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Here's a neat one I took notice of today: 76 Church. Doesn't look like much at all. On the surface just a rundown building nobody would second guess. But look at it from other angles like where it backs onto Court Sq and it's quite interesting. Very tall at the back (9s), very tight floorplate. But there's more - it has a weird copper dome/spire. Is or was a hostel, but nine stories and a spire? Was that added later, and when?

Was a hostel, but currently or recently leased to the City as a shelter.

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Interesting! Completed in 1869!!!

One of Toronto's older buildings!

 
This gem with the gorgeous windows at St. Clair & Old Weston Road.

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Google Streetview
 
It'd likely be the frontage that's 1869, of course. The rear part w/the dome is presumably later (and it was a hotel of some sort before the hostel took over).

I'd presume the leasing-out is a momentary pandemic condition: the HI International site says "Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this hostel is closed until further notice." (Though much as with Greyhound, it'd be interesting if the pandemic leads to Hostelling International Canada shutting down operations altogether as well--strike another blow for those late c20 standbys of cheap youth travel)
 
This gem with the gorgeous windows at St. Clair & Old Weston Road.

View attachment 329682
Google Streetview
Not sure if that qualifies as "lesser recognized". It's pretty well known, and was especially awesome before the turret came down:
 
Great thread, I'm only just seeing it now (it's also been a while since I've been active here).

I used to live around the corner from the Scarborough Church of God and have always been fond of it. Scarborough has a number of gems hidden away in plain sight, possibly overlooked due to the general downtrodden appearance of most of its streetscapes. Scarborough Junction especially is an area that seems ripe with potential.

ScarboroughChurchofGod1.jpg
 
I could probably fill a page or two with Scarborough churches, take for example the lovely and seemingly out of place Italianate St. Lawrence Martyr on Lawrence Ave E near Birchmount. I was quite surprised to find out it was built in 1960 considering Modernism was full steam ahead by then, and it doesn't come across as "schlock-y" for being what some might consider historicist pastiche.

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Article on the new water treatment plant designed by gh3 in the West Donlands area:


“So much money gets spent on it, but the incremental cost of adding architecture is relatively small. It’s an easy way for cities to make themselves more beautiful.”

This quote right here, this needs to be the message front and centre every time bad design or value engineering rears its ugly head. I've always thought that there's no excuse for all the bland, banal and cheap new construction in this city; these buildings already have millions, if not hundreds of millions invested into them. We should be demanding better design in everywhere, from private residential developments to our civic buildings and spaces.
 
Great thread, I'm only just seeing it now (it's also been a while since I've been active here).

I used to live around the corner from the Scarborough Church of God and have always been fond of it. Scarborough has a number of gems hidden away in plain sight, possibly overlooked due to the general downtrodden appearance of most of its streetscapes. Scarborough Junction especially is an area that seems ripe with potential.

View attachment 344241

Where is the Scarborough Junction area?
 
Where is the Scarborough Junction area?

Where the Stouffville GO line meets the Lakeshore GO line; that's the physical junction from whence the name arrives.

You can think of the Scarborough GO Station on the LSE as the neighbourhood landmark.

The geographical reference will tend to be used a bit more to the areas north-east of the station, heading in the direction of Danforth Road + St. Clair vs the areas south and east.
 
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