Posts Tagged ‘sugar beach’

a summer day, a city meander

Posted: September 13, 2022 in construction, people, transportation, waterfront
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Another day, another walk through the city starting at the Distillery District and heading west towards the waterfront and downtown Toronto.

below: Posing under the heart, Distillery District.

a woman and child posing under bright red heart installation at the Distillery District while a man takes their picture, also a line of tree shapes painted white, then painted with colourful pictures on parts of them,

below: Posing with the LOVE locks.

4 young women pose for a group shot beside the love word made from locks in the distillery district

below: Flowered Dress Madonna” by Ann Agee, 2021 as seen in the Corkin Gallery in the Distillery District.

small mother and child sculpture by Ann Agee called flowered drress Madonna, made in 2021

below: Looking east on Front Street from Berkeley. Police Division is the old brick building. Both sides of Front are lined with black hoardings as redevelopment of those sites started recently.

intersection of Berkeley and Front, looking east on Front towards police station in old building, black hoardings for construction sites on both sides of Front Street

below: Berkeley St., south of Front

a young man walking his white dog along the sidewalk, past black painted plywood hoardings around a construction site, Berkely Street

below: Another hole in the wall; another vacant lot waiting for redevelopment on Parliament Street. More tall buildings coming to the Distillery District.

an old door in a concrete block wall, now open to hole in the ground vacant lot waiting redevelopment

below: Looking south from the end of Parliament Street and across Lakeshore Blvd to the start of Queens Quay East. Many changes here!

looking south under Gardiner Expressway across Lakeshore Blvd at the end of Parliment where it turns into Queens Quay East

below: The CN Tower peaks through the gap created by one of the onramps for the Gardiner Expressway.

the CN Tower peaks through a gap in the Gardiner Expressway where an on ramp is

below: No Parkin’, Victory Soya Mills in the background

Victory Solya Mills in the background, construction in the foreground, a large yellow crane, a cement barricade spray painted with words no parking

the back ends of two tour boats with Canadian flags flying, end to end, with new condo developments seen across the water

below: Looking east towards the Port Lands redevelopment.  The new Cherry Street bridge is in the background.

waterfront, by Victory Mills silos, looking east towards new Cherry street bridge and portlands redevelopment

below: From the same spot on the waterfront as the above picture, but looking in the other direction.

yellow tent along the waterfront

below: Queens Quay East

looking west on Queens Quay East, construction in the foreground,

below: Relaxing by the lake.

sitting by the waterfront, a man in a yellow Muskoka chair, and a woman in an electric wheelchair, both facing the water

a person resting on wood bench in front of George Brown College on the waterfront, head on backpack, other people walking in the distance

below: Sugar Beach, spectator section, in the shade.

two men sitting on a bench beside water fountain sprayers at Sugar Beach, umbrellas, sand, and Redpath Sugar in the background

sugar beach, a man sun bathing on the sand, another person in Muskoka chair, green ship docked at Redpath Sugar, pink umbrellas,

below: On the rocks, Sugar Beach

two men sit on the rock at Sugar Beach, with green sugar ship docked at Redpath sugar, city skyline behind

below: I am not sure who this is or why he’s on the waterfront.  He’s made of wood – someone constructed him and left him here.

black and white wood cut out, upright of a man with no eyes or nose, white uniform, from waist up, standing on waterfront by Redpath Sugar

below: Closed – ramp to the the eastbound Gardiner at Lower Jarvis.

closed sign at the ramp to the Gardiner Expressway eastbound at Lower Jarvis, along Lakeshore

below: Lower Jarvis

pedestrians on sidewalk on Lower Jarvis with reflections in window beside and overhang above at Shoppers Drug Mart

below: A bucket full of bright and cheerful sunflowers on the sidewalk by St. Lawrence Market.

a turquoise bucket full of sunflowers for sale on the sidewalk by St. Lawrence Market

below: Market Street closed to traffic at Esplanade.

road closed sign, orange barricades, at the south end of Market Street to make it closed to traffic, and open to pedestrians only

below: Marvelous peppers and other veggies for sale at St. Lawrence Market

vegetables for sale at St. Lawrence Market, yellow peppers, range peppers, as well as red and green peppers in small green baskets in the foreground,

below: Someone’s looking a little distraught. Remember how your parents used to say that if you frowned too much, or you made too many weird faces, your face would freeze in that position? That is what this poor fellow reminded me of. “Frozen” in time on the side of St. Lawrence Hall.

small carved face, decorative, on the side of St. Lawrence Hall

below: In a window.  The title of the painting is “Alone” so perhaps she is alone in the city albeit surrounded by flowers.  Unfortunately, they are yellow and blue flowers so I suspect that there is Ukrainian symbolism at play here and that ‘alone’ has a much deeper significance.

