Posts Tagged ‘Inn on the Park’

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