Posts Tagged ‘Eglinton’

searching for the end of the trail

Posted: December 5, 2024 in construction, history, locations, nature, transportation
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… but finding many other things instead.

This is a follow-up to my last post about the Don Mills trail.  Remember that I mentioned that it came to a dead end just north of Eglinton?  I thought that surely someone somewhere in the city government would have looked into options re connecting the Don Mills trail to a street or another multi-use path.  The dead end is just east of Leslie, so off I went to check it out (and I wasn’t going to walk all the way to a dead end just to turn around again) .

Hey look!  There is a vacant lot at approximately where the trail ends.

cracked pavement with weeds growing up in them, vacant lot,

Did I wander back there?  Sadly not….. I didn’t have any lock cutters with me….  This was once a Sony Music building but it was demolished in 2016.  There was no development notice sign at the site (9 acres).

blue metal fence and gate, locked closed, vacant lot beyond the fence

below: This is the Sony Music (or CBS) building, built in 1959.  They don’t make them like this any more – so spread out and only one storey high.   Land must have been much cheaper back then!

older colour photo of sony music building on leslie street (demolished in 2016)

Photo credit: by Bob Krawczyk, found on ACO Toronto website (Architectural Conservancy Ontario)

When I was researching the Sony Music building online, I came across the Phoenix Centre.  That’s the name of the planned private club being developed at the old Wrigleys site next door to the now vacant lot.  If I had realized that when I was out walking, I would have taken more photos.  As it is, this is the best I’ve got:

southwest corner of old Wrigleys building on Leslie street, now OTT, low rise modern building

This building, built 1962, was included in North York’s Modernist Architecture, first published in 1997. In addition, The former Wrigley property has cultural heritage value as it is historically associated with the 1950s planning and development of Don Mills by E. P. Taylor and Don Mills Developments Ltd. (if interested, more info at ACO website).  The Phoenix Centre plan retains most of the office space architecture but completely remakes the factory space.

  There is also talk of a bridge (pedestrian & bikes?) over the CPR tracks to the Crosstown developments.   Makes sense to connect the Don Mills trail, Crosstown, and Leslie Street!

Part of the reason I didn’t take any photos of the old Wrigley building is that I had chose to walk south the day….  just south is a fire station as well as some condos.

on Leslie street, white building that is a fire station, parkland in beside it. to the south are condos, older red brick buildings plus newer glass and steel condos behind

And there is a well worn path that accesses the back of the properties.

large trees in foreground, dead leaves on the ground, autumn, new condos being built in the background, cranes,

This road doesn’t actually lead to those new condo towers.  The CPR railway tracks are in the way.  Those towers are part of the Crosstown development on the old IBM and Celestica property (access from both Eglinton & Don Mills)

long driveway, access road, with new condos under construction in the background

The road didn’t lead to the end of the Don Mills trail either… but it did lead to the back of a parking garage.  No dogs allowed and no trespassing.  No luck here.

path that runs behind beige concrete building (parking garage) with no trespassing sign)

I got a better view of the neighbourhood though….

highrise apartment buildings and condo towers

Black and white on a grey day.

two chairs, one black and one white, in a vacant lot, grassy, one tree,

As I walked back out the path, I noticed this sign.  I took it to mean the property behind the blue fence, not the property the path is on… probably?

no trespassing sign, metrus private property

It stopped munching and stared at me, trying to decide to sit and watch or to run away….  it scampered away before I could get any closer (I don’t pretend to take good pictures of animals but it looked so cute, all puffed up to stay warm).

a grey squirrel sitting on a fallen tree trunk, dead leaves on the ground, a nut or something edible between its two front paws

A very short walk farther south on Leslie brings us to the Inn on the Park site on the northeast corner of Leslie and Eglinton.

below: Inn on the Park as it once was (about 1969)  I have ‘borrowed’ this photo from another website – Jamie Bradburn’s Tales of Toronto.  Follow the link if you are interested in the story of the hotel – it’s an interesting read.  Did you know that in 1962 North York had a ban on cocktail lounges?

