildings
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For the whole length of Dupont Street, from Avenue Road to Dundas West, the street runs parallel to, and south of, Canadian Pacific railway tracks.  The proximity to the railway was a major reason that the street was home to many industries.  Back in June I walked a section of Dupont east of Ossington (see Dupont Street Scenes).

A couple of weeks ago I explored west of Ossington and I’d like to show you a few pictures from that walk.  The last part of the walk was a wander through some of the streets and alleys south of Dupont.

the word dupont written in upper case block letters, black, on an old metal truck, barbed wire in front of it

below: There are still a few reminders of Dupont’s industrial past…

old light industry building behind chainlink fence

yellow front end loader in front of building, large green storage tank behind

red truck parked behind chainlink fence, sign on side of truck, on passenger door, says Supont Construction Supplies, building materials, ready made concrete

  Dupont has always been a very mixed street with residences

a front porch on Dupont, white wrought iron chair, also white metal railing, greenery in front, new condo development in the background

semi detached houses, two storeys, one large window in the upper storey, fire hydrant in front, parked motorcycle with cover a well in front

and businesses side by side.  A working class street.

old cars and trucks outside house and mechanic workshop on dupont

an orange vinyl padded chair on a porch with black wrought iron railing and a small white bookcase

food truck and two slush trucks parked beside empty commercial building

below: A more recent addition to the street – Sovereign Smoke (cannabis) sits beside the tire store (or mechanic).

line of tire shops and mechanics, with sovereign cannabis there too

red brick two storey building on Dupont, railway bridge in background, CIBC ad on billboard on roof of building, Sound PX

below: Looking west along Dupont towards Dufferin – where the Galleria Mall used to be there is now a wall of glass.

looking west on Dupont towards Dufferin, tall cranes and new condo highrise construction

Same site, different angle

construction site at dufferin and dupont

below: On the west side of Dufferin, the street is being reconstructed.

looking east on dupont towards redevelopment project at dufferin, many workmen making new sidewalks

below:Re-routing the sidewalk on the south side of Dupont at Emerson

south side of intersection of dupont and emerson, houses, new sidewalk route, black and orange traffic cones

below: Looking west on Dupont at Emerson.  The two tall buildings on the right are on the north side of the railway tracks.  The apartment building in the center of the photo was built in the 1960s or 1970s.

looking west on dupont towards lansdowne, pioneer gas station, apartment building from the 1970s

a row of two storey houses, one painted turquoise, in front of an apartment building of about 20 storeys

below: A colourful mural by Jacquie Comrie

below: Under the tracks near Lansdowne.

mural on underpass wall, construction on railway track above

part of Suitman mural on Dupont Street, 3 men in black suits, white shirts, and black ties, standing together. they all have large yellow halos, or circle auras around their heads

 The “Suitman” Mural was first painted and funded with $2000 received from the City of Toronto’s Clean and Beautiful program. But after Rob Ford was elected mayor of Toronto in 2010 and began his own “clean up” campaign, it was painted over with dull grey paint. Not a bright move considering that Joel Richardson was paid by the city to paint it in the first place. Late in October 2011 it was replaced with a similar mural as seen here. It took six weeks to repaint, 25 gallons of paint were used along with 100 large cans of spray paint.  Photos of the whole mural (on both north and south sides of the street) from 2011 and 2013 are on a previous blog post.

below: “And do thy duty even if it be humble, rather than another’s even if it be great. To die in one’s duty is LIFE: to live in another’s is death.” [quote from the Bhagavad Gita, a 700 verse scripture that part of the Hindi epic ‘Mahabharata’]

mural on underpass wall, construction on railway track above, along with elevated tracks being built above that

below: A GO train passes over the new elevated section of the tracks as it crosses Dupont Street. This is the Davenport Diamond Grade Separation project on the GO line to Barrie.

green and white GO train passes over new elevated section of tracks as it crosses Dupont Ave

below: Looking north from Wallace Ave (towards Dupont) at the south end of the 1.4 km of elevated track.  Although the tracks are functional, the streets and paths below are still a work in progress.

