Miscellany Toronto Photographs: Then and Now

[J T CUNNINGHAM]

"Bank of Toronto, N/W corner Church-Wellington, 1868"
Prof Goldie.

Well, we all can salute David Walsh and his brother for the save/restore of another Gooderham edifice,
that being, 49 Wellington St West, ala The Flatiron Building, bought from the City of Toronto.

Regards,
J T

 

[ElJay]

Bank of Toronto, N/W corner Church-Wellington, 1868

View attachment 118558

View attachment 118559
Google street-view:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sV3AZCZH_UMK4zbsYDeuccw!2e0

It seems I'll never get over it. Every time I see a before and after like this, an exquisite edifice destroyed and ultimately replaced by an unimaginative, generic p.o.s., I just want to scream. "Urban renewal" was a 10 year period of mass dementia.

 

[thecharioteer]

It seems I'll never get over it. Every time I see a before and after like this, an exquisite edifice destroyed and ultimately replaced by an unimaginative, generic p.o.s., I just want to scream. "Urban renewal" was a 10 year period of mass dementia.

Probably more like 25 years. In any case, one has to put oneself in the mindset of a Torontonian landowner or politician in the 1950's to understand the mass destruction. The older city looked shabby, Victorian architecture was not valued (in the context of the Modern Movement) and it was the Age of the Automobile which needed parking spaces downtown. Remember that O'Keefe Centre was intended to revitalize the neighbourhood (and the Board of Trade building was demolished across the street to provide parking).

This shot of Front Street in the 1950's (when the Bank of Toronto was still standing), illustrates the air of abandonment with its broken sidewalks and empty streets.

 

[Goldie]

Canadian Bank of Commerce N-W corner King-Jarvis 1972 (built 1907)

Google street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sSQdp7VLXtdX9h_HnyPT9_Q!2e0

 

[ElJay]

Probably more like 25 years. In any case, one has to put oneself in the mindset of a Torontonian landowner or politician in the 1950's to understand the mass destruction. The older city looked shabby, Victorian architecture was not valued (in the context of the Modern Movement) and it was the Age of the Automobile which needed parking spaces downtown. Remember that O'Keefe Centre was intended to revitalize the neighbourhood (and the Board of Trade building was demolished across the street to provide parking).

This shot of Front Street in the 1950's (when the Bank of Toronto was still standing), illustrates the air of abandonment with its broken sidewalks and empty streets.

View attachment 118661

Your points are all well taken. Front St in the 50s looks shabby, yes, but it has character. I may be just weird, but I'd take that gritty, crumpled vista over the current profligation of mediocre, glass and steel sameness any day.

 

[adma]

It seems I'll never get over it. Every time I see a before and after like this, an exquisite edifice destroyed and ultimately replaced by an unimaginative, generic p.o.s., I just want to scream. "Urban renewal" was a 10 year period of mass dementia.

Though it's worth noting that the replacement pavilion, by TD "house architect" A. Bruce Etherington, actually had a bit of a cult following by the 90s. Unfortunately, said following was deflated once TD relinquished it to Pizza Pizza and it lost its Miesian "purity" through renos...

 

[W. K. Lis]

Toronto should get into the habit of repairing old buildings, not destroying them.

Like what they did in Warsaw:

 

[Bogtrotter]

Certainly a beauty- I'd take one of these over a dozen generic point towers. The Registry building ( https://tayloronhistory.com/tag/old-registry-building-toronto/ ) is another one that also pains me to think about- bold and gorgeous. I'm not a huge fan of the new city hall and NPS which replaced it- much of it an empty and quite unattractive space in my opinion. The registry building reminds me of Edifice Ernest Cormier in Montreal which thankfully is still standing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Édifice_Ernest-Cormier

 

[Skeezix]

Toronto should get into the habit of repairing old buildings, not destroying them.

Like what they did in Warsaw:

I don't think comparisons with Warsaw are apt at all (or even appropriate).

 

[Goldie]

Toronto St. 1897 (more likely c.1904)

The General Post Office at end of Toronto St. (on Adelaide St. E.) was demolished in 1958.

Note sign for "Monarch Visible" (above the two women). That typewriter company was formed in 1904, so there's a discrepancy with the assigned date of the photo (1897).

Google street view:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/T...2!3m1!1s0x89d4cb32476d17c3:0xc0286b92ad186853

 

[Bogtrotter]

Beautiful terminating vista- looks like a little slice of Paris. Perhaps would have made an awesome plaza. Good catch on the date.

 

[Koolgreen]

those side walks of yesteryear in front of the monarch sign. were they actual curb pieces and slabs of stone layed down to make the side walk or were they poured cement?

 

[DSC]

those side walks of yesteryear in front of the monarch sign. were they actual curb pieces and slabs of stone layed down to make the side walk or were they poured cement?

Since Toronto modeled itself on English cities (where they were common) I suspect they were 'paving stones'.

 

[Skeezix]

those side walks of yesteryear in front of the monarch sign. were they actual curb pieces and slabs of stone layed down to make the side walk or were they poured cement?

Probably concrete or cement. If the photo above is 1904-1910ish, there are photos on the Toronto Archives site (like the one below on Crawford in 1915) which suggest that Toronto was using concrete for sidewalks around that time. Also the photo below of the man on College Street (which the Archives site dates to 189?, but could very well be post 1900) seems to show concrete sidewalks.

 

[adma]

I don't think comparisons with Warsaw are apt at all (or even appropriate).

Also, the buildings in the newer photo look less "repaired" than like newer (Stalin-era?) creations.