That would be a velodrome. "Velo" = bicycle. The sport of bicycle track-racing was very popular in Toronto and many other world cities at the time.amazing that that track is banked.....wonder what raced there???
Studying this pic very closely, wondering what the 'stadium roof' structure would be to the southwest of pic...only to notice why the streetcar is stopped. Broke the transom pole, being replaced, that must be a TTC truck behind the streetcar, ostensibly fixing the catenary.Broadview at Danforth, looking S., 1954
View attachment 117192
Not the same lens angle, or the same focal point, but this gives a reasonable comparison to today:Yes, the streetcar loop was at the present subway station.
I also noticed the stadium-like structure at the right of the photo.
There was once a baseball field/park in that area -- I watched a few games there--- long before the present school was built.
However, I don't recall any large stadium seating.......perhaps the school added that seating to their sports field.
Incredible digging! I'm now more intrigued than ever on the story of that area. And the continuing question: Is life better today? Best I stop there, save to note what is now the ramp to the DVP being a road already extant at that time. That must have been a naturally formed ravine.Hers' a 1953 aerial photo of Broadview-Danforth area.
Top circle is the TTC loop.
Middle circle, the baseball field I previously mentioned.
Bottom circle, appears to be a new track & stadium.
http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/09/a_brief_history_of_crossing_the_don_river/[...]
Scattered throughout the valley are several abandoned, seldom used, and vacant spaces left by demolished former bridges that once crossed the Don at the river bank rather than the valley wall. Almost every major crossing point south of the Evergreen Brick Works is on its second or third bridge, with the old structures torn down in favour of greater strength, width and height.
The first crossings over the lower Don River, once a powerful, meandering waterway prior to a major engineering project in the late 1800s, were probably nothing more than logs lashed together over a narrow part of the water, much like Playter's Bridge, (shown above, and drawn by Elizabeth P. Simcoe, the wife of John Graves Simcoe).
Playter's Bridge was located parallel to Winchester Street in today's Cabbagetown - a road that once continued down into the Don valley past Necropolis Cemetery. The same crossing point would later be home to the first major bridge over the Don, the larger Winchester Street bridge, shown below with The Isolation Hospital - a precursor to Bridgepoint Health - in the background. The Riverdale Park pedestrian bridge stands just south of the old Winchester Street crossing, which is now, sadly, gone. [...]
Figured it out, Googling took me to "Rare Maps" at this site, and many of the posters in this string, and then found a link in the Rare Maps string toEdit to Ask: Any guesses on that railway bridge behind Winchester Bridge? I know a rail line used to run up the Don on the east side as well as west side south of the CP's present idle crossing point.
Excellent leads!Back to the stadium. It's a mystery. Never saw it on a map, and only appears briefly in aerial photos between ~1950-60. Looked online and the scant info says it probably is Millen Stadium, or Millen Memorial Stadium. Archived G&M article says originally called Viaduct Stadium before honouring Millen.
http://www.blogto.com/city/2012/11/that_time_when_toronto_went_stadium_crazy/It's worth noting that the route for the subway hadn't been finalized in the above map and two possible alignments are shown: one over the Prince Edward Viaduct and one under the Don Valley further south. Had a stadium been approved for Riverdale Park it's possible the route of the Bloor-Danforth line could have been altered to accomodate the project.
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