Posts Tagged ‘Mirvish village’

below: Medallion embedded in the sidewalk outside Bathurst subway station entrance showing the way –   South to Bloor and west to Bathurst is first on list for today. … Or maybe round and round in circles?

brass circular medallion embedded in the sidewalk in front of Bathurst subway station, four points of the compass with labels, E to subway, S to Bloor, W to Bathurst and N to Dupont

below:  Looking south on Bathurst towards Bloor.  The southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst is now a solid block of condos.

looking south on Bathurst towards Bloor, west side of the street

below: Same collection of buildings but from a slightly different angle.  Giant concrete pillars in front of ground level glass wall.  Argh.  Unoriginal Toronto architecture.

southwest corner of Bloor and Bathurst, tall glass and steel condo buildings

below:  Working at heights.  It looks like road access from Bathurst towards Markham Street. More concrete pillars!

below:  Alternative Thinking and its neighbour directly to the south remained the holdouts and are now completely surrounded by new development.

two older structures now surrounded by new condo buildings, older ones were three storey brick stores with apartments above from the 1880s. Alternative Thinking store

below: Around the corner on Bloor near Markham. The sidewalk in this stretch has been widened with benches and planters added.

bloor street, sidewalk in front of new condos, blue construction fence still up, new benches and planters on the sidewalk
below: Honest Eds is long gone.

behind blue construction fence, machinery, two tall condo being built with laneway between them

below:  Work continues on the re-making of Markham Street.

workmen on construction site on Markham street

below:  Ed’s Mercantile Store & Studio.  Vintage and Handmade Goods – it’s not exactly Honest Ed’s but it was at least worth a smile and a chuckle (and a photo!)

Ed's Mercantile store window on Bloor, vintage and old stuff,

below: Stop.  Stop building.

stop sign at Palmeston Blvd, with the word building scratched into it, stop building

below: From Palmerston, the new condos rise up behind.

roofline of older houses on Palmerston with new condos in the background

large red brick old house on Palmerston with large new condo in the background

below: Spring!  Lilacs in abundance in front of an old brick house with fabulous balcony space.

older brick house, 3 storeys, with 2 balconies and a porch, all with white wood railings, large pink lilac in front, with yellow tulips and greenery in front garden

below: One block south of Bloor is Lennox

Lennox street scene, trees, old red brick building, condos behind

 chairs, one on either side of a brown door, red brick building

below:  There is a lane that runs north from Lennox that ends behind the stores on Bloor.   The old buildings are dwarfed by the newer condos.

looking down an alley, with backs of old buildings on Bloor immediately adjacent to tall new condo

below: Same alley, new infill housing

infill housing in a laneway, two storey house with mostly windows on upper level

below: This isn’t the exact view from that lovely infill house, but it’s close.

wall with street art, construction site on the other side of the wall

below: Still in the alley trying to get a good view of what’s happening on the site…   Some of the old houses on Markham have been kept (or at least their facades).

Markham street, old mirvish village, redevelopment, small house among the highrises

looking down an alley, tree and greenery along fence on right, street art covered wall on left, car parked in front of a garage at the end

below: Bloor Street from Markham Street west to just beyond Christie is part of the Koreatown BIA which suggests a preponderance of Korean businesses.

Koreatown banner on lamp post, condos behind

below: Businesses like Seoul Hot Dog, Mummy Korean Restaurant, and Mapo Korean BBQ.

stores on Bloor

three young Korean woman walking on Bloor

older Korean woman shopping in corner store

four little characters with drinks, on the window of a korean cafe

pictures of dishes displayed outside, under window of korean restaurant, also green sign advertising in korean lettering, for acupuncture and herbs

below: Korean Village Restaurant

Korean Village Restaurant with mural on upper level,

below: Imagine Your Korea mural (in 2 photos)

Imagine Your Korea mural in Koreatown, with bike share bikes in front, mostly empty

korea mural on corner of bloor

below: A green dragon breathes fire outside Chung Chun Rice Hot Dog in a mural by Allan Render, John Norbrega, and Stacey Kinder (Blinc Studios), 2019.

outside wall of chung chun rice hot dog restaurant, a mural with a large green fire breathing dragon

part of a larger mural, people running outside shops on sidewalk, running away from green monster

below: But in typical Toronto style, many other ethnic groups are represented here – Ave Maria Latin Cafe