painting in a an art gallery window with reflections of the city

below: Leader Lane ends at Wellington.

road closed for construction, pedestrian on sidewalk, Irish flag flying by pub, porta pottie, park in distance, downtown

below: Mama elephant and her two little ones are still walking through the courtyard behind Commerce Court.  They haven’t reached the pool yet (but at least there’s water in the pool now).

elephant statues, adult and two little ones, surrounded by tall buildings

below: This is one of the five Big City Blooms murals found around the city   (west side of Commerce Court).   The big bold and cheerful flowers in reds and pinks are the work of Alanna Cavanagh.

the glass walls of the window of Commercce Court are covered with pictures of pink and red flowers, blooms in the city art project

below: Same Commerce Court building as the above picture but from a slightly different angle.

tall city buildings, an older one of brownish stone, the other a newer glass and steel structure, flags poles,
below: Melinda Street

old stone building surrounded by newer glass buildings

below: Narrow city alley views, framing the gorgeous stone and brick work on the older building with its arched windows.

looking down a narrow alley to the old brick building on the next street

below: There appears to be a forest path in the middle of Brookfield Place.  It is actually a photograph that is part of an exhibit called, “Take Your Seat With the Group of Seven, Nature the Inspires Us”.  (now gone from Brookfield Place).

interior of Brookfield Place, a large photo of a path through a forest is standing in the middle
below: In this exhibit, locations used by the Group of Seven in their paintings were revisited. Photos were taken using a red director’s chair, placing the chair in the artist’s position. In this set of images, two small paintings from Coldwell Harbour are paired with a large photo of present day Coldwell Harbour – the chair is small but you should be able to see it on the rocky outcropping. The harbour is on Lake Superior near the town of Marathon.

two small group of seven paintings from Coldwell Harbour, plaus a large photo of a red directors chair at present day Coldwell Harbour

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waterfront

Posted: April 10, 2022 in construction, locations, public art, waterfront
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Let’s follow the fish! 🐟 It’s pointed east along Queen’s Quay and by coincidence that the direction I’m headed too… 😃

a metal life like fish embedded on the paving stones on the ground, boot toes beside the fish

The seagull is not amused.

seagull standing on a short post beside Lake Ontario, with the back end of a boat in the background

front end of boat, Empress of Canada, white and black hull, dirty, tied to pier with yellow rope, reflections of it in the water of the harbour

below: Harbour Square Park with “Sundial Folly” at the water’s edge.  This art installation is the work of John Fung and Paul Figueiredo.  It has recently been cleaned up.  The sphere is hollow and there is a walkway that runs through it.  An opening at the south side (water side) acts as a sundial.

Toronto waterfront looking westward

Toronto waterfront looking westward

below: Looking east from Harbour Square towards the Westin Hotel tower and the park by the ferry docks.

Toronto waterfront looking eastward towards Westin Hotel tower and park by ferry docks

below: Tour boats and ferries still under wraps for the winter months.

Trillium tour boat and other boats and ferries parked on Toronto waterfront, covered for winter storage, tall condos in a line along the waterfront in the background

below: “Shore Stories” a mosaic located by the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal. It was made in 2012 by youth from the community under the guidance of AFCY (Arts for Children and Youth, an organization that may or may not still exist).

mosaic pictures in circles forming a mural, Shore Stories, at ferry dock in Toronto

below: The “egg beaters” at 1 Yonge Street are now behind a fence. The installation is actually called “Between the Eyes”, and is by Richard Deacon.

two people walking past a site with a green fence, a sculpture behind the fence, new buildings and new construction in the background

Between the Eyes, a sculpture by Richard Deacon on Queens Quay East

below:  It’s 830km to Kapuskasing and even farther to Cochrane, just keep following Yonge Street northwards.

brass letters embedded in the concrete of the sidewalk, distances to different places on Yonge street,

a very big muddy puddle in a parking lot with reflections of the condos around it

empty parking lot with two light standards. on the other side of the lot is a light brown brick building with small square windows

an empty bench on the waterfront with new condos behind

below: “A Series of Whirlpool Field Manoeuvres for Pier 27”. by Alice Aycock

whirlwind, a white metal sculpture between two condos, with an elevated section above it, taller condo in the background

along the waterfront, whirlwind, a metal white sculpture, tornado swirls of metal, by Lake Ontario,

CN Tower in the background, peaking through between a new glass and metal condo with different angled balconies, and an older concrete highrise

below: The walkway along the waterfront comes to an end where a very high concrete wall separates Redpath Sugar from the public space.