looking north from Wallace Ave along new elevated rail tracks just west of Lansdowne, construction underneath

below: (On Wallace by the new elevated tracks) A bull and a maze makes me think of the story of the Minotaur, a creature in Greek mythology with the body of a man and the head of a bull.   The maze, or labyrinth, was made for King Minos of Crete to hold the Minotaur.

mural, bull in pinks and purples, 2 large horns, ring through nose, in front of a maze, like minotaur

below: Around the corner from the bull is a mural by Emily May Rose. It faces the tracks on what is now a vacant piece of land – shall see what becomes of it.

mural by Emily May Rose on wall by new pathway on east side of elevated rail line, just south of Wallace Ave

below: An old “Stop Harper” sticker – topsy turvy but still hanging in there.  Almost as old and worn as the railing below it.

old stop harper sticker on a no parking sign, that is upside down,

The “Strength in Numbers” mural at the next  underpass to the west (by the West Toronto Railpath) has been tagged over.    The link leads to a blog post from July 2016 if you are interested in what it looked like when it was newer.

white words written on a red brick wall Jesus, blesses, immanuel, also a white cross

below: Dovercourt signs with a maple leaf in the center.  “Since 1985” refers to the founding of Dovercourt Village which is south of Dupont to Bloor between Christie on the east side and Dufferin on the west.

two Toronto street signs, both with Dovercourt top parts, Hallam st and Salem Ave

below: Alley infill – a tiny house!

small house in an alley, alley infill housing, or a large shed

and other small houses too.

two narrow bungalows side by side, 2 dark cars parked on street in front of the houses

below: Santo Antonio Coin Laundry

Santo Antonio Laundromat

a woman stands beside a store, in window of store is a yellow sign that says come in and try our delicious hot veal sandwiches

 

below: The red brick building was built in 1909 and it’s shape suggests that it was once a store.   Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, these stores were very popular and could be found in most neighbourhoods.   With changing lifestyles (cars, larger grocery stores) and laws (only residences in residential areas) these old stores became houses. Last year Toronto City Council passed a new by-law allowing small scale retail and service businesses in residential areas.

two houses, one on right is red brick with three upper storey windows, also a large green shutter, or covering over front window, square roofline

below:Lucky Convenience Store

man unlocks his bike in front of Lucky Convenience Store

glass window in door of closed variety store, Canadian flag hanging inside some notes and posters, door frame is pink

below: St. Ephrasinia Orthodox church (American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox).

rectangular two storey grey brick building, with a small silver dome and cross on top

red, white, and blue, barber pole on a wall painted orange with primary colour dots,

white stencil graffiti on a brick wall, image of a security camera

graffiti on a wood utility pole made from a vinyl LP record

below: Development notice – what appears to be an older building with three apartments might disappear to become a three storey building with ten units.   Nice to see higher density without the ego of the developers vying to see who can build the tallest building.

three mailboxes by a door along with a blue and white development notice sign

below: Making use of the tiny yard space – melon vines covering the fence and running along the walls.

melon vines

below: Another use of a front window! Whenever I see a house like this I always wonder if there are sentimental reasons why it is those particular items that sit there.  The roses with their purple ribbon were probably important as Mary now watches over them.  But one of these ducks has a dead plant – why?  What is on your front window sill?

ornaments along the front window sill, exterior

bright red flower growing in a front yard

It’s getting close to Halloween so don’t be surprised if there are some creepy folks lurking around!