below: The site today. It’s now a Toyota/Lexus dealership and home to a few new condos.

old Inn on the Park site, northeast corner of Leslie and Eglinton, now a Toyota and Lexus dealership, also new condo development, still lots of green space in front

new condos being built at inn on the park site

artwork on exterior wall, solid colour shapes inside squares, 3 D, but mostly flat, shades of orange

But there are more changes coming….. (surprised?)…. more glass and steel towers by the looks of it.  The notice also states that parking is planned for 845 cars and 1860 bikes.  Does Doug Ford approve?

blue and white development notice on the corner of leslie and eglinton, with inn on the park site in background, auberge on the park condo development

sidewalk closed sign and barrier, on eglinton, northside, east of leslie

below: A sad sight, Sunnybrook Park LRT station all ready to go but no trains running. One of the Toronto mysteries, when will the Eglinton LRT open?

looking east at Sunnybrook Park LRT station on the Eglinton LRT line, no trains running yet but station is somplete, yellow barriers across the entrance

Standing by the LRT tracks and looking south. Wilket Creek park and the Thorncliffe trestle railway bridge can be seen.  I crossed the road because I had seen stairs down to the park….

looking south from the end of leslie street, across lanes of Eglinton to WIlket creek park and thorncliffe trestle railway bridge

A big new set of stairs!…. But. Not shown – the locked gate that blocked the entrance.   There is still no entry to Wilket Creek/Sunnybrook Park from this side of Eglinton.

long set of stairs downhill from eglinton to a large parking lot at wilket creek park.

looking south from Eglinton towards thorncliffe trestle bridge, wilket creek park, and ravine system,

It’s getting to be crowded….

cars traveling east on eglinton, approaching leslie, many waiting to turn left, new condo developments behind, crosstown, as well as inn on the park site

below: Crossing Eglinton and looking westward

traffic turning left from eglinton onto leslie, looking west on eglinton

New pedestrian and bike paths that provide access to the park from the north side of Eglinton have been built but they too are locked closed.  It’s very frustrating to see this infrastructure built and then left unusable.  The signs says construction danger but there doesn’t seem to be any construction happening…..

new stairs and bike path infrastructure built at leslie and eglinton that are closed, gates and signs

new stairs and bike path infrastructure built at leslie and eglinton that are closed, gates and signs

Just in case I have confused anyone, here is a map of the area that Google maps created.   Near the top left it even says Don Valley Bike Trailhead… which is very wrong.  No trailhead here of any kind as we’ve just learned.  Also it was the Don Mills trail not the Don Valley trail (the latter is somewhere else!)

google map screenshot of leslie and eglinton and vicinity

New benches! Wilket Creek Park is one section of the string of parks that parallel the branches of the Don River in Toronto’s ravine system. I’ll leave you with a few pictures that I took the other day while I was in the area…

new seating area with wood benches beside wilket creek park sign

lots of trees growing on hillside, autumn, dead leaves on the ground and none on the trees, park, railway trestle bridge in the background

path through woods beside a river, autumn, leaves on ground, small trees

view from under thorncliffe trestle railway bridge, metal girders,

last few yellow leaves on a tree, blowing in the wind

west don river as it flows under eglinton avenue

benches and picnic tables in a grassy park with many trees nearby, condos in the background

leaves in a puddle, reflections of tree branches in the water too

graffiti stickers on the back of a sign, one with Mexican flag,

graffiti on the sides of a small concrete pedestrian bridge

graffiti, large capital M with a bright pink heart

Uptown Yonge as the sun goes down

Posted: June 27, 2024 in construction, locations, old buildings, people, stores
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Were you an Edmonton Oilers fan?  Did you jump on that bandwagon?  On the night of the 7th game of the Stanley Cup playoffs were you glued to the TV?  Or are you wondering what I’m talking about?!

