Yonge St. | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘Yonge St.’

meet me under the clock

While walking on Yonge Street on the day of the Pride Parade, I noticed that the St. Charles tavern clock tower was visible once more. Also on that day, I heard someone ask the person beside them what the tower was. The answer was something like, “I don’t know what it is but it looks interesting.” I went back this weekend to take some pictures – not quite so many people in the way!

below: The St. Charles as it was back in the 1950’s. It was built by Charles Hemstead who had made his money in real estate and horse breeding. Hemstead sold it in 1958 but it continued as the St. Charles until 1987.

black and white photo from 1955 of the St. Charles Tavern and it's clock tower on YOnge Street

photo credit: 1955. Photo by James Salmon, originally found at Toronto Public Library. I found it online at Toronto.com in an excellent article about the history of the building and its role in the LGBQT community.

I have always associated the tower with the St. Charles Tavern but I now know that the tower pre-dates the St. Charles by many decades. It was built as part of Fire Hall Number 3 in the 1870s. Although the fire hall is long gone (it was replaced by the fire hall on Grosvenor Street in the 1920’s), the clock tower has survived several changes of ownership. It is also going to survive the next change which, of course, is the building of a large glass and steel condo on the southwest corner of Yonge & Grosvenor.

below: The site has been cleared. Looking south from Grosvenor.

below: Looking north up Yonge Street towards Grosvenor. The yellow scaffolding is holding up the brick facade of 480 and 482 Yonge Street. It too will be incorporated into the new development. Can you count how many new condos there are? Did you notice that the two clock faces say different times?

The clock kept time until 1969. It had been maintained by the city up until then. Repairs and upkeep stopped when the city decided that the cost was too much. Maybe it will function once again in the near future.

below: An archway has been built into the back of the clock tower.

a record of changes

Posted: March 20, 2018 in galleries, history, landmarks, locations, old buildings
Tags: architecture, Avard Woolaver, changes, demolished, development, downtown, drug store, empty, Ford Drugs, gallery, George Richardson's mens wear, history, photography, rosticceria, Ryerson, School of Image Arts, street scene, the Zanzibar tavern, Toronto, XTC clothing, Yonge St.

The other day I discovered that there is a small gallery on the 3rd floor of Ryerson’s School of Image Arts. If you want to find it too, it’s in a building that it’s in is attached at the ground floor level to the Ryerson Image Centre on Gould Street. At the moment, there is a small exhibit of photos by Avard Woolaver.

below: The photos are ones that Woolaver took in Toronto in the late 70s and early 80s.

below: This photo is one of Woolaver’s – it is looking towards the northwest corner of Spadina and Queen Street West. For those of us who lived in Toronto at the time, it’s a bit of nostalgia. Somethings are very familiar – the older TTC buses, the car styles, and a lot of the architecture, for example. This photo in particular lends itself nicely to the game of ‘Spot the Differences’….. compare this with

below: …..this. Here is the same intersection, at a similar angle, last week. The large brick building is still there but without a billboard. The poles are no longer wood but they are covered in posters and remnants of posters – so no change there. The street signs have been updated and there is now a streetcar lane in the middle. All in all, I was surprised how little had actually changed in 30ish years.

below: I found this photo online (originally from the Toronto City Archives, 1950?) but before we can play another round of ‘Spot the Differences’, we have to identify these buildings? Any ideas?

below: Here is the same location in the 1980’s (not a photo from the exhibit). Not too many changes. The building that housed George Richards Men’s shop, 361 Yonge Street, was replaced by a dull and boring two storey brick building but the other changes were just to the facades and the owners/tenants. The tavern is still a tavern and the drug store is still a drug store. The large brown building on the top right that you can only see part of is Ryerson College. Unfortunately the Wrigleys ghost sign on the taller building on the left has been covered.

357, 359, and 361 Yonge street in the 1980s including the Zanzibar tavern

photo source BuzzBuzzNews online

below: Fast forward another 30 years. The Zanzibar is all bright lights and dazzle while the building that housed the drug store is now for sale. Ryerson is now a University and has expanded out to Yonge Street – that’s the large blue building in case you are not familiar with the area.

below: If you pull back a bit, and look just a bit farther north on that stretch of Yonge Street, you’ll see that there are many empty buildings

below: … including what was until recently the XTC clothing company. It looks like it has gone through a number of ‘renovations’, not all of which were good. Some traces of its original brick facade can be seen at the top but at street level it is (was?) a mess.

There is a plan to build a 98 storey mixed-use building on this site including just over 900 residential units ranging in size from 520 to 2000 square feet. It will be the tallest residential building in Canada. In the promotional material for YSL Residences, as they will be called, is this: “The epitome of luxury living, designed to elevate the fortunate few who will call it home.”

below: Back to Ryerson, also on the 3rd floor of the School of Image Arts, there was a small series of photographs like this one hanging on the wall in the hallway. There was no sign as to the name of the artist that I could find either on the wall or online. I quite like the technique and the resulting image. Two ideas melded into one. Two time frames in one frame. Two artistic styles combined to create another.

