Posts Tagged ‘Joseph Lammirato’

walking River Street, mostly

Posted: August 20, 2024 in alleys, construction, graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Nigel smith sign, multi coloured, with text wish you were here

The general plan was to walk River Street.   River Street runs parallel to the Don River (makes sense!) on the west side with the north end of the street just above of Gerrard.   Transit on River Street is limited (is there any?) so I started the walk at Broadview and Gerrard, just to the east of River Street.

below:  At the corner of Broadview and Gerrard is the Roman Coliseum mural that was painted in 2016 as part of ‘Around the World in East Chinatown’.  It was one of seven murals and all of them were featured in a blog post back when they were new (seven new murals, August 2016)

intersection of Broadview and Gerrard, south side, with Boba Boy on one corner and A and W on the other, street car wires overhead, street art on the walls, image of roman coliseum

gerrard, at broadview, southwest side, bus shelter, brick building with street art on it

below: Chinatown East mural by ACK crew, bacon, wunder, tensoe 2, and cruz1, on Gerrard east of Broadview.  Chinatown East is generally Gerrard east of Broadview, but we’re going to walk west today and leave Chinatown for another day.

chinese style gate on gerrard, as entrance to Chinatown East, mural with Chinese theme in the background

below: A long vacant lot on Gerrard.

fence around vacant lot beside a brick house, no trespassing sign on fence

below: Munro Street, south of Gerrard

Munro street, at Gerrard, houses, brick, trees, street scene

below: On the north side is the site of the old Don Jail and its Governor’s House.

many yellow flowers in the garden in front of the Governor's House, with plaque in the garden

Governor’s House,1888, From 1888 until 1968, this was the residence of the Don Jail’s governor (chief administrator).  Until this house was finished, the governor lived in an apartment in the central administration block of the jail.  Designed by architect Mancel Wilmot, this house features a shallow pitched roof with a front-facing gable and double-height bay window that are typical of Toronto’s late 19th century residential architecture.

below: Bridgepoint and the old Don Jail with the red brick steeple of  St. Johns Presbyterian church on Broadview in the distance.  Bridgepoint Health Hospital was built on the site of the old Riverdale Hospital which in turn replaced an older building.  The original House of Refuge was built in 1860.  The Don Jail has been repurposed as part of the hospital complex.

bridgepoint hospital, with old don jail in the background

below: Looking north from the bridge at Gerrard towards the green pedestrian bridge that connects the two sections of Riverdale Park.  Beyond that is the Bloor Viaduct.

view looking north from gerrard street bridge, railway tracks, don river, view to bloor street and beyond

below: Northwest view

very tall hydro electricity transmission tower beside bike path and railway tracks, high rise buildings in the background

below: View from the Gerrard St Bridge (over the Don River and DVP).   Looking southwest.  The tall brown buildings are at River Street.

photo taken while on gerrard street bridge over the Don river, looking southwest towards many highrise apartment buildings

below: Miniature racer, art on a pole by Joseph Lammirato.

miniature black car, toy, mounted on orange board, and attached to utility pole

… and another!  You’ll find lots more on his Instagram page (@joseph.lammirato)

below: Flower Power happiness

sunflower with a happy face, pasteup on canada post mailbox

below: The north end of River Street (north of Gerrard)is showing signs that redevelopment is in the works.

old brick houses with for lease signs in the front yard

old brick two storey houses with front porches on river street, empty, boarded up with plywood waiting for demolition

graffiti tags on plywood used to board up windows and doors on empty old houses

below: If you are driving north on River Street, chances are you are headed down the hill to the Bayview Extension.  The alternative route is a small street that swings left and joins up with Spruce Street.

small houses on Spruce Street, including one that is painted blue, with white gingerbread trim under the eaves, also a modern house in black

below: It also leads to access to Riverdale Park. – there’s that green pedestrian bridge again.  From here you can see Broadview Avenue on the other side of the ravine.

view of Riverdale park with green pedestrian bridge over the DVP and Don River
orange tiger lilies in bloom along a chainlink fence beside a path near River street and spruce street

below: Back to River Street, and let’s head south.

River street street sign, with a no left turn sign under it

below: St. Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church.

St. Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church at Gerrard and River, with tall apartment buildings behind

below: Walking past some of the older Regent Park brick buildings that still remain.   The intersection of Gerrard and River streets marks the northeast corner of the original 1940s and 1950s Regent Park development.

regent park, southwest corner of gerrard and river streets

ivy covered exterior walls of Regent Park apartments,

About 20 years ago, redevelopment of the area began.  The work was divided into five phases.  Phases 1 and 2 have been completed while the third phase is either close to completion or has just been finished.  There is a lot of information online so you should be able to find many more details if you want.  I didn’t feel like going down that rabbit hole!

contrast of old Regent Park residences with newer developments

couple walking a dog on River near Oak street, with three high rises in the background

below: I was surprised at how much variety there was in the housing that I saw.

a row of three storey houses on river street, bay and gable style,

cornwall street row houses, with highrise behind

looking down a private road at a townhouse development

below:  Queen City Vinegar Co. Ltd. factory built in 1908 and converted into lofts (residential) in 2008.

entrance to building, door with stone lintal and decorations

wood railing on a porch, old paint, white, brick house,

blue and white development notice on behind a bent railing on a boarded up building

below: Stalled development (Dare I say arrested development?)  According to the development notice sign, the original file dates from 2017.  Even by Toronto standards that is slow!

red hoardings around vacant construction site

below: Behind the red hoardings is just a vacant lot.  Nothing seems to be happening here.  When I said arrested I was not implying anything criminal…..

vacant lot on river street, buildings already demolished, stalled redevelopment

below: Of course the CN Tower can be seen here too!  This is the view along Shuter Street.

looking west on Shuter street from River street, with cn tower in the distance

cyclist on bike, traveling south on river at dundas, row of houses in the background

below: Dundas, looking west towards River Street with tables in front of Bevy Coffee. The slightly darker brick building was the Adam Beck Box Factory where cigar boxes were once made.  Like the Queen Vinegar Company mentioned above, this building has been converted into lofts (Tannery Lofts, mis-named as this wasn’t a tannery! But it does sound sexier than Box Lofts!).

dundas east approaching river, looking west, bevy coffee shop on the right side, with picnic tables on the sidewalk outside

below: Similar location, but from the parking lot and alley behind – brick building is the Tannery Lofts

back of buildings on river, large condos, lowrise brick old warehouse, back of car dealership on dundas

below: 1930s view of Beck’s cigar box factory

black and white photo from the 1930s of Adam Beck cigar box factory, three storey brick building with cars parked in front

below: Monsters ready to box

mural on large door at back of building on dundas east, blob like monsters in different colours, all wearing white boxing gloves, large white eyes and scowling faces
behind hoardings, boarded up house with graffiti sign by Nigel Smith that says untitled

below: River Variety is no more.

old river variety store, in a ine of rowhouses, boarded up and hoardings in front

below: No more gyros or poutine here.

empty buildings behind green construction fence, boarded up and waiting to be demolished, river street

empty buildings behind green construction fence, boarded up and waiting to be demolished, river street

below: At Mark Street, more old and new

mark street approaching river street, side of red brick house, with new condo in the background

an alley, with lots of greenery from trees and shrubs, back of red building,

below: Every child matters

on a red wood garage wall, in blue spray paint, text that says every child matters, on god

old sign for monarch elevators, in an alley, with lots of shadows, graffiti on wall too

garage in alley, white concrete block with grey metal door

below: West side of River Street, at Queen

River Street, west side at Queen,

below: Old photo from 1914, working on the Queen Street bridge over the Don River, looking westward towards River Street.   The light coloured bank building is still on the southwest corner (see above photo).  The red brick structure on the northwest corner is also still standing, although an additional storey has been added to it.

old black and white photo of men working on the queen street bridge over the don river

photo credit: City of Toronto Archives

below: Looking north on River Street from King.  South from here River becomes Lower River.

view looking north on river street, from king street

below: Part of the mural on the side of Toronto Humane Society (Queen & River) painted by Uber5000

from a mural by uber 5000, an image of a large white and grey dog, tongue hanging out of mouth, happy face,

below: Parked in the bike lane.

blue car parked in the bike lane on river street

Note: River Street is serviced by TTC bus route 121 that runs between Gerrard (just west of Broadview), then down River to Queen before heading west to the Esplanade and Union Station.