I usually watch hockey games now and again, especially during the playoffs but I found that watching the Edmonton-Florida series was just too stressful.  Instead, these long June evenings are great for walking!  A little bit of Yonge Street, Uptown Yonge, was my stomping grounds the evening of the last game.

banner for uptown yonge on a hydro pole, stores and new condo in the background, says eat up. street sign for st. Clements avenue as well

A few scenes from Yonge between Eglinton and Sherwood, in no particular order…

evening, coffee shop on Yonge street, also poke bar,

below: Old and new. I like the way the evening light catches the architectural details along the rooflines.

roofline, old brick buildings with architectural details in front of a newer high rise residential building

below: Playing peek-a-boo.  The new pushes from behind.

stores on Yonge street, prism hair salon, vape studio, goa hair salon,


below: Seating!

late evening, getting dark outside, looking at store front, cobbler's corner shoe repair,

ceiling art, white and green cubes with lights inside

round exterior wall of part of rio can yonge eglinton centre, short glass tower,

metal grille gate covers glass doors of now empty and closed store on yonge street

below: Northwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton, Yonge- Eglinton Centre with its updated glass facade.

yonge eglinton centre entrance

When the Yonge Eglinton Centre was built in 1968, Eglinton was the last station on the TTC subway line.  The Y-E Centre was a large development, and was the tallest building in the neighbourhood.   There was a shopping centre, a cinema, an office tower, two tall residential towers, most of which still remain.   Eglinton is no longer a gateway to suburbia; it is Midtown.  The Y-E Centre is just another tall building in a sea of them.

side of concrete building from the 1970s, Yonge Eglinton centre

tall concrete building

below: The new entrance to the Eglinton LRT (unopened of course)  with the Canadian Tire headquarters behind.  Southwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton.

southwest corner of Yonge and Eglinton, new entrance to Eglinton LRT (unopened), Canadian Tire head quarters building, 1970s concrete, new condo behind

Lament for the Eglinton LRT.  Metal fences and torn cloth.  In tatters and disarray.   Still not opened.

front glass of eglinton LRT station, behind metal construction fence and torn green cloth

stores on yonge street

sidewalk tunnel under scaffolding to protect from adjacent construction site

restaurant window, night time, sidewalk

Maybe one day I will be able to walk somewhere in this city and not run into another hole in the ground.  Note the usual – facades being saved, single houses that stubbornly remain.

construction hole in the ground

gravel roadway down into construction hole in the ground

Bus stop all tied up in knots.

TTC bus stop on yonge street behind orange and black cones and yellow caution tape

mural on the side of bmo bank on yonge, flowers, male face, female face, child face, dog, and lot lots of flowers

white car parked in front of a mural with flowers with many petals, and a woman's face

artwork on glass above subway entrance at canada square, corner of yonge and eglinton, a woman is carrying a potted plant, a man in green shirt with tattooed arm is looking at her

three plants in flower pots on a shelf in a room with a blue light, on the left is an orchid,

below: With some paparazzi stalker vibes I’m afraid.

… Back home in time for most of the third period…. Sad to see Edmonton lose, but why is there hockey this late in June?

swirling around the Science Centre

Posted: April 30, 2023 in construction, landmarks, locations, transportation
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Ontario Science centre from the south

Rumours swirling that is…. because the Ontario Science Centre has been in the news lately.  Doug Ford (and the Provincial PC’s) have said that they are going to move it from its Don Mills and Eglinton location to Ontario Place down by the Exhibition Grounds.  What then becomes of the Science Centre LRT station?  It hasn’t even opened yet and its already obsolete?  And needs a new name?  …..that’s assuming that the Eglinton Crosstown LRT ever gets done.  But hush, no one is talking about that, that’s a secret……

below: Behind fences, the new Science Centre LRT station and transit hub remains unfinished.  It is a very quiet construction site.  Not a soul to be seen.

metal construction fence in front of the science centre lrt station that is being built at Don Mills and Eglinton,

One of the arguments for moving the Science Centre is to open up the land for housing.  Let’s ring some bells and say ‘housing’.   Who can oppose housing, right?

below: This is southeast corner of Don Mills and Eglinton where a development notice stands.  Apparently two towers are planned for this location – 26 and 48 storeys high. (The Science Centre is on the west side of Don Mills Road).