Toronto waterfront, public path ends at a large high concrete wall by Redpath Sugar, the back end of a red ship is visible jutting out from behind the wall

below: Que Rock murals, water theme, “Water Clans (Nbii Dodem)” four panels at Redpath Sugar.

two Indigenous themed murals on exterior walls of Redpath Sugar on Queens Quay

2 indigenous themed murals on Queens Quay by Que Rock a k a Quentin Commanda

reflected light against a grey exterior wall, with 5 small vents

view from sugar beach, willow tree in front of a red ship parked at Redpath Sugar, city buildings behind

orange life saving ring by a ladder on shore in front of a parked red hulled ship, harbour

below: Pink umbrellas and sugar filled ships, at Sugar Beach.

sugar beach with pink umbrellas in the foreground, a sugar ship unloading at Redpath in the background, Toronto skyline with CN Tower in the distance

below: Queens Quay East at Dockside

new construction, new condo, at Dockside Dr. and Queens Quay East, Corus Quay, waterfront, new street,

below: Sherbourne Commons

Sherbourne Commons as seen from the waterfront, large grey building with washrooms and change rooms

a person sitting in a muskoka chair on the waterfront near a water work site with barge, and rusty metal pylons in the water, port lands in the distance

below: New construction on Queens Quay East where many parts are  being made of wood.   A new park, Aitkens Place Park lies between the new building and the waterfront.

Aitken Park in front, new condo building built behind it, concrete core but rest built of wood

two people sitting on a bench, one with yellow toque and the other with yellow turban, other people walking past, on the waterfront

below: Vacant lot on the corner of Queens Quay East and Small Street.

northwest corner of intersection of Queens Quay East and Merchants Wharf, large billboard, vacant lot parking lot

small temporary bridge, concrete silos in background, construction fence in front,

concrete silos in background, construction fence in front,

below: At the foot of Parliament Street.

small red cabin beside entrance to parking lot and construction site, concrete silos in the background

below: Anser eyes

old anser eyes graffiti on a piece of concrete leaning against a fence

below: Sweet and salty at the Distillery

large billboard in front of tall condos, a sweet and salty relationship, reeses peanut butter cups with potato chips

East Bayside

Posted: May 17, 2019 in construction, old buildings, waterfront
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The other evening I was going to try some evening photography along the waterfront starting around Sugar Beach. As I walked down Lower Jarvis, this view caught my attention – looking west along Lakeshore Blvd.  It’s a view that has been changing very rapidly.    I counted at least seven cranes as I stood there waiting for some of the traffic to clear.

downtown Toronto, looking west towards all the tall buildings, looking along the Lakeshore with lots of traffic on it, many buildings in the foreground under construction with 7 cranes in the photo

below: Sugar Beach.   Unfortunately a film crew was already here so I didn’t stick around.

a group of people standing near the waterfront at sugar beach with its pink umbrellas and white muskoka chairs

below: One of the buildings to the east of Sugar Beach is a new George Brown College building.

looking up to a second floor of a building that has a very large window, three round tables and some chairs can be seen through the window

below: Film crew trucks ready to be loaded back up

the back of two large trucks with their doors open as cables, tools and other equipment for filming is being load back into the trucks

The strip of green that you see on the right side of the above photo is part of Sherbourne Common (at the foot of Lower Sherbourne Street).    From here east to Parliament is now being developed as East Bayside and is a continuation of the now completed development from Jarvis (Sugar Beach) to Sherbourne.   East Bayside is bounded by Queens Quay and Lake Ontario as well as Sherbourne and Parliament.  1800 residences are planned in this space.

below: Some of the condos are under construction.  Same old same old; yawn.  They may look a little more interesting from a distance, but at street level they are hopelessly banal.  If you want to buy a condo here, there are only a few left in the two buildings known as Aqualina and Aquabella.   In the latter, only 3 are available, starting at a two bedroom suite for 2.8 million.  Five million dollars will get you a three bedroom penthouse with two terraces but if you want to pay an additional 1 1/2 million you get 4,000 square feet on two floors (3 bedrooms and 2 terraces as well).

new condo development by the lake

below: At least the “linear park” and waterfront path is being continued eastward along Lake Ontario.

construction of a waterfront path

orange wheel barrows at a construction site beside a lake

below:  Work is also underway on Queens Quay East.   As a frame of reference, the tall building behind the billboard is in the Distillery District.  Lakeshore Blvd and the Gardiner run behind the buildings with the blue trim.

billboard, construction on queens quay east

What hasn’t yet been started is construction of two office buildings that will front on Queens Quay, called T3 Bayside.  They are going to be made of wood which should be interesting.

