More Lost Toronto in colour

[FAC33]

"But admittedly the Blitzkrieg of downtown east went way beyond those blocks earmarked for new cultural facilities."
QUOTE: Thecharioteer.

I was thinking the term "Clear Cut", would be appropriate, but a book of the same name

CLEARCUT C1997, Gene Threndyle & John Martins - Manteiga

That's the book on the demolition of the Woolworth building (where Trump now stands). I own a copy. It was specifically torn down for parking, which was supposedly needed more at the time than a low-rise Moderne building.

 

[thecharioteer]

Thanks to Vintage Toronto facebook First photo i have ever seen of the old Four Seasons when it was Hyatt.

Great find, gabe! It also captures Avenue Road pre-Hazelton Lanes, and the old apartment building on Cumberland east of the hotel.

 

[LowPolygon]

the Toronto Skyline here is rather fanciful. its clearly derived from the real thing, but enhanced in such a way as to boost the sense of a 'big city' vista, especially on the western edge with Avenue Road seeming to be a thoroughfare of glistening lights and imaginary towers.

 

[thecharioteer]

That's the book on the demolition of the Woolworth building (where Trump now stands). I own a copy. It was specifically torn down for parking, which was supposedly needed more at the time than a low-rise Moderne building.

Haven't read the book, but wouldn't it be more accurate to say that the land's best interim use was as a parking lot, instead of the existing building, until it was sold for redevelopment (which came about a few years later in 2000 when the land was sold for the first incarnation of the Ritz-Carlton?).

 

[CityPlaceN1]

The property became expendable when Walmart took over and moved the headquarters, which had been in the Woolworth building, to Mississauga.

 

[AlbertHWagstaff]

The property became expendable when Walmart took over and moved the headquarters, which had been in the Woolworth building, to Mississauga.

Much like the Bay-Wellington building discussed recently, it had the appearance of a run-down building in need of renovation, and housing "The Bargain Shop" on the ground floor, which replaced the old Woolworth store when Wal-Mart took over, didn't help. With better space available around the core at the time (1995-96) I doubt anyone was calling up to rent space there, so down it came. The Herbert House building on the north-east corner of Bay & Adelaide did undergo a renovation around that time, but in the end, it was consumed by the new Bay-Adelaide Centre. Until the Woolworth building was demolished, Bay & Adelaide was one of a few intersections in the financial district which looked essentially unchanged from decades past on all four corners.

 

[thecharioteer]

1969:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/59662214@N06/6137188959/in/set-72157627000509620/

1935:

https://www.facebook.com/VintageTor...799190.-2207520000.1366208163.&type=3&theater

 

[thecharioteer]

Bloor/Yonge subway 1960's:

https://www.facebook.com/VintageTor...41132104.59461.256041347799190&type=3&theater

 

[CityPlaceN1]

Very cool drawing. Would love to see a printed version of it.

 

[Koolgreen]

That's Toronto fer ya!

nice avatar

 

[CityPlaceN1]

What a shame about Bata!

 

[Davidackerman]

great pic

 

[can332]

Thanks to Vintage Toronto facebook First photo i have ever seen of the old Four Seasons when it was Hyatt.

"Period" dining rooms seemed to be all the rage in the 1960s. A lot of the postcards from that era feature really over-the-top dining room decor.

http://worldlycanuck.blogspot.ca

 

[thecharioteer]

"Period" dining rooms seemed to be all the rage in the 1960s. A lot of the postcards from that era feature really over-the-top dining room decor.

http://worldlycanuck.blogspot.ca

Ya think?

George's Italian Villa (http://chuckmanothercollection.blogspot.ca/2012/11/postcard-toronto-georges-italian-villa.html):

Old Angelo's: (http://chuckmanothercollection.blogspot.ca/2012/11/postcard-toronto-old-angelos-restaurant.html);

Westbury Hotel Polo Bar (http://chuckmanothercollection.blogspot.ca/2012/07/postcard-toronto-westbury-hotel-475_18.html):

 

[Blovertis]

Great pictures. You could do a whole thread on Toronto's fine dining scene in the Sixties and Seventies. It's interesting that "good" restaurants generally had a well-upholstered, clubby gentleman's feel about them well into the Eighties, despite modernism having taken over architecture decades before.

Although I do remember Noodles on Bay Street having a contemporary look.