In fact, on the east side of Don Mills Road, south of Eglinton (i.e. across the street from the Science Centre), there are two other properties with development notice signs.

brick townhouse row with a blue and white development notice in front, Don Mills Road, St. Dennis Drive

Four new towers, as infill, have been proposed for these sites.

brick highrise apartment building on Don Mills Road with development notice sign in front of it

AND

What is now the upper parking lot for the Science Centre is already on the books as new housing.  This is at the southwest corner of Don Mills and Eglinton.   The sign may have been flattened but that doesn’t make the plan disappear!

blue and white development notice sign lying on the ground in the shade under some trees, trash around it

below: Blocked sidewalk on the south side of Eglinton, upper parking lot is on the left side in the picture

orange signs on sidewalk saying sidewalk closed ahead

below: View looking south from the upper parking lot towards the Science Centre

view from upper parking lot of science centre which is empty, past line of tall evergreens, to lower parking lot and buildings

green exit sign with an arrow pointing to the right on which someone has written there's no, sign now says there's no exit

AND (Yes, there’s more)

There is a 60 acre development on the northwest corner of Don Mills and Eglinton (the old IBM/Celestica site) that is in the midst of being transformed into the Crosstown neighbourhood.

new construction at Aspenridge crosstown development

below:  This is a picture that I found (and have blatantly swiped from) on an Urban Toronto web page – It shows the development and infill at Flemingdon Park  among the existing structures. The planned buildings are slightly transparent – perhaps 14 of them?? (and that doesn’t include all of Crosstown)  The Science Centre is bottom centre.

image taken from urban toronto site showing development at Don Mills an Eglinton

So which developer whispered sweet nothings in Doug Ford’s ear?

Who thought that moving the Science Centre was a good idea?

Who owns the land now? Did you know that 81 acres of the land that the Science Centre is on is owned by the TRCA?  That’s the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority.  The rest of the land (a tiny sliver along Eglinton & Don Mills) is owned by the city of Toronto.  TRCA  and the City of Toronto jointly leased the property to the Ontario Science Centre for a 99-year term, expiring on June 30, 2064.

The TRCA owns the land because of the terrain – steep slopes, ravines, and waterways – i.e. not land suitable for housing.  Doug Ford’s announcement came as a surprise to the TRCA – but does that surprise anyone?

below: Another image that I found online that describes the area better than any words that I could write.  This is a map of the area showing who owns what.  Source: TRCA website

map of Don Mills and Eglinton showing ownership of the land by TRCA and city of toronto

BUT

What else is happening here?

The new subway/LRT line, the Ontario Line, Doug Ford’s favorite line, is also being built here.  It is the transit line that runs south from the Science Centre to close to the lakeshore before turning west through downtown (Queen Street closed for 4 years for construction!!) and ending at Ontario Place.

Work has already started in the ravine south of the Science Centre where there will be stops for both Flemingdon Park and Thorncliffe Park.  The whole north section of the Ontario Line will be elevated.  Between the Science Centre and Flemingdon stations it will run above the street and sidewalk (Don Mills Rd).  At some point between Flemingdon and Thorncliffe Park there will have to be a bridge over the West Don River.

pink sign on construction fence in park that is for Ontario line, transit construction

signs around a construction site, ravine erosion mitigation work, as well as drilling for new subway line

below: Where the Science Centre meets the West Don Trail

two men walk across the grass where the West Don Trail meets the Science Centre south entrance, spring, green grass, some buds on trees

