JasonParis
Moderator
Are you serious? The potential of those silos and the story they tell about our waterfront are exactly ripe for a "travel-to-see landmark."
Toronto Bathurst Quay Revitalization | ?m | 2s | City of Toronto | Kearns Mancini
DavidCapizzano
Senior Member
I have to agree with the original poster. I wouldn't be upset if they came down clearing the way for more greenspace and unlocked views vs a museum about alcohol that only the few get to enjoy.
DSC
Superstar
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Added emphasis! The silos remind us (and tourists) that Toronto's formation was as a port city. They (and the ones at Parliament) should/could certainly be 'tidied up" but definitely not knocked down - or allowed to crumble!
JasonParis
Moderator
They also beautifully bookend the waterfront on each end.
Lenser
Senior Member
Mark me down as someone who emphatically want to see the silos remain, but artfully repurposed. We're all too handy at erasing our civic history as it is.
JasonParis
Moderator
There are also so many examples of successfully repurposed silos internationally, that our time will come.
3Dementia
Senior Member
Ed your bronze statue is funded and underway, but before fabrication... could u send a more recent photo than supplied? I understand the temptation (hurts to age), but a recent shot might yield a more majestic, memorable profile.
Towered
Superstar
Even as close as St. Jacob's.
JasonParis
Moderator
Even closer (I checked the map)... Buffalo!
ndawgg
Active Member
Late to the pun party but it should obviously be called “The Boozeum” ?
kweku
Active Member
Honestly, if you are counting on Silos to become travel-to-see-landmark on your waterfront, then you need Jesus to save your city's architecture.
Silos belong to farm lands not urban centers and I don't think anyone would wake up in the morning anywhere in the world and scream in excitement to their kids that "We are going to see silos"
Toronto has already missed several opportunities to make our waterfront an envy of the world but admitting several bland gray glass slabs that should have been built in Markham or Milton
We cannot become a joke of the world by embracing old farm land structures containing dangerous gases to litter out waterfront
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Those aren't just any old farm silo. They were innovative when they were put up and have been designated as heritage structures for a reason. And given that grain was brought to the silos by ship, Markham wouldn't have been a great choice. 
Towered
Superstar
I distinctly remember the gross, flour-ey smell from the silos when passing by on the Gardiner as a kid in the 80's...
But if you were heading west, you would then get the Mr. Christie cookie smell as a bonus
Lenser
Senior Member
Let's dispel a few silly misconceptions here.
No one's counting on these silos to save the waterfront all on their own. Let's not pretend otherwise, OK? But let me just say in passing that plenty of cities have done spectacular things to buildings which were once a vital part of their industry - think of London's handling of the Battersea Power Station, for example. The continued existence of such transformed structures speaks of a legacy and a sense of history of their respective cities as entities which evolve in interesting and vital ways.
You see some crumbling old "farm land structures." Wrong! There was no farm here. They were there specifically to service the grain shipping industry... yes, our city has a history of being a port, too! It was once a very important part of the city's commercial life.
I think you're suffering from a lack of imagination. You clearly have no idea what potentially could be done with these silos; all I see is someone whose impatience eclipses all else.
I don't even know what you expect should go in place of those silos anyway.... we know you don't like much of what you see in contemporary Toronto, so perhaps you'll enlighten us all about what precisely the city needs in place of the silos?