waterfront

Posts Tagged ‘waterfront’

Sunlight shining – Biidaasige – and Lookout too.

Posted: September 6, 2025 in construction, locations, nature, waterfront
Tags: beach, Biidaasige, bike path, bridges, DOn River, hearn generating station, Leslie Lookout Park, park, playground, Port Lands, redevelpopment, river, Ship Channel, trees, Unwin Ave., Villiers, water, water lilies, waterfront

A new park in the Port Lands has opened. Biidaasige Park. Biidaasige translates to “sunlight shining towards us”.

It is centered around the new mouth of the Don River, with lots of walking and cycling paths that wind along the shores and through the newly planted shrubs, trees, and other native plants.

There is also a large playground where plenty of adventures await!

How many animals can you spot?

A black wasp has found a swamp milkweed flower.

below: The washroom facilities are still temporary (I hope!) but at least they exist….

… But there is more. Biidaasige is not the only new park in the area. Just to the east is the new Leslie Lookout Park that features this 10m tower that references the areas industrial history. It echos the silos of the past and provides an elevated viewing area.

below: The park is at the east end of the Ship Channel

Both parks are just part of the redevelopment of the Port Lands. The area has always been industrial, and many industries remain. Construction continues on other areas

below: Unwin Avenue

below: The old Hearn Generating Station still sits empty. It was built in the 1950s as a coal powered generating station but it was decommissioned in 1983. It has been used as a movie set location or as a backdrop for art installations but because of the huge costs involved (especially with cleaning up the interior to present day safety standards) this heritage site is vastly underused.

below: But now there is a development notice sign on the fence. Its present owner, Studios of America, has applied to redevelop the 30 acre site to include condos as well as other mixed uses.

another bridge is open – Port Lands again

Posted: June 17, 2024 in construction, locations, public art, transportation, waterfront
Tags: beach, bridges, Cherry Street, Commissioners Street, construction, Leslie Lookout Park, Munition Street, parks, photography, Port Lands, Port of Toronto, redevelopment, Ship Channel, Toronto Harbour, Toronto skyline, Vid Ingelevics, waterfront

Welcome back! Bienvenuti! A colourful sign to welcome you and visitors to Toronto. I’m not sure how many visitors get to see this banner!

The Port of Toronto has almost become an obscure corner of the city. It’s certainly not where most tourists arrive in the city! Nor is it a place where residents venture.

below: Once there was a ferry between Toronto and Rochester that docked here but it didn’t last long. Now there are a few cruise ships that stop here. The building would be almost deserted if Netflix hadn’t taken over some of the space.

below: The fragments of railway track are reminders of the industrial past.

below: There are bits of track scattered all over the Port Lands

below: The Port is much quieter but there is still activity. These long metal bars that are neatly stacked on shore were probably recently offloaded.

below: Boats in the Ship Channel. The redevelopment plan for the Port Lands has always included the retention of the Ship Channel. The sand and salt for Toronto’s roads is delivered here.

below: At the east end of the Ship Channel, a new park is being developed – Leslie Lookout Park. The concrete cylindrical structure is a lookout tower so there will be views over a man-made beach (that appears white in the photo). The beach is larger in real life than it looks like in the photo.

below: Can you see the little sliver of blue water? That is the Ship Channel.

below: Looking south on Munitions Street

below: Toronto Firehall, Station 30, built in 1928 still stands. It is a heritage building and if the plans are followed, it will be repurposed.

below: The redevelopment of the Port Lands has involved a lot of infrastructure changes. Roads have been changed, rivers have been diverted, bike lanes and better sidewalks have been created. At times it has been confusing to navigate through.

below: The new Commissioners Street bridge is in, and there is water running under it. There is now a river on land that was once industrial. On the north side of the bridge there is a bike lane and a wide sidewalk.

below: The bridge offers new vistas of the city. Many new trees have been planted.

below: Lakeshore Blvd crosses the Don River on a very low bridge (like before) while the ramps between the Gardiner and the DVP curve above it.

below: Just be careful because there is no sidewalk on the south side (why not?? for the sake of saving money on 4 extra feet??)

below: The same sleek curvy design seen in the previous bridges is repeated here.

below: Another series of photographs of the work being done here, by Vid Ingelevics and Ryan Walker

below: One photograph is mounted on the roll-up door of one of the ESSROC cement plant silos

below: Like the previous series of images, most of the photographs are displayed down the center of what remains of Villiers Street, on top of the remains of the old railway line.

below: One more photograph on what remains of Villiers Street – and in the background, what remains of the eastern end of the Gardiner Expressway.