There has been a lot of talk for the past 12 to 14 years about extending streetcar service along this route.  So far a lot of planning and a lot of talk but that’s it.  An LRT right of way running along the south side of the street has been approved but the East Bayfront LRT project, (aka Waterfront LRT) has stalled because of the usual political shenanigans and financial hiccups.   A major part of the delay has been the question of how to link an East Bayfront LRT to Union station.  The present tunnel is barely sufficient for the streetcars that use it now.  Just recently (April 2019) the city released a report on how to address this issue.  I haven’t read it all yet (it’s 40 pages long) but the gist of it is that the city is considering two options – 1. rebuilding the tunnel or 2. building an automated people moving system of some sort and leave all streetcars out of the tunnel.

below: There is a small trench down the center of the street.

danger sign on construction zone in the middle of the street, Queens Quay, looking west along the street towards downtown toronto

Any ideas what’s being planned for the north side of Queens Quay?

two orange and black traffic contruction cones on the street in front of an old white industrial building with red door frames and a wood loading dock with yellow trim
metal framework that is holding up a large billboard

below:  Queens Quay turns towards Parliament Street.  The blue building is a Sidewalk Labs information centre.  The land that Sidewalk Labs wants to develop, Quayside, is close by – south of Lakeshore and east of Parliament.  It also includes the little strip of land between Queens Quay and Lakeshore, i.e. that answers my question above about what happens on the north side of Queens Quay.  There was some rumour (plan?) about Sidewalk Labs being involved in development of some of the Portlands but is that still on?    As to what their plans are or where they are at now, I have no idea.  That’s probably another blog post!

many orange and black cones on a stretch of road that is having work done on it

37,000 tons

Posted: May 30, 2016 in history, landmarks, locations, waterfront
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A sweet post.

This is what 37,000 tons of raw sugar looks like.
The Raw Sugar Shed at Redpath Sugar is 27m high,  155m long, and 43 m wide.  It’s a big space!

a man is leaning on a temporary metal barricade in front of a very large pile of raw sugar in a large warehouse.

Raw sugar is brought to the Redpath Sugar facility by ship.  When it is off-loaded from the ship it is brought into the warehouse by conveyor belts that run down the middle of the ceiling.

below: There isn’t a ship in the harbour at the moment so the green crane waits.

a little girl in the foreground, standing beside a squared opening in the harbour for ships to come in, beside the Redpath Sugar refinery building on the waterfront with its green cranes and greenish blue building

below:  You can see a holes in the foreground of the next photo.  This is one of many holes in the floor of the Raw Sugar Shed.  The raw sugar is pushed through these holes to another series of conveyor belts below.

a large yellow front end loaded is parked inside a warehouse. A large pile of raw sugar is in the background.

three warning signs on the outside of a door of the Redpath Sugar shed, a warehouse for storing raw sugar. One says "Beware of Heavy Equipment", the second says "Sound horn before entering" and the third says "Canadian Government Customs Bonded Warehouse no. 60"

below: Photo taken from the entrance to the Raw Sugar Shed, taken at Doors Open.  Raw sugar is taken by conveyor belt (upper far right) to the processing plant next door.

sugar processing area of Redpath Sugar refinery, some white tents and metal barricades for crowd control as it is Doors Open day.

close up of the white Redpath Sugar processing plant, grey metal covers on conveyor belt tunnels and vents

below: A lingering remnant, railway crossing signs from when a railway ran here.
A guard sits by the entrance to Redpath Sugar.

a wire fence with barbed wire across the top, behind the fence is round yellow railway crossing sign as well as a large blue metal pole and a small shrub. There is also an old warning sign for a railway that once ran past here.

The railway serviced the industries that were built along the Toronto waterfront,  The LBCO, Loblaws, the ‘Toronto Star’ newspaper, Molson Breweries, Dominion Malting and others, relied on the railways.   Completed in 1959, the Redpath refinery was the last industry built along the waterfront.  You can just see the railway tracks in the photo below, running between Queens Quay East and the Redpath building where they dead end.  Since the tracks only dead ended there in 1985, that helps date the picture.   Rail service ended in 2008.

aerial view of the East Wharf portion of the Toronto wateterfront, vintage photo from the 1970's or 1980's

photo credit: Originally from City of Toronto Archives but found online at Old Time Trains.

Today, Redpath Sugar is one of the last industries operating on the waterfront; The area around it is rapidly being redeveloped, including the space right next door that is aptly called Sugar Beach.

people sitting on white chairs under pale pink umbrellas at Sugar Beach. sand, water and blue sky, beside Lake Ontario

a man sits on a chair between a blue shipping containter and a building,