Latin Cafe on Bloor with round yellow sign,

below: Pour Boys keeping an eye on Bloor.

pour boys muralon building across the street from Bloor Fruits store, selling veggies and fruits on the sidewalk

below: … Tibetan Paper Store… and more.

objects in the window of the Tibetan Paper Shop, little dolls, incense, bowls, bracelets,

below: “If you are reading this, Iran is not free”

mural that says if you are reading this, Iran is not free

tattered pink heart with a face cut out of it, stapled to a wood utility pole that has hundreds of staples on it

googly eyes have been glued onto yellow box with push button for crossing the street

 

old mural on side of white brick building, text, abstract, kizmet32,

Last week I visited what remains of Mirvish Village, that stretch of Markham Street just south of Bloor Street next to Honest Ed’s store.  As most of you know, Honest Ed’s closed at the end of 2016.  All the stores and businesses in the first block of Markham Street have now closed too.  The buildings still remain although they are empty and a blue temporary fence now separates them from the sidewalk.   I am not sure if they are going to be demolished, or the facades retained, when that area is redeveloped in the near future.   I was interested in documenting what remains and/or what is going to disappear as Markham Street undergoes yet another transition in its long and storied life.

Some of the photos that I took were of doors.  For a few weeks now I have been following the blog My Life Lived Full .  Joanne (the author of said blog) participates in “Thursday Doors” which is a weekly photo feature hosted by Norm Frampton at Norm 2.0.  I like doors and have many photos of doors.  I’m not sure I’ll be a regular contributor to “Thursday Doors” but I thought that I would add my collection of Mirvish Village doors to this weeks feature.  The following door pics were either taken last week when everything was empty or on the last day of 2016 when businesses were winding down.

below: The upper level was a gallery.  The words ‘No Man’ are still on the door.

a pile of green chairs in front of the steps up to a pale blue building, lower level is painted yellow.

feench doors painted blue with a small blue picket fence in front, two white chairs upside down in front of the door

single door with large pane of glass, reflections in the glass, snow on the porch, a pigeon standing in the snow

below: This is one of the photos from the 31st of December. Tintin is no longer there.

the door of a book store, with a cut out of Tintin beside it and a drawing of a creature with 4 legs and 4 arms, the hands are all holding something

grey door, white porch, crooked grey steps

two doors on a brightly painted buidling. a flower is painted around the door, blue paint,

the doors at the entrance to the Apiecalyps Vegan restaurant, whose symbol is a raccoon. glass doors, steps down from street level to the entrance

below: Entrance to the Victory Cafe with the Christmas lights still wrapped around the post and a clipboard in one of the windows.

two purple doors side by side at the top of 6 stairs, on a red brick building

below: The back of one of the buildings on Markham Street.  This photo was taken from the parking lot behind Honest Eds.

grey metal door at the top of a steep staircase, back door, upper storey of a beige building with windows covered with stuff on the inside

below: Honest Ed’s exit onto Markham Street with its overlapping and out of date shopping hours sign over the door.

exit doors of Honest Eds store, 2 sets of glass double doors, red walls beside, store opening hours painted above the door. Galss is covered from the inside

Honest Eds, a Toronto icon, at the corner of Bathurst and Bloor since 1948

Standing on Bloor street looking south through the alley beside Honest Eds store.  There is a glass covered walkway between the buildings on either side of the alley.  On the side of the wwalkway is a sign that syas 'Honest Ed Alley'.  The alley leads to a parking lot.

Looking south from Bloor Street towards the parking lot behind Honest Eds.

There are a few murals on the buildings that back onto the parking lot.

mural on a two storey light grey brick building showing musicians.

Trumpet players on the back of the Victory Cafe at the corner of  Markham and Lennox Streets

large mural of a woman with boxing gloves on.   Beside her is a picture of a large dog's face.

Woman with boxing gloves has been on the back of Trainers Fitness for a few years.  The newer dog is painted on the back of A Leg Up Pet Services. 

The back of two buildings with a narrow passageway between the two.  Both are two storeys high.  The one on the left is painted light purple and has the words Southern Accent written in yellow letters.  The one on the right is a mural of a man paddling a canoe down a tropical river, with a monkey and a parrot also in the picture.

Purple behind Southern Accent restaurant and a mural painted by Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre through their LOFT program.