It's not like the brick work was load bearing. The damage to the building itself probably wasn't as bad as it looks
 
I'm not condoning what has transpired here but not all owners are made of cash. Grants only offset the costs as well. They could very well be slum lords but I'm not going to make any rash conclusions on their long term visions. I think it's also a slippery slope to force owners to comply or sell just because a building isn't in prestine condition. It should be safe of course but, at this point it may not have been the condition of the building but oversight on the city which allowed the renovation that led to the failure.
 
It's hard to tell from the photos but I think I see two distinct layers of brick which could mean the brick wall is/was a bearing wall. Originally, there likely was no stud wall.
 
whatever said:
It's not like the brick work was load bearing. The damage to the building itself probably wasn't as bad as it looks
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There appears to be a new lintel above the retrail windows which is holding the upper two floors of masonry. The joists probably run parallel to the fallen masonry but I would consider the masonry load bearing.
 
W. K. Lis said:
20100416_wall-collapse-01.jpg


Bicycles damaged in collapse. War on the bicycle escalates?

Round up the usual suspects.
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It appeares to me that the signage pulled out a/several course of brick . . .

Regards,
J T
 
They just put the sushi restaurant in which probably escalated the building's demise.

The landlord was asking about $30,000.00 a month for rent. Why they would put a restaurant in is beyond me, there is no way they will make it.
 
Kingsway said:
They just put the sushi restaurant in which probably escalated the building's demise.

The landlord was asking about $30,000.00 a month for rent. Why they would put a restaurant in is beyond me, there is no way they will make it.
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previous tenant to the sushi place was an 'upscale' trendy hot dog place in a retro American diner style. they did a massive overhaul of the space. they lasted about 6 months before they went into arrears and the landlord called the Sheriff. there hasn't been a long term tenant in that space since about the early 90's: Music World was there for at least 10 years....
 
According to the Sun website the whole building is being torn down 'as we speak' - sad.

Demolition crews began tearing down a three-storey Gould St. building Saturday afternoon after the dramatic collapse of its brick façade Friday afternoon.

Insulation, debris and bricks crashed to the ground around 2:30 p.m. when a demolition crane began ripping off the roof of the building.

"We have a crew here to remove the unstable parts of the building so we can make it safe," said Ann Borooah, the city's chief building official.

"What they've been doing this morning is capping off services, which are almost complete, then they'll start working on the building from the middle where the wall collapsed."

The downtown Yonge St. area will likely be closed off until Monday, Borooah said, impacting about 60 area businesses, including retail outlets and restaurants.

No one was injured in the incident on Friday.
 
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Unsurprisingly, it's not getting better. I was down there around 5:30 taking pictures - around that time another part of the brick facade collapsed, but thankfully not much. Even so - I didn't think you could get so much dust out of a building.

 
Well, at least we don't have to decide how to preserve this building anymore. Here's looking forward to something new, shiny, and glassy.
 
Probably an inside job. Owner knew how much the property was worth with condos going everywhere now, the metropolis complex recently sold, etc. Now it's a pity Brookfield didn't buy metropolis, then buy this site and build that office tower here I talked about in another thread months ago....
 
"extremely unfortunate--i hope the landlord is happy" QUOTE. thedeepend.


This is similar to the structural failure of the terraces on Shuter Street a couple of years back.

Regards,
J T
 
No effin way!! This is even more sad than the Queen St. West fire! :(

Does this mean Salad King is gone?? Whoa! Too much to bare :(
 
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