below: Southeast corner of Villiers and Cherry

below: One original bridge remains, the one with the long name – Cherry Street Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge.

below: The first of the new bridges that was actually operational is the south Cherry Street bridge, the yellow one.

below: The second new bridge on Cherry Street is now in use. For months we’ve been able to take pictures of the side of it as we stood on the old Cherry Street bridge. (see The New Cherry Street Bridge from Nov 2020). Maybe one day in the future there will be a streetcar on the east part of the bridge. As you can see, the rain came and we bailed. Better pictures of the bridge will have to wait for a future post!

below: The old Cherry Street bridge is gone and the road has been rerouted. The old jog in Cherry at Lakeshore is gone.

below: Misdirection.

below: Trying to see the new bridge from the site of the old bridge but there seems to be a construction site in the way.

below: Continuing north on the now straight Cherry Street. Any ideas what that white structure is ahead? It runs parallel to the railway line at track level and crosses Cherry Street just south of the railway underpass.

We now exit the Port Lands and finish today’s explorations…. with the exception of one quick note…. I noticed that the old Canary Diner on Cherry is now painted a reddish orange colour. It looks like it is being renovated. A story for another day!

a blustery winter day

Posted: January 23, 2024 in locations, public art, reflections, waterfront
Tags: Anique Jordan, boats, CIBC Square, Empire Sandy, Gardiner Expressway, ice, John McEwen, kraken, Kuumba, Lake Ontario, Legends Row, Maple Leaf Square, Maple Leafs, Mycelium, Nicolas Baier, photography, Queens Quay West, roller skating, Scotiabnk Arena, Stephen Tayo, streetcar, Union station, water, waterfront

Hum dum dum ditty dum
Hum dum dum

below: A Porter flight approaches the island airport

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

“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

below: A kraken is taking over the boat!

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.”

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

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

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.

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?

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

below: I found myself in a 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

below: Steamy Yonge Street on a cold day

below: Development notice outside 69 Yonge Street.

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

Joy in Resistance

Posted: July 19, 2023 in public art, waterfront
Tags: affirmation, Frizzkid, Hana Shafi, Harbourfront Centre, Ontario Square, pictures, waterfront

For the nest few months, three big, bold, and colourful images are on display at Ontario Square on the waterfront. These are “Joy in Resistance” by Frizzkid aka Hana Shafi.

This is one exhibit where the “words on the wall” work well! This is how Frizzkid describes her work: “They are celebrations of diversity and of LGBTQ+ joy, where we envision a bright future; where people can flourish and dream wildly, and be wholly themselves without danger or hate. I have a love of 60’s and 70’s popular culture aesthetics, which spans from the golden age of Bollywood, to Studio 54 disco fever, appearing throughout my work to convey a warm nostalgia amidst the psychedelia. I believe in the beauty of reinvention and fluidity, and to make each piece feel transformative. My chaotic use of colour is meant to invoke powerful emotions that jolt people out of apathy and the exhaustion of doom-scrolling on their phones and to invite them to imagine their ideal future, one where they feel at home in their own skin and beloved by their communities.”

On display until 5th Nov 2023

Canada Day on the waterfront

Posted: July 1, 2023 in locations, people, waterfront
Tags: bicycle, bikes, boats, Canadian flag, condos, dogs, Emprire Sandy, ice cream, Kajama, Lake Ontario, Martin Goodman Trail, muskoka chairs, people, Queens Quay, sand, splash pad, sugar beach, sun tanning, walking, water, waterfront, yellow umbrellas

a summer day, a city meander

Posted: September 13, 2022 in construction, people, transportation, waterfront
Tags: Alanna Cavanagh, Cherry St bridge, CN Tower, condos, Corkin Gallery, development, Gardiner Expressway, lake, Lake Ontario, Lakeshore Blvd., parliament st., peppers, Pioneer Tour boats, queens quay east, St. Lawrence market, sugar beach, sunflowers, vegetables, waterfront

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.

below: Posing with the LOVE locks.

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

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.

below: Berkeley St., south of Front

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

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

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

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

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

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

below: Queens Quay East

below: Relaxing by the lake.

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

below: On the rocks, Sugar Beach

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.

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

below: Lower Jarvis

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

below: Market Street closed to traffic at Esplanade.

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

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.

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.

below: Leader Lane ends at Wellington.

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).

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.

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

below: Melinda Street

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

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).

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.