Some other photos from the area

science centre exterior

view from entrance of science centre, curved outdoor stairs, apartment building in background

below: The Science Centre has interesting trash bins on its grounds.  Maybe they could teach the city a thing or two?

trash bin, metal, with colourful picture on the side

Ontario Science Centre banner on a pole on Don Mills Road with traffic and larger buildings in the background

below: West side of Don Mills Road

west side of Don Mills Road at Eglinton, new glass covered building on north side is partially completed, new science centre station entrance behind metal fence on south side

below: The southwest entrance to the Science Centre station from another angle

new entrance to Science Centre LRT station at Eglinton and Don Mills

below: Looking west on Eglinton towards Don Mills

looking east on Eglinton Ave towards Don Mills Road and new science centre station on the south side

below: Walking home after school

a small group of boys walking along the grass beside Eglinton Ave on the east side of Don Mills

It was four years ago that demolition of the old IBM buildings began.  On the surface it doesn’t look like much is happening.

fence, dirt, and weeds in front of crosstown redevelopment

construction site, steel girders slightly rusted upright into the ground, some water puddles, sand and dirt, start of a new street

construction site

Crosstown neighbourhood construction site

people waiting for traffic light to turn green at corner of Don Mills and Eglinton, two young women and an Asian woman with a black and white umbrella

Out of Service.  Nothing happening here.

sign that says out of service

Sorry, but I have a few more questions and comments about this thing I encountered at Don Mills & Eglinton ….

What is this?  A phallic rock in a concrete circle …. or Doug Ford giving the city the finger?  To those who design and build public art (if that’s what it is)…. that concrete circle is just a large garbage can.  It will collect trash.  It will fill with rain water.  It will be an unsightly mess.  It’s too low for a bench and it blocks the sidewalk.  There’s no sign and no explanation.  I can’t find anything about it online either.

a rock pillar stands upright, in the center of a concrete circle

on a mission to Kennedy station

Posted: June 5, 2021 in locations, transportation
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Sometimes I choose my walks randomly and sometimes I am on a mission to find something in particular. The other day, June 1st, definitely falls in the latter category. I have been following the Crosstown LRT/subway construction so when I heard that the new LRT trains were arriving for testing near Kennedy I knew that I had to see it for myself. While I was there, why not check out the area?

below: On Eglinton, east of Kennedy

looking across the street, Eglinton Ave., at Yal market, an asian store, small tree on close side of the street, low rise apartment building behind the market

apartment buildings on north side of Eglinton, Town Haven place and traffic sign directions to parts of Eglinton not on the hill bridge

below: It’s not the most pedestrian friendly stretch of road but it’s also a bridge over railway tracks.

light traffic on a hill with maximum 50 sign , guardrail, hydro poles beyond,

below: Kennedy station is already a GO train station. The east end of line 2 (Bloor-Danforth line) swings north as it crosses Scarborough. By Kennedy it is at Eglinton Ave and here it connects with the above ground TTC line 3 (Sheppard line). The blue train is the latter.

a GO train and a blue TTC subway train head north on tracks, photo taken from the bridge above

below: Looking west towards the intersection of Kennedy and Eglinton.

view along Eglinton westward towards Kennedy Road, wide street, hydro poles, low rise development, lots of black and orange construction cones

below: Northwest corner of Kennedy and Eglinton

Shell service station, gas station, and other businesses on the north side of Eglinton including a car wash, a dentist office, two storey development

astrologer and palm reader ad as a crooked sign on a post near intersection, cars, businesses behind. also a sign that says no left turn from eglinton onto birchmount starting November 13

below:  The Crosstown LRT tracks are on the surface for
most of the Scarborough portion of its route. Just west of Kennedy station they go underground.

