[Aladone]

Do you really want to go with the word “dull†in this instance? Also, forgive me if I fail to see what is particularly “urban†in the “new lookâ€. In any case, I think your thumbs are definitely pointed in the wrong direction—in fact if they are going to be pointing skyward in support of hack renos like that, I suggest we put them under (Bau)Haus arrest until they undergo the necessary retraining.

Honestly, I have no qualms about calling the “old look†dull. That’s the fist thing that came to my mind when I saw the picture. To me there’s nothing great about it, it looks like a couple of cardboard box with windows. There are no significant details to the building at all. Mind you, that may have been the “in design†of the time but compared to some of the other great historical architecture we have seen in this city this building, in my opinion, is lucky to be given a “dull†rating. I would call it a mediocre “dull†at best, and again that’s just my opinion. As Yonge street business fronts in the y2ks I don’t think anything could have been done any differently.

So, thank you for your opinion. Let’s face it; we all love the time traveling, the comparing of how things have change for both good and bad through these historical photographs. On my part, I don’t think any “retraining†will be necessary. In this instance it two thumbs up may have been premature. To me it sounds more like one thumb up and one thumb down.

Again, in my opinion (which we are all entitled to) I think the renos that have been made to this building are well suited for the times we are living in and the area in which the building is located. My thumb continues to point skyward!

 

[adma]

Honestly, I have no qualms about calling the “old look” dull. That’s the fist thing that came to my mind when I saw the picture. To me there’s nothing great about it, it looks like a couple of cardboard box with windows. There are no significant details to the building at all. Mind you, that may have been the “in design” of the time but compared to some of the other great historical architecture we have seen in this city this building, in my opinion, is lucky to be given a “dull” rating. I would call it a mediocre “dull” at best, and again that’s just my opinion. As Yonge street business fronts in the y2ks I don’t think anything could have been done any differently.

By that logic, the Dessau Bauhaus (the photo of which thedeepend posted) is even "duller".

 

[thecharioteer]

Let me call the Beverly Street Baptist Church a horrid piece of late Victorian polychromy that's better off demolished, likewise with the Church of Christ on Cecil Street and thank God! they removed that nightmareish tower already. And watch me get berated for stating my "opinion". Or else, imagine a forum where I'm not berated for stating such an opinion; imagine how insipid such a place would be...

Hey, what's the point of being on a forum if there aren't an exchange of ideas, particularly in challenging architectural orthodoxies. As far as the two Victorian churches, think of them as either very rich desserts or Tim Burton-like fantasies. Wonderful once in awhile, but not healthy on a daily basis. But they definitely add to collage of urban life that is our city.

 

[adma]

You don't even have to defend the churches; all things considered, it's a no-brainer, even these days--I was just offering such "opinion" for the sake of argument, knowing darned well that anyone who *did* seriously offer such opinion today would be shot down in an instant.

Oh, and as far as as opinion-offering goes: we should put a stop to non-white immigration, and a woman's place is in the home. *harrumph*

 

[Lone Primate]

I used to work up here and would zip over to Buttonville on occasion when they were running flights out of there to Montreal. What fascinated me was the dip in the road on Woodbine just north of this intersection. You definitely knew you were passing through what was once a small village because a few of the original wooden one story cottages were still situated very close to the [widened] road. I wonder if they are still there? You certainly couldn't live in them I thought, but some were kept up. This would have been in the early 90s.

Buttonville? Oh, yeah, those places are still there, definitely. A couple of them have heritage plaques on them, I think. Those things crowd four-laned Woodbine Avenue so close you can barely squeeze past them without losing an arm to traffic, but yeah, they're still there. I don't think they're going anywhere. That dip is where the Rouge crosses Woodbine, incidentally.

 

[Mustapha]

Speaking of religious buildings, Mustapha, a little further north on Cecil, just east of Spadina is the church that became a synagogue and then a community centre (losing its rather bizrre tower along the way):

It was bizarre because it was so out of scale.

oh no another one! piling on are we? what is this--"the revenge of the disgruntled"?

anyway, please PM your complaints to me--i really don't want Mustapha's thread highjacked with your grousing. operators are standing by.

sorry Mustapha!

I missed all the raised voices. Shake hands; agree to disagree. Good,

Buttonville? Oh, yeah, those places are still there, definitely. A couple of them have heritage plaques on them, I think. Those things crowd four-laned Woodbine Avenue so close you can barely squeeze past them without losing an arm to traffic, but yeah, they're still there. I don't think they're going anywhere. That dip is where the Rouge crosses Woodbine, incidentally.