***

Posted: April 10, 2022 in construction, locations, public art, waterfront
Tags: Aitken Place Park, Alice Aycock, anser, bench, Between the Eyes, billboards, boats, condos, eyes, ferries, fish, John Fung, Lake Ontario, Merchants Wharf, Nbii Dodem, Paul Figueiredo, public art, Que Rock, queens quay east, Redpath Sugar, reflections, Richard Deacon, sculpture, seagull, Sherbourne St., Shore Stories, sugar beach, Sundial Folly, Water Clans, waterfront

Let’s follow the fish! 🐟 It’s pointed east along Queen’s Quay and by coincidence that the direction I’m headed too… 😃

The seagull is not amused.

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.

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

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

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).

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.

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

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

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

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

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

below: Queens Quay East at Dockside

below: Sherbourne Commons

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.

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

below: At the foot of Parliament Street.

below: Anser eyes

below: Sweet and salty at the Distillery

on the waterfront

Posted: February 25, 2022 in public art, waterfront
Tags: art installation, Enter-Face, Introspection, Lake Ontario, One Canada, S'winter Station, waterfront, winter stations, Woodbine Beach

Winter Stations 2022

From late February through to the end of March is Winter Stations on Woodbine Beach along Toronto’s waterfront.

below: “The Hive” by Canadians, Kathleen Dogantzis & Will Cuthbert

below: Designed by a team from Daniels Faculty of Architecture, U of T, “Introspection”.

below: Designed by a Turkish pair, Cemre Önertürk and Ege Çakır is “Enter-Face”.

below: The structure on the left has circular openings on one side and a translucent panel on the other (lakeside) – you can through but the resulting view is slightly distorted. On the taller structure, there is a reflective material.

below: “S’winter Station” was designed by a team from Ryerson University’s Department of Architectural Science. The circular openings on the surface panels were made from beach towels, an object more associated with summer than with winter.

below: “One Canada” by a team from School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph. The “One” in the title is for the combining of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous together as one. Seven rings representing wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth. Orange (for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation) ropes weave the rings together in a pattern echoing those used to make drums.

humanity and a kraken

Posted: October 31, 2021 in locations, public art
Tags: art installation, ArtworxTO, Camal Pirbhal, Camille Turner, David Rokeby, Entire City Project, House of Baby, Humanity Movement, kraken, lights, Masai Ujiri, Michael Awad, Queens Quay, Sir John A Macdonald Plaza, slavery, street art, Union station, waterfront

The results of a walk on what was probably the last warm evening of the year….

below: In Sir John A. Macdonald Plaza (that’s the space in front of Union Station by Front Street) is an art installation by Masai Ujiri, “Humanity Movement”. There are 35 words that represent what humanity means to Ujiri – words such as compassion, love, selfless, collective that are repeated as they cover the eight foot high installation. A light in the center makes the words appear on the sidewalk and on the structures (and people) around it.

below: Inside the Great Hall at Union Station is an image titled “House of Baby” that is the result of a collaboration between Camille Turner and Camal Pirbhal. It is a image of people in the Great Hall that includes portraits of 18 Indigenous and Black people who were enslaved by the Baby family.

Francois Baby (1768 Detroit – 1852 Windsor Ont) and his brother James (1763 Detroit – 1833 Toronto) were politicians, businessmen and land owners. Francois stayed in what was then the Western District of Upper Canada (around Windsor). His biography is long and I’m not going to go into details here but he did have slaves. James moved to York in 1815 and was part of the establishment – between 1792 and 1830 he held more than 115 appointments or commissions of varying degrees of importance.

In 1793 John Graves Simcoe, then Lieutenant Governor, tried to abolish slavery in Upper Canada but many of the ruling class, including James Baby, were slave owners and outright abolishment failed. Instead there was a compromise made (how Canadian!) and restrictions were put on slave ownership such that by 1833 there were none left. A much more complete history of slavery in Upper Canada can be found in an article at Upper Canada History.

below: On the York Street side of Union Station

below: On the PATH system at 25 York Street there is a mural that is 25 metres long (or 100 feet long); it is “Entire City Project” by Michael Awad, 2009. It is a warped panorama of commuters outside Union Station.

below: The lights hanging from the ceiling are another art piece. “Pixel Matrix”, is a large cube of 30,000 individually controllable LED lights on strings, with constantly changing lighting effects. It was a collaboration between Michael Awad and David Rokeby

below: Making a kraken. One tentacle can be seen in the foreground.

below: The kraken’s eye is a video that plays on a screen bulging from the container that can barely hold its contents. Will the kraken escape? Is Queens Quay safe?