Halloween decoration on a porch, a fake man with a chainsaw

a front yard full of halloween decorations such as skeleton, ghost, hands, eyeballs

But not everyone is scary…  Fatima and the scarecrow

on a pinkish red painted brick wall, a plaque for Lady of Fatima religious icon and a little scarecrow autumn decoration

blue stencil on sidewalk, graffiti, words that say be kind to yourself

A shout out to Cats Eye Coffee where we started that day.  Also, a thanks to Nancy who was my tour guide and walking partner!

coffee cup from cats eye coffee shop on dupont

Elvis is in the alley

Posted: October 16, 2023 in alleys
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In case you’ve been wondering where Elvis Presley has been hanging out, there’s an alley in the Dovercourt area that I’d like to show you!

cutout of Elvis Presley in a shiny yellow suite, from the wait up, on a fence, in an alley

Elvis is not alone!  There are a few other bits and pieces stuck on the fence with him.  It’s not great art but I hope that it at least makes you smile!

below: A little red bowtie, most debonair.

framed in white, two mini hubcap eyes and red bowtie

below: Mini racers

miniature racing cars on a black and white track, as art, on a fence

below: Chunky beads in a black frame, strung up and hanging out

in a black frame, a red beaded chunky beads, necklace

below:  Chilis?

hanging from pink wool, little white wicker shapes, in a red frame, as art on a fence

below: Who doesn’t like a bashful little unicorn?

unicorn ears and horn with a pink rose, attached to purple board, along with closed false eye lashes to make a portrait of a unicorn, art on a fence

below: A street scene in front of a construction site.

painted streetscene on fence with construction behind

below: An image of the back of a truck on the fence, with a real truck (or maybe a large yellow bin?) on that construction site.

painting in yellow and red of the back of a truck, on fence

large construction site

in an alley, a blue rubbish bin, trash can, with black words written on it, feed me please

revisiting Ontario Place

Posted: September 26, 2023 in construction, graffiti and street art, landmarks, locations, public art, transportation, waterfront
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A story in three parts

 

There has been a lot of talk about Ontario Place in the news lately so I thought that I would take some time to explore that part of the city.

below: My walk started in Liberty Village where I discovered that others are trying to promote walking around and exploring here. If you are interested, Walk Liberty is online.  It is a fairly comprehensive guide to the history of the area.

small public space in liberty village with sign posted red liberty village walks

below: Cut into the back of this bench are the words “Is it not the reason we are here”.  This bench was designed by Jose Andres Mora was part of the Liberty Village BIA Artist Bench series from 2019.  My reason? …  Well, I was only passing by because it was a convenient place to have a cup of coffee before walking towards Ontario Place.

red metal bench with words laser cut into the back that say

below:  Comfortable shoes as we keep on walking

part of a large mural by jarus, someone wearing blue jeans and white running shoes

When I reached Atlantic Avenue I discovered that most of the south end of the street was now part of a construction site – both sides of the street have Metrolinx Ontario Line hoardings.

low rise older brick building, light industrial, with black hoardings in front, with signs advertising metrolinx ontario line,

below: The Liberty Trail is closed.  This sign was posted by Ontario Transit Group.  They are the group who are building some of the infrastructure for the Ontario Line.  There are a number of companies included in this group with the two leads being Ferrovial Construction Canada Inc., and VINCI Construction Grands Projects.  They were awarded the six billion dollar contract in Nov 2022 and if you want to see a list of what that money should buy us, the information is on an Infrastructure Ontario website (while you’re there, spot the typo!).

2 signs on a fence, one is a danger due to demolition and the other says liberty trail is closed, Second sign was posted by ontario transit group

hoardings and danger due to demolition sign around a brick structure

below: Looking north on Atlantic Avenue

looking north on Atlantic Avenue from the south end, a white car parked there, many buildings now empty with hoardings in front for metrolinx onstruction

below: The Exhibition GO station is at the south end of Atlantic Ave.  The new Ontario line will also have a station here. The ability to transfer between GO and TTC services here will impact a lot of people who commute from the western side of the GTA as they may be able to bypass Union Station.

a man with a backpack walks towards Exhibition station where there is a green and white GO train already in the station

path towards exhibition station GO line, from Atlantic Ave in Liberty Village

graffiti on metrolinx ontario line hoardings that says tax $ this is a real money pit

below: From Exhibition station east towards the city centre, north side.   A new street that parallels the railway tracks is being built here.  If the plans are correct, the new street will connect Strachan Ave in the east with Dufferin St in the west.