Thanks Lone Primate.



February 19 addition.



Then: Bloor and Bathurst NW corner. 1922.

Now: November 2009.

 

[LowPolygon]

Then: Bloor and Bathurst NW corner. 1922.

Now: November 2009.

arrgh!! Pizza Pizza i shake my fist at you! arrggh!!

 

[Mustapha]

arrgh!! Pizza Pizza i shake my fist at you! arrggh!!

thedeepend, I thought a good caption for this would have been "Death to Pizza Pizza". The I realized it it could just as well been "Death by Pizza Pizza"; assuming you eat there every other day as my kid told me once about his high school days.



Heeey-ey UT boys and girls.



Check out this web site. Don't do it at work as you'll never have a productive day at work ever again.


http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/02/64-exquisite-colour-miniatures-of-cornwall-august-1913/



.

 

[LowPolygon]

thedeepend, I thought a good caption for this would have been "Death to Pizza Pizza". The I realized it it could just as well been "Death by Pizza Pizza"; assuming you eat there every other day as my kid told me once about his high school days.

yes--its definitely time for a Pizza Pizza fatwa

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Request. Can someone see if there is a historical photo of that circular school on South-West corner of Spdina circle, with the requisite now photo? Every time I pass by it I'm intrigued by it

 

[Long Island Mike]

Mustapha and everyone: I have not looked here in a while and it is obvious I missed a lot of neat pics here - I will look back and post on some observations here in the coming days/weeks...that Bloor/Bathurst pic shows how much more interesting those older buildings were-compared to the 60s/70s era building that replaced it and yes-Pizza Pizza stands out as noticed... I noticed also the large graffiti tag on the brown apartment building in the background...LI MIKE

 

[adma]

Actually, don't be too harsh on Pizza Pizza in this instance--or at least, if you gotta be harsh, direct it not at the demolition of a Victorian commercial block, but at the overbearing effect on a decent-enough 60s-modern commercial block.

And as much as one may loath Pizza Pizza, there's one element from a previous tenancy that remains curiously unchanged and actually quite cherishable: the twin door handles with the "C"'s on them. (Was that Crown Trust or something? I think a whole lot of their Toronto branches had those door handles with C's--another one being that dingy restaurant conversion at Queen + Lansdowne...)

 

[College Park]

As much as Victorian era buildings (and pictures of them) draw and inspire protective behaviour, including by myself, I perceive how cleansing it must have been for people in the 60-70's to pull down all these heterogeneous ornament-laden buildings and put up pure forms. However, I don't support such broadstroke reformist approaches in dealing with older structures - I'll continue to indulge myself in admiring the odd case of pre-Vatican II-style extravagence.

 

[Lone Primate]

Sheppard bridges over the West Don, 1920, 2009

Actually, there've been three bridges here in the interval listed. The one in the top view was replaced after it was damaged by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, but by another bridge not much more substantial. In the mid 1960s, the current bridge was constructed, carrying four lanes of traffic high over the valley. The site of the original bridge, in the 2009 photo, would be at the bottom right foot of the bridge.

 

[Aladone]

Sheppard bridges over the West Don, 1920, 2009

Actually, there've been three bridges here in the interval listed. The one in the top view was replaced after it was damaged by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, but by another bridge not much more substantial. In the mid 1960s, the current bridge was constructed, carrying four lanes of traffic high over the valley. The site of the original bridge, in the 2009 photo, would be at the bottom right foot of the bridge.

Just as the bridge ends eastward there was a huge sink hole 2 summers ago. Hurricane Hazel did quite a number on this ravine all the way to Dufferin and Finch. Hense the need, at the time, for the dam out there. Legend has it that just south of Sheppard on Bathurst the hurricane also flattend some of the land at the bottom of the hill making room for the present day Jewish Community centre. I would loved to witness Hazel. I can't really get any storys about it from my mother as she was 6 when it happened. Anyone care to share?

I only recently found out that Earl Bales park use to be a golf course back in the day. I used to live just west of this bridge and would wake up every morning to a picture perfect North York skyline. The trees around this bridge during the fall really light up area. I have same TAN of this bridge from another angle, gotta dig it up. Another great find Lone! North York rules!

North York Skyline from west of the bridge