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Lost Toronto

It wasn't 30 years old, it was 50. But by 60s standards, still too-new-yet-too-archaic to be deemed "heritage worthy". (Remember that "Toronto: No Mean City" cut off c1900.)
 
Lone Primate said:
It is. It's kind of a neat looking building. Seems so out of place when you see photos of the construction. But at least Old City Hall's still with us. I've seen plans that eliminated it, or, interestingly, left behind only the clock tower, standing alone like a spire.
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Yes, the original, "elaborate" plans for the Eaton Centre, which would of caused the Old City Hall to have lost its "balls".

IMGP7224.jpg
 
Lone Primate said:
It is. It's kind of a neat looking building. Seems so out of place when you see photos of the construction. But at least Old City Hall's still with us. I've seen plans that eliminated it, or, interestingly, left behind only the clock tower, standing alone like a spire.
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The threat to tear down City Hall really galvanized the public at the time and was the leading factor in raising public consciouness regarding the fate of historical civic buildings. Pity it didn't extend to saving privately owned buildings like the Temple Building, the Toronto Dominion Bank and too many others to mention.
 
Why don't we *slide* into a parallel Earth and parallel Toronto where they DID save all those wonderfully beautiful buildings and see how Toronto turned out there? Wouldn't it be cool if we could?

I miss that show lol.
 
I find this hard to believe, but I read that Toronto has lost over 20000 buildings to demolition. What's really sad is the fact that as we reminisce about the loss of historic gems, treasures are still being torn down for frivolous reasons. For example, do you remember the Second Empire style building (residence?) on the south-east corner of Bay and Charles that was knocked down to make way for that lame-assed slab of a condo tower about four years ago? It was beside "The Pawnbroker's Daughter" pub. I remember calling the city councillor's office to complain about its imminent disappearance. I was told that Bay Street is zoned for highrises, end of story. Oh, and that the attractive 19th century building "wasn't deemed architecturally or historically significant". I got so tired of getting responses like that from city politicians about various acts of carelessness that I gave up complaining, figuring that the city was given over almost unconditionally to developers a long time ago.

Another example of our carelessness is our weak heritage designation that only delays the wrecking ball for six months and provides no funding to owners who wish to restore. The saddest example of this in recent memory is the loss of Walnut Hall at Shuter and Jarvis. This heritage property was so neglected by its owners that it literally crumbled to pieces. It seemed like the city couldn't wait to demo what remained of it in the name of "safety." There were no emergency measures taken to rescue the building. A row of buildings in downtown Guelph that was severely damaged by fire is in the process of restoration. No such luck for Walnut Hall.

Toronto's early plans have many grand gestures. Some examples persist today, such as terminus buildings at the top of Bay, University, and Spadina. There is even one as you look west down Adelaide toward Bathurst. You don't see it by car since Adelaide runs one-way east from Bathurst. Wellington Street has Portland park and Clarence Square as bookends to its western section between Spadina and Bathurst. Yet very little effort has been made to improve the boulevards along Wellington. The city leaves it all to private developers.

I could go on and on...
 
gibsonm said:
I find this hard to believe, but I read that Toronto has lost over 20000 buildings to demolition. What's really sad is the fact that as we reminisce about the loss of historic gems, treasures are still being torn down for frivolous reasons. For example, do you remember the Second Empire style building (residence?) on the south-east corner of Bay and Charles that was knocked down to make way for that lame-assed slab of a condo tower about four years ago? It was beside "The Pawnbroker's Daughter" pub. I remember calling the city councillor's office to complain about its imminent disappearance. I was told that Bay Street is zoned for highrises, end of story. Oh, and that the attractive 19th century building "wasn't deemed architecturally or historically significant". I got so tired of getting responses like that from city politicians about various acts of carelessness that I gave up complaining, figuring that the city was given over almost unconditionally to developers a long time ago.
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Ah, La Scala - yes, that was a major blow, and to be replaced by such a mediocre piece of cahcah, which still looks unfinished
 
Early Eaton Centre plans....

JC: How old was that rendering showing the Eaton Centre and what would have happened to Old City Hall? I like the way the Eaton Centre came out 30 years ago-Old City Hall is one of Toronto's treasures! LI MIKE
 
I think it's very important to preserve historical neighbourhoods (though I guess it's a bit late now) in addition to just individual buildings. Old Montreal, for example, is remarkable not for its individual buildings (though some are very impressive) but for its extent and cohesiveness. Virtually all of its buildings have been preserved. I would gladly have traded even Old City Hall in exchange for preserving the whole Old Town of York area.
 
That book looks depressing and great at the same time. Like I always say, they just don't build buildings like they used to. I love the 1800s-early 1900s design aesthetics of buildings, and it's incredibly sad to see pictures of buildings needlessly torn down.

Much of Toronto's downtown skyscrapers are bland and boring, couldn't they have at least built on top of existing buildings like they did with One King West? One can dream.

edit. also, Janneclaude, or anyone, where could I find nice photographic prints of historic Toronto like the ones in your second post. I'd love some like that, King St. looks spectacular.
 
unimaginative2 said:
I think it's very important to preserve historical neighbourhoods (though I guess it's a bit late now) in addition to just individual buildings. Old Montreal, for example, is remarkable not for its individual buildings (though some are very impressive) but for its extent and cohesiveness. Virtually all of its buildings have been preserved. I would gladly have traded even Old City Hall in exchange for preserving the whole Old Town of York area.
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I agree. Unfortunately, even area's we have like that now, such as the Distillery, are going to be ruined by grossly out of scale condos.
 
Darkstar416 said:
Although there's little dreaminess to 1 King West.
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Admittedly I don't know much about the development, but I personally like the building. At least from a strictly aesthetic sense, from seeing it whenever I'm walking that area. What's wrong with it?
 
adma said:
It wasn't 30 years old, it was 50. But by 60s standards, still too-new-yet-too-archaic to be deemed "heritage worthy". (Remember that "Toronto: No Mean City" cut off c1900.)
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Well, no. It was one of the buidlings that was a part of the City Beautiful plan for Toronto. I was the last to go up, in the 1930s. So it was hardly historic, or unique, in the early 1960s.

Just like the old TD building that was thankfully destroyed for the TD Centre. A run of the mill pastiche of historical styles was replaced by something unique, designed by the greatest architect of our time.
 
The Registry building was built in 1917. Moreover, it was not demolished for New City Hall. It was demolished for that little-used plaza and the parking garage entrance between New City Hall and the courthouse.
 
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