cn tower in the distance, metrolinx ontario line construction at atlantic avenue in the foreground

below: Construction on the north side of the tracks at Exhibition station where a new concourse area is being built above the tracks

construction on north side of GO tracks at Exhibition station

below: Looking eastward from the south side

looking eastward along the north side of the GO tracks from Exhibition station, looking towards downtown

After walking through the tunnel under the tracks at Exhibition GO station, you emerge under the Gardiner Expressway, right beside the Exhibition  grounds.  …. And so begins Part 2.   A quick note – when Metrolinx describes Exhibition station on the Ontario Line, they usually add “Ontario Place” to it, i.e. it’s Exhibition/Ontario Place station.

green and white GO transit sign for exhibition station rises high beside the Gardiner expressway

The first building that you encounter on the south side is the Horse Palace

below: South entrance of the Horse Palace.  Three levels of government contributed to the construction of this building which opened in 1931.  It is two storeys high and covers 4 acres.  Originally it accommodated 1200 horses.  Today it is home to Toronto’s mounted police unit.

stone work at entrance of horse palace at exhibition grounds

below: Horse in the art deco style, carved in the limestone facade of the Horse Palace.

art deco bas relief in stone on horse palace at the CNE grounds, a horse with one front hoof raised

In August it is busy here as it is the home of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) but September is another story!  I didn’t see many people as I wandered around.  The buildings are locked up tight.

CN Tower innackground, horse palace on the left, parking lot in front

One of the dominant features of the area is BMO field which was built as a large soccer stadium.  In 2016 it also became the home of the Toronto Argonauts, the other Toronto football team.

interior of BMO soccer field, red seating, large awning over seats, green grass on field

below: Mural above the entrance, gate 6 BMO Field. This mural can be difficult to see from outside because it is behind a window. It confused me at first because why is there a hockey themed picture at BMO field? – they don’t play hockey here. As I was trying to get a closer look at it from outside, a group of men walked past and one of them asked me if I needed help…. here’s the story:  Once upon a time the Hockey Hall of Fame was here. When the building was demolished in 2006 to make way for the soccer field, portions of it were retained including the entrance and this mural,  “Face Off” by Ronald Satok.

hockey theme mural over entrance gate at BMO Field

below: The Hockey Hall of Fame building (1961-1993) at the Exhibition.  The mural is behind the glass in the entrance way.

vintage photo of the front of the hockey hall of fame at the exhibition grounds in the 1970s

below: Also at BMO Field is a Wall of Honour commemorating iconic moments and MLS Honours (e.g. coach of the year, MVP players, etc).  Red and white are the colours of Toronto FC (Football Club) whose home is here at BMO stadium.   Note: (MLS = Maple Leaf Sports, owners of the Toronto FC  )

wall of honour at BMO field, a red wall with plaques commemorating different players and events

After WW2, the popularity of the CNE was booming and more modern spaces were needed.  The Hockey Hall of Fame building was a great success so the Food Building (1954), followed by the Queen Elizabeth Building (1957), and the Better Living Centre (1962) resulted.  These buildings still stand.  All were very modern buildings for their time.

below: Food Building

low rise horizontal building with food written in large letters above the glass entrance

below: Queen Elizabeth Building

Queen Elizabeth building on the CNE grounds

below: Better Living Centre, symmetry of the side entrances.  In the 1960s this building housed exhibits during the CNE that featured different rooms decorated with the latest trends and gadgets… like colour TVs! and other consumer goods.

side entrance of better living building

below: Front entrance with its wide stairs leading to the doors as well as one of its curved walls

front entrance of better living centre at cne, low white tiles, curved wall, large staircase

below: Artwork on the roof of the Better Living Centre is a three dimensional grid of steel with different coloured plexiglass panels in some of the squares.

