Posts Tagged ‘Empire Sandy’

a blustery winter day

Posted: January 23, 2024 in locations, public art, reflections, waterfront
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Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum

below: A Porter flight approaches the island airport

porter airplane coming in for landing over Lake Ontario, with small dock in foreground

below: The Empire Sandy moored at the waterfront, with the Toronto fire boat in the distance.

the Empire Sandy, a three masted sailing ship moored at a dock at Toronto Harbour, in winter, foggy grey day

ice and reflections on the water, with ropes from a boat with snow and ice on them

“Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily

And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it’s rather safe to say

That it seems that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today”

as sung by Winnie the Pooh

windows on a boat with snow on them, ropes,

below: A kraken is taking over the boat!

picture of an octopus painted on the side of a red and black boat that is tied up at the shore

below: A large photograph, on the south wall of the Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is  “These Times 2019” by Anique Jordan which has been on display since the CONTACT Photography Festival last spring.

large black and white photo displayed on exterior wall of art gallery, person lying down with back to the camera

below: “Kuumba”, Photography by Stephen Tayo is on display outside at Harbourfront

large photograph displayed outside, two Black men, one has his arm around the other

harbourfront parking pavilion and entrance building with two large photographs by Nigerian Stephen Tayo featuring black men, and black hair

large photo of two Black women with their hair in curved shapes made from braids, displayed outside in winter, Queens Quay, Ontario Square

below:  Also at Harbourfront, orange ties blowing in the wind.  These are remains, and a reminder, of Orange Shirt Day on 30th September.

2 rows of orange ties hanging from tress, winter, snow covered ground, in a park

CN Tower between two condos

below:  Looking east on Harbour Street, parallel to the Gardiner Expressway, toward York Street and the wedged shaped building that has been squeezed into the space.

wedged shaped building at York and Gardiner Expressway

below: Waterfront ReConnect: Pixel Story is a “temporary creative intervention” located under the Gardiner Expressway at Lower Simcoe.  Crowd-sourced stories and memories of the waterfront each on a little blue square.  Making constructive use of a space that has been neglected for so long; adding colour and interest to what was grey and slightly foreboding.

under the Gardiner, pillars painted blue and purple

blue squares arranged in a grid as part of a public art installation. some squares have simple white pictures and some squares have words written in white

“Railways arrived on Toronto’s waterfront in the 1850s. To accommodate, a southward extension of the shoreline via infill was required. The ground where we stand now is close to the original shoreline of the lake.”

construction beside the Gardiner expressway, raised road, winter,

below:  On the north side of the Gardiner – still a little darkness lurking there.

under a Gardiner expressway ramp

below: City of Toronto sign says Tree Protection Zone.  I don’t think that I believe it.

City of Toronto tree protection zone sign on a fence around a construction supply site. no trees there, under the Gardiner Expressway

walking beside a Gardiner Expressway ramp, near York street, north side

concrete bent pillar under the gardiner painted blue with the work york, for york street,

glass structure south of the Gardiner on York

looking into entrance of 12 York, reflections in the glass

below: At this point I had had enough of the cold; it was time to check out a warmer route!  So underground I went, down into the PATH system.   The lobby of ICE at 12 York has this large circular skylight over the escalator.

skylight in roof over escalator to PATH system in ICE condos

 below: And then there is this long black, white, and chrome tunnel that connects the ICE condo and the PATH system.   The walls on both sides are reflective and it’s a bit disorientating.  Is this supposed to represent walking through a block of ice, or black ice?

tunnel from Ice Condos at 12 York to the PATH system, black and white and reflective surfaces

below: PATH, the underground rabbit warren of tunnels that connect downtown buildings to each other.  Usually I get lost down here.

on a white wall, PATH sign,

below: I found myself in a grocery store

view of shelves in grocery store

below: And I discovered that the PATH sometimes goes high, not low.  I found myself on the upper level of the Scotiabank Arena.

a man walks through the PATH system on the upper level of scotiabank arena, interior

below: There is a great view of Legends Row from up here – that’s the statues of all the Maple Leaf Captains from the past.

looking out window of scotiabank arena and seeing legends row, the line up of statues of former Maple Leafs captains

below: And inside, a collage of Leaf players hangs on the wall.

collage of Maple Leafs hockey players, framed picture on wall

below: There’s even a portrait of Justin Bieber, behind glass, wearing a Maple Leaf jersey with a Captains C on the shoulder.

framed picture of Justin Bieber in a Maple LEafs jersey, blue, with a C,

below: This is also good vantage point for all of Maple Leaf Square

Maple leaf square view towards union station with royal york hotel in background, snowy, grey day,

below: Including a close up view of the rusty metal things…  Actually it’s “Search Light, Star Light, Spot Light” (1998) by John McEwen.

rusty metal conical shapes, art, maple leaf square, metal has star shaped holes and are lit from inside

At Scotiabank Arena, the PATH splits into two possibilities.  One route is through Union Station and the other is up the escalator towards the new GO Bus Terminal.

below: Four  (or five?) John Tavares’s to give directions to the new GO Bus Terminal.  Happy to oblige!

