John Street Roundhouse: Toronto Railway Heritage Centre, Steam Whistle, The Rec Room

[kitestate]

Saw the thread on the roundhouse park and looking forward to its opening. wrt to leon's...wondering if other UT'ers have visited (i have been 3 times on peak weekend shopping times) and found to have the same feeling -namely how long will this business last here? i base this solely on the sparse numbers of shoppers i saw each time. the few people that were there were dwarfed by the numbers of sales rep roaming the floors and out of that few number many seemed to be tourists kinda taking pictures of the roundhouse and doing a quick peak a boo before departing. i may be over-analyzing as i am rather attuned to this phenomena happening - particularly in and around the distillery- where some businesses have suffered over the past few years and shut their doors for any number of reasons - though obviously lack of customers being a primary one.

as for reasons- why, location might be the primary. it is close to condos, though not close to a 'shopping district' i am sure there is parking for the leon's (and possibly free) but for my partner and i, finding parking for less than $20 around there on a saturday afternoon was quite an ordeal. and yes, i realize it's probably not the point to drive there but we were returning from out of town and wanted to drop in to potentially buy a chair/table etc

so, here's hoping leon's can survive for some time to showcase the structure (however controversial one may consider it's conversion)

 

[Long Island Mike]

Leon's Roundhouse with the Toronto Railway Heritage Center...

Everyone: Good pics of the restored Leon's Roundhouse along with the Toronto Railway Heritage Center's preserved equipment on display adjacent to the CN Tower as a preserved part of the old Railway Lands. It is a interesting combination here...LI MIKE

 

[vistaway]

Saw the thread on the roundhouse park and looking forward to its opening. wrt to leon's...wondering if other UT'ers have visited (i have been 3 times on peak weekend shopping times) and found to have the same feeling -namely how long will this business last here? i base this solely on the sparse numbers of shoppers i saw each time. the few people that were there were dwarfed by the numbers of sales rep roaming the floors and out of that few number many seemed to be tourists kinda taking pictures of the roundhouse and doing a quick peak a boo before departing. i may be over-analyzing as i am rather attuned to this phenomena happening - particularly in and around the distillery- where some businesses have suffered over the past few years and shut their doors for any number of reasons - though obviously lack of customers being a primary one.

I heard the same from a Steam Whistle employee over the weekend - the Leon's has been doing very, very poorly. That's not a good sign. Hope things pick up for them.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Leon's rocks!

If we must tolerate a Leon's or other retail intrusion here, I will credit them with as sympathetic a job of so-doing as one could hope for.....

That's my way of saying, thank goodness its not as bad as I feared!

That said, I still hope, one day, we ditch the Leon's and expand the museum.

But, we still need to put the connecting track to the mainline back!

What about that pesky Convention Centre in the way???? Pfft, Convention Centres are a dime a dozen, but not Convention Centres with historic trains running through them!

I see tourist $$$$

Much as I like their beer (well, all beer...) Steamwhistle is way worse than Leon's when it comes to showcasing the Roundhouse. I love what Leon's has done. This whole set up (park, museum, brewery, store) is a great addition to downtown.

 

[mr airbus]

They have clearly spent millions of dollars on this at arguably the worst time in the last 50 years. I still think the name Leon's has no value with the clientele they hope to attract. Even if the merchandise is 100% different than the Leon's in Brampton; young, urban types will have a hard time forgetting the Ho-ho-ho hold the payments jingle and pictures of sectional sofas with cup-holders image while looking for a knock of barcelona chair for their loft.

If they want to be hip and urban they should have dumped the Leon's name.

 

[MatrixElement]

Leons Flyers

They have clearly spent millions of dollars on this at arguably the worst time in the last 50 years. I still think the name Leon's has no value with the clientele they hope to attract. Even if the merchandise is 100% different than the Leon's in Brampton; young, urban types will have a hard time forgetting the Ho-ho-ho hold the payments jingle and pictures of sectional sofas with cup-holders image while looking for a knock of barcelona chair for their loft.

If they want to be hip and urban they should have dumped the Leon's name.

Haven't you seen their latest flyers? They're hip! They're cool!

1. Suburban college kids transitioning into yuppihood.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/3957884822/in/set-72157622462487442

2. Catering to male Asian lesbian fantasies.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/3957884854/in/set-72157622462487442

3. Hipster faux-white-trash karaoke party:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/3957106467/in/set-72157622462487442

4. Several thoughts come to mind, but this is a family site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/3957106497/in/set-72157622462487442

5. Sauve guy chillin' with glass of wine and watching the skyline on his big screen TV:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/3957884956/in/set-72157622462487442

On a more serious note, are people aware of the Toronto Railway Historical Association website? They have excellent updates on the park and rail museum progress at http://www.trha.ca/news.html

 

[mr airbus]

Its still Leon's.

 

[MatrixElement]

New Flyer

Another Leon's Roundhouse flyer came in the mail yesterday. They've dropped the silly hipster pictures and gone back to a more traditional loud, garish red and yellow "Sale-a-bration! Pay absolutely nothing! not even the taxes! for 16 months!" They're also quoting Christopher Hume saying "... a phenomenon that will change the face of retailing in North America."

 

[urbandreamer]

Went there on the weekend.

Absolutely appalling.

(The building however is stunning, and should be used as a community centre/cafe or three/bookstore/library.)

 

[MatrixElement]

I was walking by today and it appears that most of the park itself is done. Most of the fencing has been removed, except for the area where they are restoring all the cute little old train buildings and hobbit housing. I could not take pictures because I was carrying groceries. The park seems nice enough at first glance and the grass sod is still in incredibly good shape.

 

[MatrixElement]

November 7 Pictures

Perhaps we should start a separate thread for Roundhouse Park separate from Leons in P&C instead of Retail. Anyhow, some pictures from today:

The many train buildings undergoing restoration, including the Don Station:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/4083801179/in/set-72157622756392786

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/4084560348/in/set-72157622756392786

An old train signal that the museum folks salvaged and restored:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/4084560804/in/set-72157622756392786

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41002894@N07/4084560904/in/set-72157622756392786

 

[Tuscani01]

What a gem! This park is going to be amazing. I love the skyline shot with the little railway buildings in the foreground.

What are the plans for those buildings anyway? Will they just be sitting there empty, or is the city going to use them for something good? Don Station would make a neat little cafe.

 

[DavidJamesTO]

I think they're going to be using it as the station for the miniature railway that they're building on the grounds. I expect they'll put offices or a gift shop in as well to generate funds. No idea what Cabin D will be doing.

 

[bar1967]

...and if and when the CN tower base is re-done with a new plaza it will really make the area more visually interesting

 

[DSC]

I think they're going to be using it as the station for the miniature railway that they're building on the grounds. I expect they'll put offices or a gift shop in as well to generate funds. No idea what Cabin D will be doing.

I agree the Park might warrant a separate thread and you might also want to see the Toronto Railway Historical Association's website for their plans and projects. http://www.trha.ca/news.html