looking along new rail tracks for Crosstown LRT as they go underground just west of Kennedy station, traffic on both sides of the tracks

a workman sits on the sidewalk as he works with underground cables at construction site for new LRT on Eglinton

sign saying crosstown LRT testing is starting soon, caution, overhead lines are energized, on street near near new LRT train

below: A new LRT train on the tracks between Ionview and Kennedy stations.  It had been unloaded from a truck minutes before I arrived.  At least two other trains where scheduled to arrive that day.

police cars and other cars parked in left lane of traffic, along side new LRT train

One end of a new TTC LRT train with workmen in yellow and orange safety vests

below: Ionview station

New Ionview LRT station with its protected areas, like a bus shelter, at surface level, between the lanes of traffic on Eglinton, apartment buildings in the background

below: Traffic flow

people walking on edge of road that has been separated from traffic by yellow plastic dividers, through construction zone, a mother and her children

below: That’s one way to use a construction sign. Whether Mike is responsible or has been pranked is anybody’s guess

old overhead light standard in an empty parking lot in front of a boarded up strip mall with Adult store, hair garden, smoke shop, nails spa and ali baba restaurant

below: The new Kennedy LRT station (at the eastern end of the line) is almost complete. The LRT is scheduled to be operational “sometime in 2022”.

as seen from between two cars, the new Kennedy LRT station under construction

the new Kennedy LRT station under construction

below: What people keep on their dashboards…..

2 hard hats inside a car. Both yellow. One says Heaven is real Hellfire is Real. and the other says Remember Jesus died for me and you

below: Kiss ‘n Ride at Kennedy station

below: TTC subway train, line 3, enters Kennedy station.

blue TTC sheppard line subway train enters Kennedy station after going up the curved concrete ramp

below: Danger due to yetis

two keys on a ribbon have been tied to a street sign that says notice vehicles are subject to removal at owners expense

below: Parking for an underground church? Or underground parking for a church?

sign with an arrow pointing straight ahead and words that say underground church parking

Keep Smiling!

picture of a large tooth with a big red lips and shiny white teeth holding a blue banner that says we'll make you smile

EMSF walk about

Posted: May 27, 2019 in events, transportation
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Open Doors was this past weekend in Toronto.  For one day only, the new maintenance facility for the Eglinton Crosstown in Mt Dennis was open to the public, the EMSF (Eglinton Maintenace and Storage Facility). Although the new trains (aka light rail vehicles) are very much like the new TTC streetcars and the new maintenance buildings resemble the Leslie Barns, here are a few glimpses of what is to come.

below: The parking lot and pedestrian access to the EMSF is off Industry Street.

bus shelter at Bertal Rd near the new facility, barbed wire fence around the building, grass and weeds around the shelter

below: Exterior of new Crosstown light rail vehicle. Six new vehicles have been delivered from Bombardier so far.  Another seventy are expected to arrive before the Crosstown opens in 2021.

inside the new maintance building, a new grey, black and white crosstown train on display, people walking past it and taking pictures

below: Interior, looking towards the front.

a few people talking at the front of new Crosstown train, from farther back in the train.

below: The AVIS facility – Automated Vehicle Inspection Station

the AVIS building at the new eglinton crosstown buildings, AVIS means, automated vehicle inspection station. It is a covering over tracks that the trains can pull into

below:  Looking into the maintenance building.

people standing outside the open door of the crosstown facility, can look inside

inside the new train maintenance building with three levels of access to the trains,

the front end of two trains parked inside, with work areas under the trains for maintenance

below: The site takes up 42 acres of land.   There are 8.5 kms of track.

streetcar tracks and overhead wires

exterior of new crosstown maintenance facility with double grey stripes, a doorway with many warning signs.

Not shown: There is also a building for Transit Operations.

