Looking very pleasant along Bloor between Avenue Rd. & Bay.

bloortrees.jpg
 
I love the Pottery barn facade. Is it a new build or is that an older facade from a building that used to occupy the space. It's somewhat art deco looking, or art nouveau.
 
Register123 said:
I love the Pottery barn facade. Is it a new build or is that an older facade from a building that used to occupy the space. It's somewhat art deco looking, or art nouveau.
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That was the University Theatre, a 1500 seat cinema opened in 1949 and closed in fall of 1986. The auditorium was demolished about a year later while the front facade sat derelict for about a decade before that stretch was redeveloped around 2000/2001.
 
Register123 said:
I love the Pottery barn facade. Is it a new build or is that an older facade from a building that used to occupy the space. It's somewhat art deco looking, or art nouveau.
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dt_toronto_geek said:
That was the University Theatre, a 1500 seat cinema opened in 1949 and closed in fall of 1986. The auditorium was demolished about a year later while the front facade sat derelict for about a decade before that stretch was redeveloped around 2000/2001.
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In fact, a large portion of the film festival (then known as the "Festival of Festivals" and now known as the TIFF) was held at the University Theatre.
 
TonyV said:
In fact, a large portion of the film festival (then known as the "Festival of Festivals" and now known as the TIFF) was held at the University Theatre.
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The Yorkville cinemas gave birth to the Festival of Festivals though the Yonge/Elgin was used on occasion for the odd screening. The University was used for the 1986 Festival of Festivals, Aliens was put back in afterward (Top Gun and Aliens were the two films that played there the summer of 1986) and it closed a week later for good.
 
Thanks for that bit of history guys, I haven't lived in Toronto for even 3 years yet, so I'm not very familiar with a lot of it's history.
 
I've done Bloor a lot lately, and I've seen the gardening as it was in progress. This project has been worthwhile, a precedent for other Toronto streets, I hope. It is very unfortunate that the project arrived with nasty baggage attached, because when a proposal comes around to do this to another street, some naysayer will point to all the acrimony instead of the very inviting result.

Kudos to those who conceived this. Next time around, better project management please.
 
All the tulips that were transplanted into the flower beds west of Yonge have all dropped their petals, I don't think they lasted a week, east of Yonge they are still in bloom. Soon the summer planting should commence.
The granite slabs are nearing completion at the north-east corner of 120 Bloor E. (at Church), the missing tree in front of "The Spotted Dick"/"Peridot" has now been planted but the area in front of "French Connection" (just west of Yonge) has yet to be re-graded and tiles laid so most of the loose ends are being tied up here & there. The sidewalks around The Manulife Centre and Colonnade look really drab, I don't understand why these high end malls didn't spring for granite pavers up to their property lines.
 
wow looks fantastic.... woah... if we got this on every major street then we would most definitly take the titles from both Brampton and Victoria
 
I think the one thing where this area really fell short on is the design of the street lamps. Not only is it not Toronto's traditional downtown style, there is also no illumination provided for the sidewalk.

The lamp-post out side of my house has more style and detailing than the ones on bloor.
 
UD2 said:
I think the one thing where this area really fell short on is the design of the street lamps. Not only is it not Toronto's traditional downtown style, there is also no illumination provided for the sidewalk.

The lamp-post out side of my house has more style and detailing than the ones on bloor.
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Agreed. Downtown Yonge has custom black lamp posts, for example. Tall ones extend over the street and short ones over the sidewalk. Both can accomodate advertising banners. I'm surprised that the Bloor Street Revitalization didn't include some kind of chic, designer street lighting. Or hanging flower baskets. Or some kind of LED lighting feature for the holiday season and other special occassions.
 
Weren't they initally planning to use black lampposts? I guess it's something else that got cut out as well.
 
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This is one of the best projects in years, and elevates Bloor's aesthetic to a level of elegance and style that is expected of that area. I just hope it is maintained, TO has a tendency to neglect projects after awhile- nice stonework patched up quickly with blacktop, dead trees not replaced etc.
 
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