Is Balzac's Coffee part of the corporate conspiracy haunting the distillery district? It comes from Statford, so it must be!
 
Think of Stratford in terms of a larger NOTL--maybe better for being larger; but still, definitely Zoomer to a fault (to use Moses Znaimer's parlance)

Balzac's is Central Perk for Zoomers.
 
Well I'm not sure what 'Zoomer' means (I'm assuming it's something good if as you say Stratford is it to a fault...) but aside from school kids Stratford attracts a certain type of tourist, one that is a little 'arty' or a little retired. I mean, why else go all that way out of the way? NOTL captures a different tourist altogether, a spill-over crowd from the Falls, trying to round out their stay by venturing out a little further afield. Aside from GTAers dropping in to see a show or visit a winery on a Sunday afternoon, the majority of visitors arrive on bus tours.
 
Photos taken this morning:

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You can kind of make out a bit of the cladding starting to go in the parking lot section of the podium in this picture - it basically looks like silver...metal.
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Windows are in on the south side of the podium, although it's a bit hard to tell in this picture.
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I was just down there and I'm feeling very optimistic about this one. What these photos don't show is the fact that the southern edge creates a wonderful pedestrian mall at an angle to Mill Street, connecting down to the central plaza. The podium is just the right height. If it had been a 12-storey slab, it would have been oppressive. The point tower really doesn't intrude at all: most of the time in the Distillery, you're so close into the buildings that there's not much point staring too far up.

I was really anti-Distillery for many of the same reasons as UD above (except it reminded me of an overpriced Muskoka main drag rather than Stratford). I don't know exactly what's changed in my little tarry heart - spring in the air, perhaps? - but last night I realised: hey, it's not God's gift to Toronto's urbanity, it's a tourist district, and bully for it. They're building a whole new neighborhood next door; let's get stressed about that instead and demand that it be affordable and down-to-earth. The Distillery, meanwhile, is a tourist attraction, and a neato one too. Nothing wrong with that.

ADDITION: Oh, can someone spell out the difference between Pure and Clear Spirits? And what then is the name (and thread?) of the Clewes twins that were supposed to go along the railway berm? Or am I hopelessly confused?
 
Sir Novelty Fashion said:
ADDITION: Oh, can someone spell out the difference between Pure and Clear Spirits? And what then is the name (and thread?) of the Clewes twins that were supposed to go along the railway berm? Or am I hopelessly confused?
Click to expand...

Maybe if you merge these Cleweses with the Cleweses up at the ballet school on Jarvis, you get "The Spirit Of Radio"
 
tylergreenleaf said:
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I love this contrast. I think the towers are going to work out quite well in "the district".

Sir Novelty, this tower is called "Pure Spirit". There will be another one that I think will look almost identical called "Clear Spirit" going up close by.
 
It hasn't been made absolutely clear yet (sorry), but it would appear that the second of the two towers of what we were calling Clear Spirit is to be called the Gooderham. In total that will still mean three towers onsite: Pure Spirit, Clear Spirit, and Gooderham.

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