International Market

Posted: October 19, 2017 in construction, old buildings, stores, transportation, windows and walls
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International Market in this case refers to an area in Toronto, approximately around the intersection of Dufferin and Eglinton West.

street sins on a pole, a one way sign, plus two signs with street names, Belgravia Ave and Dufferin Street, both with orange tops that have the words International Market

There is definitely a diverse (as in multicultural) feel to the area

below: … such as Jamall, Carribean Custom Tailor

older building, with some green around the doors, sign says Jamall Carribean

below:  and the Lady Ann Superstore African Boutique with the adjacent Centro Cultural Latino American.

storefront, Lady Ann Superstore African Boutique with a mannequin, child size, on the sidewalk outside dressed in red African style clothes.

Because Eglinton Avenue runs through the area….

 

street scene on Eglinton Ave with bus shelter, utility pole, street signs, stores, and billboard

there is a lot of upheaval caused by construction of the Eglinton Crosstown line.

wire fence in front of a construction site, lots of dirt, street and buildings in the background.

below: Completion of the subway/LRT isn’t scheduled until 2021.  That seems like a long way off doesn’t it?

a surveyor at work, behind construction fence and cones and in front of stores, Chamsine, and Shantys take-out, which are two storey brick buildings

below: A subway station is being built at Oakwood Avenue.   Because the space is too small for a conventional crane like the ones you see all over the city, this green horizontal structure is being used instead.  It is supported by the metal beams and can slide along the top rail.

a large horizontal crane stretches over a vacant lot where a subway station is being built

below: Rendering of Oakwood station that I found on the Eglinton Crosstown website.

drawing of Oakwood Crosstown station, design plans, taken from Crosstown website.

below: Immediately south of Eglinton is a small lane, Reggae Lane.  Welcome to Reggae Lane was the second mural painted here.  You can see the original Reggae Lane mural in the background.  I blogged about it when it was first painted two years ago.

view looking down an alley, cars parked behind buildings, two murals, Welcome to Reggae Lane,

below: Some of the concrete planters on Eglinton have old black and white photos on the sides.  This was an Art Starts project.

a small tree grows in a concrete planter in front of a grocery store

below: The pictures are small and difficult to see but they are historical photos of the area – stores, people, parks, etc.

small, old black and white photos reproduced and mounted on the side of a concrete planter outside

below:  One of many restaurants on Eglinton, the Budapest Restaurant and Biguly Bar, obviously Hungarian.

a car parked in front a Hungarian restaurant, the Budapest

below: There is also Uzbek cuisine, the Taj Restaurant.   Uzbekistan is one of the “stans” found in central Asia (near Afghanistan) that gained independence from the former Soviet Union 25 years ago.

a blue food truck is parked in front of the Taj Restaurant, an Uzbek restaurant

below: A yellow phone booth?

a public phone, small yellow phone booth mounted on a blue brick wall

below: Faded memories of years gone by.

looking in the window of a store that sells photo frames and such, an old TV sits in the window too. The pictures are all faded to shades of blue and purple

below: The Popular Car Wash – a great price for a car wash.

an old sign for popular car wah, $5.99 in front of a gas station

I’ll leave you with a few more images of the area.  It’s seen better times but it was an interesting place to walk around.   There are signs of improvement – and we’ll see what impact the subway has once it’s finally finished.

street scene with construction cones and signs, some traffic, sidewalk, pedestrians, and stores,

a window of an empty store that is covered with posters

5 black mailboxes arranged vertically in a row between two doors.

three storey brick building with stores on the ground level, traffic in front,

open door of an electronics store, with some speakers and other electronics on display outside too

looking across Eglinton Avenue to some stores, construction traffic cones in front,

a walk on Eglinton

Posted: November 23, 2015 in general Toronto, history, locations, transportation
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The plan was to start walking westward from Eglinton subway station.

below:  The first photo I took was right after I got off a bus at the station.   With the ongoing reconstruction at Eglinton, there is now easy access to the old bus bays.  There is still a fence around them, but at least they can be seen and photographed.  These bays have not been used since 2004 and the area has been fenced off and unused since then.  Now they sit empty in the shadow of the ever increasing tall buildings around them.