If you are interested in Woolaver’s work, you can find more on his blog.

making voices heard

Posted: March 15, 2018 in events, people
Tags: #lethimwrite, abortion, banners, China, dalai lama, debate, Dundas Square, East Turkistan, flags, free Tibet, Panchen lama, people, placards, protest, Shokjang, signs, Tibet, Uyghurs, Xinjiang province, Yonge St.

Twice this week I have come off the subway at Dundas station, and twice I have come to the surface to the sound of protest chants.

The first time it was a Free Tibet march as it proceeded up Yonge street.

below: “Don’t forget Mr. Lingsta Tseten Dorjee, activist for non-violence. It’s been 5 years since we lost Lingsta Tseten Dorjee”. The banner then goes on to list Dorjee’s five demands including the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

below: More protesters with signs and placards. “Free Shokjang now”. Shokjang is the pen name of a Tibetan blogger who was detained by the Chinese authorities in March of 2015.

This afternoon, it was blue flags that I saw. They are the flags of East Turkistan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. On a map you’ll find it as Xinjiang in the most westerly part of China, right next the the “stans” that became independent after the break up of the USSR (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, etc). The name says autonomous but there is no self-rule or self government for the Uyghurs.

For a brief time in 1949 it was an independent country but it was invaded by communist China that same year. Historically, East Turkistan is part of central Asia. The people are not Chinese but are more closely related to the Turks. The Uyghurs are the indigenous group of East Turkestan.

below: “Stop forced abortion, Freedom for East Turkistan”

below: “Islamic scholar Mohammed Salih killed in Chinese concentration camps. We want justice.” Muhammad Salih Hajim, 82, died in custody back in January, about 40 days after he, his daughter and other relatives were detained in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province. They were held without charges being laid. He was the first to translate the Quran into Uyghur.

Also today, and just around the corner… A few minutes later I ran across another protest. This one was at the corner of Gould and Victoria streets, at Ryerson University. It was a quiet, civilized affair – more like a dance than a protest.

below: Both sides of the right to abortion debate were present.

below: The anti-abortion sign would be turned, the ‘file not found’ sign would be moved in front of it, repeat every couple of minutes.

below: It seemed to be a debate or a dialogue rather than a protest even though the people involved might disagree. For such an emotional and polarizing subject they were being respectful and engaging. At least they have the right to protest…. and to counter protest.

the second half of the band

Posted: September 18, 2017 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: Adrian Hayles, Canadian, Carole Pope, downtown bia, mural, music, tchc, Yonge St.

Last November I blogged about a large 22 storey mural on Yonge Street just below College (music makers on Yonge ). This mural was by Adrian Hayles and it includes many Canadian music icons. Recently, Hayles has created a matching mural of the same size on the other side (south side) of the building at 423 Yonge Street with portraits of more Canadian musicians.

Rush, Goddo, the Band, David Clayton Thomas, Lonnie Johnson, Selome Bey, Carole Pope, Cathy Young, Jay Douglas, Kim Mitchell, Mandala, and John and Lee and the Checkmates are all shown in the mural. It is best seen if you are walking north on Yonge Street although some trees partially block the view.

The mural was commissioned by the Downtown Yonge BIA,

dyke march 2017

Posted: June 25, 2017 in events, people
Tags: #dmto, banners, bare, beads, bikes, crowds, dogs, dyke march, flags, kids, leather, motorcycles, parents, people, pride, resist, signs, t shirt, tattoos, volunteer, wigs, Yonge St.

It’s Pride weekend here in Toronto with its many activities including the usual parades. Yesterday was the Dyke March.

below: As in previous year, the motorcyclists led the parade.

Festival of India parade

Posted: July 18, 2016 in events
Tags: chanting, chariot, clapping, colours, crowd, dancing, families, festival, India, kids, men, parade, people, pulling, ropes, sarees, Toronto, walking, women, Yonge St.

Many people walked and danced, clapped and chanted, as they paraded down Yonge Street on Saturday to start the annual Festival of India weekend.

The parade is similar to an annual procession (Ratha Yatra) that has occurred for centuries in the city of Puri, India as part of a Hindu festival associated with the god Jagannath. Here in Toronto, as in Puri, three chariots constructed to look like temples are pulled through the streets in a procession from one temple to another. Each chariot carries a richly decorated representation of a god, first is Jagannatha (another name for Krishna or God) and then his brother Baladeva and his sister Subhadra. The chariots are pulled by people and the procession symbolizes the pulling of the Lord into our hearts.

In Puri, this Ratha-Yatra procession continues to attract over a million people every year. In Toronto, the numbers aren’t quite that high!