Picture of Maple Leafs captain John Tavares in quadruplicate, in uniform and helmet, photo on the wall behind a sign giving directions to the new GO bus station

below: There is now a pedestrian bridge over Bay Street that connects the Scotiabank Arena and Union Station Bus Terminal to the new CIBC SQUARE building. This is the view looking south on Bay

view south on Bay street from pedestrian bridge south of railway tracks that joins union station to cibc square

man using phone to take picture out a window from pedestrian bridge, another person watching him as he walks past

below: Along the north wall of the bridge is a work by Nicolas Baier called “Mycelium”.  It is a network of LED lights and it is visible from outside as well.

elevated enclosed walkway over street, with one wall made of glass with artwotk of LED lights running through it

reflection in mirrored glass with a network of L E D lights running through it

below: At CIBC Square there is a new rooftop garden/park that has a tall  skinny metallic tree, along with some real trees. There is no access to it yet but it will probably  be a more welcoming in a few months.

rooftop park, closed for winter and construction, cibc square

At this point I retraced my steps back through Scotiabank and then walked through Union Station where I learned that a small space has been set aside for a temporary roller skating rink.  Free rentals. Free entry.

two women roller skating, one has fallen and the other is helping her up

below: He still stands outside Union Station with the flock of birds flying around while the sun reflects off the gold tinted Royal Bank Building.

sculpture outside union station, man with birds flying around him in partial sphere shape, gold coloured rbc building behind him

below: Steamy Yonge Street on a cold day

Yonge street looking north at king on a cold winter day, steam coming from manhole, steam and fog above the street too

below: Development notice outside 69 Yonge Street.

blue and white city of toronto development notice outside door of 60 yonge street, orange and black traffic construction cones in front of the building

below: C’est tout. Fini. Time to go home.

a man stands on the platform at king subay station, talking on his phone

 

rainy day walk by the waterfront

Posted: June 30, 2019 in nature, reflections, waterfront
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This has been a wet spring along the waterfront.  Lake Ontario has been at its highest level in years.   Earlier, I had posted some photos that I took of Woodbine, Kew and Balmy beaches and the high water levels there (blog post, “water logged”).  The other day I visited the beaches and walkways at the other end of the city’s waterfront, from H2O beach to Ontario Place.

below: Flooding at H2O Beach

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas, lifesaving ring and ladder are no longer at the shore but quite a ways out in the lake

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas, dark skies in the distance as a storm approaches

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas

below: All that water makes for some colourful reflections!

Toronto waterfront showing flooding at H 2 O park with its Muskoka chairs and yellow umbrellas, many colourful reflections in the flood waters

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

Canada Malting Company old concrete silos on Toronto Waterfront, la large boat docked near the foreground, dark skies over Lake Ontario as a storm approaches

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

the Empire Sandy, a three mast sailing ship, docked along side a small tugboat, the M. S. Kane. on a grey wet day

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

The WIlliam Lyon McKenzie, a bright red fire boat is docked at Toronto waterfront, city skyline behind the boat with tall condos, also dark storm clouds

below: Queens Quay at Spadina, looking west

looking west on Queens Quay at Spadina, streetcar tracks, street, trafiic, pedestrian on sidewalk, TTC street car approaching, Starbucks on the corner, low rise buildings in the background

below: A streetcar starts to head north on Spadina

a new TTC streetcar starts to head north on Spadina, just south of the Gardiner and large condos

below: Playing basketball in the rain.

four boys playing basketball on a green and brown court, in the rain,

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

an old blue canoe is used as a planter in a park

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

looking east along Queens Quay West from the very western end of the ctreet towards the CN Tower and downtown. Lowrise residential units on either side of the street, bike lane, small trees, wet, raining

reflections of sailboats and their masts in Lake Ontario, boats are parked at a yacht club

a lone red Muskoka chair sits on an angle in a small grassy patch between a fence and a path, looks out over a yacht club

below: Lots of big puddles at Coronation Park

flooded pathway, large puddles, along shoreline at Coronation Park, boats in the background

flooded driveway and entrance to underground parking,

below: Yellow flowerpot islands

two large light green flower pots sit on concrete pedestals, in the water, orange cones in the water, shoreline is flooded, some sailboats docked in the background

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

sailboats moored out in Lake Ontario, in the foreground is a metal railing with a string of Canadian flags tied to it

four white sailboats moored in the water, Lake Ontario, with their main sails wrapped up and put away, calm water but grey skies

a large bird sits on a yellow sign out in the waters of Lake Ontario, an orange (or red) light sits on a concrete pedestal beside it

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

In the background is the Toronto skyline from Trillium Park, from the green trees of Coronation Park on the left and past the CN Tower and tall city center buildings, to the National Yacht Club and then Billy Bishop airport on the far left. In the foreground is an orange lifesaving ring and the rocks of the shoreline of the park

below: Large granite rock in Trillium Park

large chunk of granite in a park, black patches with streaks of pink and grey

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

a large screen plays a TSN show, outdoors, Ontario Place, white chairs but no one is there

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

flooding at Ontario Place

flooding at Ontario Place, empty building surrounded by water, boats, cinesphere dome

flooding at Ontario place, orange sandbags and a fence that is partially submerged in the water

scaffolding holds lights for a show at Ontario Place, in the distance is the CN Tower.

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

By Lake Ontario, a group of white Muskoka chairs in long grass with a lot of Canada Geese standing around them, metal barricades behind chairs and trees behind that

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

shoreline of Ontario Place, looking west over Lake Ontario to Etobicoke and Mississauga

on the northwest corner of Ontario Place, gate across path because of flooding, a swan in the water, the wind turbine on the CNE grounds in the distance

elevated buildings of Ontario Place over the water

below: There was also flooding on Lakeshore Blvd.

traffic on Lakeshore Blvd plows through the water and creates great splashes of water, road is partially flooded

a white truck with three men in the cab on Lakeshore Blvd plows through the water and creates great splashes of water, road is partially flooded

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

CNE parking lot, empty except for one white car, large puddles with reflections, and the city in the background, CN TOwer, tall buildings,

abstract in blues, made by close up of reflections and ripples in the water