abandoned bus bays at Eglinton subway station in the foreground and the newer taller buildings in the area in the background

abandoned part of Eglinton subway station, behind chain link fence

below: Looking west along Eglinton Avenue after the completion of Eglinton station in 1954.  The street running north-south just beyond the bus bays is Duplex Avenue.  There is now a police station on the SE corner of that intersection.   On the NW corner you can see the brick Toronto Hydro-Electric Building with its large front ‘door’.  It is still there.

historical black and white photo, aerial, from Yonge Street looking west along Eglinton Ave showing the bus bays at Eglinton subway station, up to Duplex Ave is shown clearly.

source: City of Toronto Archives, online

.

below: (taken later in the afternoon, on the way home) The intersection of Eglinton and Duplex from west side with the brick Toronto Hydro-Electric building now between glass buildings.

looking east along Eglinton Avenue towards Yonge street with Duplex Ave in the foreground. The old Toronto Hydro-Electric building is in the picture, with a newer structure with a glass front beside it. New buildings between Duplex and Yonge on the north side of Eglinton are also in the picture.

below: After leaving Eglinton station, this caught my eye.  The glass cube-like building on the NE corner of Eglinton and Duplex reflects the afternoon sun onto the walls of the Toronto Hydro-Electric building across the street.

brick building with wavy shadows on it cast by the sun being reflected off the glass building across the street

brick building with wavy shadows on it cast by the sun being reflected off the glass building across the street

below: On Duplex, right behind this brick building is an intriguing building.  The highly textured concrete exterior and the 3D patterned wall are suggestive of the 1960s although I could be wrong.  It’s ugly yet fascinating at the same time.   Now that the leaves have fallen from the trees in front of it, the pattern of trapezoids, diamonds and rectangles is revealed…. as is the dirt and grime on the concrete.  The fact that there are no windows and doors facing the street provides a clue that this is yet another Toronto Hydro building.

Three tree with no leaves are in front of a concrete wall that is built in 3D pattern of trapezoids and rectangles. There are no windows or doors.

Somethings old

below: A sign with an old Toronto HU (Hudson) exchange phone number.  HU1 would be 481.  This number is probably from the late 1950s.  In the early days, Toronto phone numbers had only 6 digits.  In the mid 1950s a seventh digit was added and then between 1961 and 1966 the letter prefixes were phased out, replaced by numbers.

old sign on the side of an small apartment building, the Latimer Apartments, with an old Toronto phone number starting with the letters HU

below:  The Eglinton Grand, art deco building from 1936; National Historic site since 2003.

The Eglinton Grand, a cinema theatre built in art deco style in 1936.

 Somethings new

many curved and disjointed reflections of buildings in a tall glass building. Afternoon sun so there's a yellowish tint to the reflections

 And some window ‘shopping’ to do

below: Marbles wedged between glass make an excellent decorative touch.

a layer of marbles wedged into a window to look a bit like stained glass

A line of toy figurines on a window sill in the window of a restaurant

below: little Japanese wooden dolls in the window of the Sake Bar

three little Japanese wooden dolls with white hair and white kimonos standing inside a window. Reflections of the stores across the street are behind them.

below:  And even a lovebot hangs out here

a 3D concrete lovebot stands on the sidewalk beside a store as people walk by

below:  A little chuckle at this sign….

I small sign hanging over a doorway of a hot dog restaurant called Bite Me

below:  And then later I saw this.

A sign on the wall outside a store that says Bite Me More

sticker on a pole on a sidewalk. One man is kicking another, pixelated picture, with the letters X G G L on it.

Rather than wait for a bus I decided to keep walking home but unfortunately it’s that time of year when the daylight hours are just too short.   One last look at where I had just been before putting my camera away and heading home.

very late afternoon sun, as it disappears behind buildings, looking down a street, sun is reflecting off some windows, a large part of the street is in shadow, a TTC is there, with its lights on, some construction on the street, some cars,