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LUVIT! said:
Lower Jarvis from that angle is a little dreary looking I'd say! However it is changing slowly...very slowly.
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Indeed. The East side of Jarvis between Richmond and Queen has a gas station, Indonesian consulate, low cost hotel and a shelter. All of which don't really have the funds (nor prerogative) to work on improving the ground-level pedestrian experience. The parking lot above on the west side of the street has a development application though which might eventually help to add some vibrancy to the area. I suspect the the eventual Moss Park station will also be a boon for more retail and F&B options in the neighbourhood (not to discount the Mystic Muffin!). I would also love if the Armoury could become something for the public rather than a massive dead zone - not sure that's in the cards anytime soon though.
 
urbanexplorer said:
Indeed. The East side of Jarvis between Richmond and Queen has a gas station, Indonesian consulate, low cost hotel and a shelter. All of which don't really have the funds (nor prerogative) to work on improving the ground-level pedestrian experience. The parking lot above on the west side of the street has a development application though which might eventually help to add some vibrancy to the area. I suspect the the eventual Moss Park station will also be a boon for more retail and F&B options in the neighbourhood (not to discount the Mystic Muffin!). I would also love if the Armoury could become something for the public rather than a massive dead zone - not sure that's in the cards anytime soon though.
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Agreed. Redevelopment of that parking lot is probably the only realistic option of rejuvenating that long stretch of Jarvis between Richmond and Shuter. Maybe even a step closer is the restoration / facade retention of the row of buildings on the NW corner of Queen & Jarvis (demolition has started on the west side). Is the Armoury still being used, other than occasionally as homeless shelter? It's one of the ugliest buildings downtown, not to mention hostile to pedestrians.
 
Rascacielo said:
Is the Armoury still being used, other than occasionally as homeless shelter? It's one of the ugliest buildings downtown, not to mention hostile to pedestrians.
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The Armouries is far more interesting than 90% of the buildings in this city. That old Sears HQ on Jarvis is another. All architecture eventually falls out of favour with a certain generation. 1950-1990, it was pre-WW2 buildings that fell out of favour and people attempted to demo all of it. This is no different. 60s/70s architecture is the current target for annihilation.

You can bet your bottom dollar that in 40 years, the new generation will be aghast and livid at what this generation did to 60s/70s buildings. PEOPLE NEVER LEARN. Hopefully, some examples of 60s/70s architecture will survive and others can be restored. Otherwise, we will have stripped and lost yet another valuable (and beautiful imo) piece of historical layering.

'But it's ugly', I hear the current generation responding with. That's exactly what people said when they tore down the old Toronto Star building. To them it was ugly and had no value. Toronto is in a mad rush to make everything look circa 2022. When people criticize Toronto for being boring, unremarkable, and/or lacking historical architecture we will have no one to blame but ourselves. We continually strip the city of its history and character in favour of what ever is trendy at the time.
 
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isaidso said:
The Armouries is far more interesting than 90% of the buildings in this city. That old Sears HQ on Jarvis is another. All architecture eventually falls out of favour with a certain generation. 1950-1990, it was pre-WW2 buildings that fell out of favour and people attempted to demo all of it. This is no different. 60s/70s architecture is the current target for annihilation.

You can bet your bottom dollar that in 40 years, the new generation will be aghast and livid at what this generation did to 60s/70s buildings. PEOPLE NEVER LEARN. Hopefully, some examples of 60s/70s architecture will survive and others can be restored. Otherwise, we will have stripped and lost yet another valuable (and beautiful imo) piece of historical layering.

'But it's ugly', I hear the current generation responding with. That's exactly what people said when they tore down the old Toronto Star building. To them it was ugly and had no value. Toronto is in a mad rush to make everything look circa 2022. When people criticize Toronto for being boring, unremarkable, and/or lacking historical architecture we will have no one to blame but ourselves. We continually strip the city of its history and character in favour of what ever is trendy at the time.
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You are entitled to your opinion, but I think it is ugly. And not because it's a brutalist building - as you mentioned, some brutalist buildings like the old Sears HQ are worth preserving, just not this one. But not to worry, it will be a long time (and probably I won't live to see it, since I'm not that young) before we see this razed.
 
The problem with the armoury isn't the architecture itself, it's how dead it makes that part of Jarvis Street. It's terribly inurbane, and the last vestige of the east side of Jarvis being a dumping ground for federal functions - the old federal service building at Dundas and Jarvis (now DSG), the RCMP Ontario HQ (later the Grand, now gone), and the Armouries. It cuts off Moss Park from the areas to the west, south west, and north west as well.

It'd be a candidate to move to the eastern Portlands, which will remain industrial for decades to come.
 
ShonTron said:
The problem with the armoury isn't the architecture itself, it's how dead it makes that part of Jarvis Street. It's terribly inurbane, and the last vestige of the east side of Jarvis being a dumping ground for federal functions - the old federal service building at Dundas and Jarvis (now DSG), the RCMP Ontario HQ (later the Grand, now gone), and the Armouries. It cuts off Moss Park from the areas to the west, south west, and north west as well.

It'd be a candidate to move to the eastern Portlands, which will remain industrial for decades to come.
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So it’s still operational then? I see tanks and such parked in the grounds, but I recall that a few winters ago it was used as an emergency shelter, presumably because it was vacant.
 
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