Posts Tagged ‘Dupont subway station’

from Dupont to St. Clair West

Posted: November 12, 2025 in construction, graffiti and street art, locations, public art, stores, transportation
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Enter if you Dare!

halloween decorations, including hand written sign that says enter if you dare, skeletons, fake cobwebs, yellow caution tape, all behind a little white picket fence

 

A late October walk on a sunny day – starting at Dupont station which is just north of Bloor on Line 1 (That’s the University side of the Yonge-University Line for those of you who, like me,  haven’t mastered the TTC numbering system yet!).  We walked a few blocks on Dupont before going under the railway tracks to Bridgman, then took a quick turn on Albany to get to Davenport.  A short block later we were on Bathurst.   Vaughan Road veers left off Bathurst just south of Bloor.  We meandered  a bit north of Bloor before walking back to St. Clair West station.

below: A bright and sparkly flower blooms on the southbound platform of Dupont subway station.   This is one of the mosaics designed by James Sutherland in the series “Spadina Summer Under all Seasons” found around the station.

mosaic flower, very large, on the wall at track level, by platform of Dupont subway station

below: More Dupont station flowers to greet subway travelers, this time on the concourse level.


mural picture seen inside dupont subway station, concourse level, on tiles

below: Taking the escalator up inside the dome at street level.

on escalator up to surface level, dupont subway station, looking towards glass dome roof of station entrance

looking through glass doors of dupont station entrance, a woman is coming in, stores across the street

below: There is a Nick Sweetman mural of birds that wraps around the curve of a bench.

mural by Nick Sweetman, above a curved bench at Dupont station, a blue jay, nuthatch, evening grosbeck, and more

below: The curve matches that of the domed entrance to the station on the southeast corner of Dupont and Spadina.

bikes parked outside Dupont subway station, beside glass dome over entrance, beside bench with Nick Sweetman mural

elevator structure at dupont subway station

below: Casa Loma in the distance, on the hill beyond the tracks. This is the view on Spadina north of Dupont.

railway underpass on Spadina, with casa loma on a hill in the background

looking through railway underpass, traffic including school bus is stopped at a red light at dupont

below: Northeast corner of Dupont and Spadina

stores on northeast corner of spadina and dupont, pedestrians people waiting to cross at traffic light, D and D gift shop, country style, and XC Art Restoration, Subway restaurant

below: Big rounded arches, rooftop terraces in the back, and two turrets, all at the corner of St. George Street and Dupont.

large multi unti old brick residence, three storeys, two turrets

below: Looking north on St. George, towards Dupont, 1904.  Working on the street.  The house with the two turrets is already there.  The duplex on Dupont at the top of the street still exists too.

old black and white photo from 1904 of St. George street looking north to Dupont.

below: The duplex (176-178 Dupont) is difficult to see because like so many other older residences on main streets, an addition has been added to the front to facilitate a store or a restaurant.   At the moment,  176 Dupont is a Mexican restaurant, even though the says Pastrami (close enough!).

the first a in pastrami is missing, in a sign above a restaurant.

vines growing on concrete wall that has street art painting on it, side of railway underpass supports

below: Bruno Men’s Hairsylist and his quaint little sign.

Bruno mens hairstylist sign on building on spadina

below: On Dupont, east of Spadina is this mural by Catherine Cachia

mural on the side of a residential building on Dupont, big circular flowers, by Catherine Cachia

below: Cozy and euphoric.

cozy coffee and euphoria stores

below: Bete Suk, Ethiopian Coffee shop

front window of Bete Suk, Ethiopian store and coffee shop on Dupont

below: Northwest corner of Dupont and Spadina, and another domed subway entrance.

bus shelter and dome of dupont subay station entrance on northwest corner of spadina and dupont,

below: Looking west on Dupont

looking west on dupont from in front of dupont subway station, red and white TTC sign.

below: Another, much clearer, example of the transition of houses to businesses by building additions in front, are these two – Krispy Kreme and the faded Modern Laundry & Dry Cleaners.

peaks of original houses can be seen over the top of the boxy additions to the structure to make space for stores, krispy kreme donuts on one side, a dry cleaners on the other

below: West of Dupont, there are still some garages covered in street art.

 

white car parked beside a garage with a street art on the side of it.

below: This is 390 Dupont Street, part of which is now a coffee shop/vintage clothing store.  I am not sure what the history of the building is but when I tried to research it, I discovered that there is a condo development being proposed for the site.

commercial building, coffee shop on ground level

below: This is the neighbouring property, 388 Dupont.   Two years ago when I walked this stretch, there was a blue and white development notice sign in front of the building (Dupont Street Scenes).   When the application for redevelopment was first filed (2020), it was for an 11 storey building involving 374 to 388 Dupont.  By 2023 the plan had evolved to 12 storeys and now included 390 Dupont as well.  Because the site is adjacent to the CP Railway corridor, a train safety derailment wall along the entire back wall is part of the plan.

old car wash on dupont street

below:  Although there is no posted notice of planning applications for this building, it appears to be empty.  The front door is boarded up and there is a No Trespassing sign in the window.

two storey older brick building, boarded up front door, seems to be empty

below: Two years ago this building was in the early stages of construction.

new condo under construction, balconies are white, with curved ends
below: Another theme that occurs over and over again on the streets of Toronto – the jumble of different eras. Very old brick houses and new glass and steel towers mixed together along with ages in between.   The smaller older structures dwarfed by the newer ones that tower over them.

old grey house, old brick building painted bright red, new condo development, in a line along dupont street

below: The Troy Lovegates mural of 10 faces on Howland & Dupont is still there and still looking vibrant.  If you are interested, there are more images of this mural elsewhere in this blog. 