rectangles and squares, colours, art structure above better living building

paste up graffiti on exhibition grounds

graffiti sticker on a danger high voltage sign, exhibition grounds

We entered the Exhibition grounds by tunnel and we will leave by bridge over Lakeshore Blvd…. so to Part 3, Ontario Place

bridge to ontario place

below: Looking west from the bridge over Lakeshore Blvd

looking west along lakeshore blvd from bridge to ontario place

Ontario Place consists of three different areas, East Island, West Island, and the pods in the middle.  When Ontario Place first opened in 1971, the eastern portion was a children’s adventure playground.  Today it is Trillium Park.  I didn’t go there last week, but if you are interested, I blogged about it on two previous visits (a rainy day from June 2019, and Ontario Place 2.0 from July 2017)

The middle section of the park is where you find the “pods”, the elevated structures with water below, and the marina.

pod buildings at ontario place

The contentious part at the moment is West Island.

As far as any plan can be trusted, this is from Infrastructure Ontario, dated April 2023.    The majority of the West Island becomes covered with a 12 acre waterpark and spa to be built by an Austrian company, Therme.   The majority of that is housed in glass buildings.

map of Infrastructure Ontario's vision for ontario place

This is a conceptual drawing from Therme’s website.  That’s a lot of glass.  If you know West Island, you’ll realize that this drawing looks nothing like it.  That’s because everything is to be removed, leveled, and a lot of landfill added.

rendering of a concept of therme spa to be built on west island, from their website

Already gone is a bell, the Goh Ohn Bell.  This is the Japanese Canadian Centennial Temple Bell.   I took this picture on the 20th of Sept and by the 25th it was gone.  Despite a protest on the weekend, it was removed to storage.  The Temple Bell was installed in 1977 in a structure designed by Raymond Moriyama (1929 – Sept 2023); it was a gift to the province Japanese Canadians living in Ontario to mark the centennial of Japanese settlement in Canada.   Now it is in the way of the Therme spa.  Even though the project has not been approved, the provincial government is plowing ahead.

large metal bell in memorial structure, memorial to Japanese Canadians, marks 100 years of Japanese in Canada

large metal temple bell, Japanese Canadian , Raymond Moriyama

Some say that the West Island is under used now anyhow…..

Perhaps.  But the biggest reason for that is the neglect (negligence actually) that it’s been subjected to over the years.

graffiti on grey wall that says die slow

painting of an orange and blue fish on a white wall close to a compost garbage bin

old faded paintings on the exterior of a grey silo type structure

exterior rusted white metal stairs on the side of grey concrete building, goldenrod growing below it, some graffiti above including a black line drawn skull

Once their were restaurants here but they closed years ago.  Their ghosts remain.

below: Pizza anyone?

old pizza pizza restaurant location at ontario place. faded awning with remains of sign, overgrown,

empty structures at Ontarioplace that were used as food outlets or little stores

art exhibit from 2018 that hasn't been upgraded, defaced pictures,

Once there were amusement rides here, those ghosts too still haunt the place.

abandoned waiting area and starting place for an old amusement ride, outdoors, overgrown, neglected

below: Yellow lines to stand behind while you waited your turn for a ride.

painted on wood floor, instructions for lining up at a ride, says wait here in french and english

Once upon a time there was some attempt to make something of the place.  Then it was  abandoned and ignored.  In those quiet years the beach and paths were used by those who knew about them. It became a peaceful spot.

muskoka chairs along the top of a hill, under pine trees, overlooking lake ontario

two people sitting on the beah at ontario place, lake ontario, mississauga and western GTA in the background

Unknowns – there are many because there has been nothing transparent about any of the dealings between Therme and the provincial government.  Therme gets a 95 year lease but what are the terms?  The provincial government is going to pay for an underground (under the water table!) parking lot for 2000+ cars apparently.  They will also be responsible for all those little details that you can’t see –  like where does the water go when you flush the toilet? –  those little pesky things.  Rather than go into more detail here, I highly recommend John Lorinc’s article in Spacing magazine, Below Grade Scandal

Not everyone is happy with the plans…..

construction site, someone has written in yellow marker the words fuck doug ford

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