mural by Troy Lovegates at the corner of Howland and Dupont, 10 faces cover the exterior wall of Fat Pasta restaurant

 below: Running parallel to the railway tracks, and just north of them.

parking lot with tall hydro transmission tower and lines running through it

empty parking lot, with row of condos in the background

below:  The north side of the CP Railway corridor shows signs of its more industrial past.   This building with its curved glass sidelights and other small Art Deco finishes, sits empty.   Previously it was home to a plumbing company but they have moved to new quarters elsewhere in the city.

curved glass sidelights around a metal frame door, brick building, number 316, now empty

 below: Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott

Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott
Tarragon Village mural by Elicser Elliott

below: There is also this mural, just around the corner on Albany, “You are not alone”. It was painted by Julia Prajza and Bareket (bkez).  ‘You Are Not Alone Murals’ is a public mural project with over 100 murals completed.  Their goal is to “inspire artists to create murals in their communities–sparking hope, connection, and conversations about mental health.” (quote taken from their website, youarenotalonemurals.com).

mural on the front of a building, wrapped around the front door, in cursive, text says You are not alone

below: An intriguing series of photos in the windows… but I couldn’t get a closer look at them.

private property, no trespassing sign on chain link gate, in front of driveway, beside building with old pictures displayed in boarded up windows

below: A large red heart and an even larger blue spruce tree.

large blue spruce tree growing in the front yard of a house with table and chairs in the front yard, also a bench with a large red heart on it

older house with trees growing in front, front door and enclosed porch have been tagged;

in magenta, stencil graffiti that says you grow girl

below:  The paintings along the concrete wall on the west side of Bathurst have all been defaced.

front end of a white truck in view, driving past a mural painting of an orange car, mural has been tagged in large fat green and white letters

below: Another touch of Art Deco in the neighbourhood

stairs and entrance to an art deco style brick apartment building with curved corners

below: Bathurst Street houses

2 single family homes on Bathurst street

below: Playing in the playground

autumn foilage on tree at edge of playground

below: Store fronts on Bathurst

store fronts on Bathurst

Green Farms store on the corner, Bathurst Street

store fronts on Bathurst, one is empty and for lease, another is knit o matic

below: Looking north up Bathurst where Vaughan Road exits left. Vaughan Road was built in the 1920’s along an older trail that follows a now underground creek.  From here, it runs more or less diagonally north and west to its northern end at Dufferin and Eglinton.

looking north up Bathurst to where Vaughan Road veers left

below: Choice laundry in the old brick building, on Vaughan Road.

Choice coin laundry and dry cleaning, , with a young man sitting outside

below: Also on Vaughan Road, Zoomiez Doggie Daycare and Vaughan Road Pharmacy.

vaughan road pharmacy, brick building on vaughan road, beside newer building with is home to zoomiez doggie daycare

a face has been added to a hydro pole, plastic face parts nailed to the wood

below: We met a couple of strangers.  They weren’t very talkative though so we kept walking….

two life sized skeletons sitting outside with drinks in their hands

vacant lot behind black chain link fence

large apartment building in background, top of a porta potty in the foreground,

hole in the ground for condo construction, crane,

piles of supplies for construction, building materials, behind an old house

below: The gateposts on Strathearn Road mark the entrance to the former village of Forest Hill.  Forest Hill was incorporated as a village in 1923 and then annexed by the City of Toronto in 1967.

two large stone gate posts for a gate in a boulevard between two lanes of traffic

two large trees in front of a single family home, 2 storeys, both trees full of red leaves for autumn

bungalow single family home, white garage door, brickwork is checkerboard light and dark brown,

older stone house with brown wood addition, ivy covers on of the walls, stone chimney, large blue spruce tree growing beside the house

below: There is a metal plaque at each end of the Glen Cedar pedestrian bridge over the Cedarvale Ravine.  This is the one at the south end.  The text is taken from the lyrics of “Anthem”, a song by Leonard Cohen.  The first bridge here was built by Henry Pellatt (the same man responsible for Casa Loma) in 1912. It became a pedestrian bridge when it was modernized in 1989.

brass plaque embedded in the concrete of a bridge railing

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your prefect offering.
  There is a crack,
a crack in everything
it’s how the light get’s in
[and yes, the plaque has an apostrophe in gets]

glen cedar pedestrian bridge in late october when the trees were in their autumn foilage

red, range, and yelow oak leaves, autumn colours, from Glen Cedar bridge

below:  Home is where our story begins.

graffiti words on dark grey metal railing of bridge, background is path and trees below the bridge, words say "home is where our story begins"

graffiti, black drawing on white, signed, also words toxic city on drawing

large gnarly old tree beside a two storey brick house

path through a ravine with some sunlight coming down through the large trees that are on both sides of the trail,

below: At Bathurst and St. Clair – Da Best Pilipino Bakery and Deli

on Toronto education workers building, a green sign that says Da Best Pilapino Bakery and Deli

cracked concrete sidewalk, metal drain cover

below: Waiting to cross Bathurst Street

looking east on the north side of St. Clair on Bathurst

below: Looking east on the north side of St. Clair, from Bathurst.  St. Clair West subway station is just a few meters away.

looking east on the north side of St. Clair on Bathurst,, fence around a construction site

below: There was once a gas station on the northeast corner of Bathurst and St. Clair West.  Now it is a vacant lot with a few alien creatures like this one lurking about.

large digger on construction site, with glass and steel condos in the background

passenger in a white truck, window down, elbow out, as it drives around a corner

plastic halloween decorations, a flying orange ghostly creature with a black witch's hat on

below: Happy Hallowe’en pumpkins!  The frog’s not so certain though.

two jack o lantern pumpkins for halloween decorations, on a front porch

 

With thanks to Nancy who walked with me that day.