Toronto Through My Lens
There’s nothing quite so rewarding in street photography as setting out for the day, having no destination in mind; you merely wind through the city with your camera wherever your feet take you, recording the city as it goes about its daily business.
I love shooting in black and white – it makes everything so much more interesting, moody, dramatic and contemplative. Here are some black and white shots from one such session:
If I had to assign Toronto apartment buildings a theme song, it would be Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust.
For decades I’ve passed by 88 Isabella Street, a 14-story rental building borne from 1960s architecture. It has always been tidy-looking, well kept and kind of dignified. Built in 1965, 88 Isabella – also known as The Villager – typified a mid-century residential apartment building in the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood. At one point, I remember there being a sign on the building saying Furnished Apartments For Rent. Now – sadly – it is falling victim to another condo mega-tower, this one a 62-story behemoth, consisting of 720 condo units.
The condo developer, Capital Developments, claims they will provide 82 rental units in the new building to replace existing units from the original building. Allegedly, the building proposal includes a Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan that addresses the right for existing tenants to return to a replacement rental dwelling unit at similar rent and financial compensation to mitigate hardship. I’ll believe that when I see it.
Many former tenants forced from their homes, and people from the neighbouring housing co-op, are registering protest, opposition and argument, as well they should. Researching this post, I’ve been reading about the plights of some “renovicted” tenants of 88 Isabella Street, and my heart goes out to them.
I was incredulous when I heard this beautiful older building had been emptied of tenants and demolition work begun. It saddens me greatly to see Isabella Street slowly going the way of nearby Charles Street. Until a few years ago, Charles Street was a quiet, leafy, dignified street with a few older brownstones and walk-up apartments. Now, a walk down Charles Street feels like you’re carving your way through the valley of the super-high rises – it is noisy, overcrowded, packed with people, clogged with cars and devoid of its former character. I fear Isabella Street is heading for the same fate.
This latest travesty also pains me because I used to live on Isabella Street during its heyday, and remember it as a wonderful, calm street on which to live. It’s sad to see Isabella Street now devolving, but I guess that’s urban progress for you (harummffff!!).
Directly across the street from 88 Isabella Street is 81-83 Isabella Street, two joined, beautiful walkup-style apartment buildings, known as The Merlan:
Unbelievably, these two charming buildings are also destined for demolition, being replaced by a 69-storey condo tower.
The Merlan is a three-storey, U-shaped Edwardian Revival apartment constructed in 1927, containing 48 rental units in one-bedroom configurations. Designed by architect Norman Alexander Armstrong, The Merlan stands as an example of Toronto’s second apartment building boom. The Edwardian Revival structure originally offered 49 units across its distinctive U-shaped layout, with twin entrances anchoring each wing. Recognized for its heritage value, the building was added to the City’s Heritage Register in December, 2024.
The heritage facade of The Merlan would be integrated into the new build, according to a planning report that went to the City in early June. The new design features a two-to-three-storey base reconstructing The Merlan’s heritage facades along Isabella Street. The new condo will be topped by a ten-storey podium and a stepped tower volume.
The project proposes 647 residential units, including 48 replacement rental suites replicating the one-bedroom format of the existing apartments.
In November 2023 Capital Developments received approval for a 69-storey building at 90-94 Isabella Street. Additionally, 135 Isabella is slated for a 69-storey tower, which the developer KingSett Capital proposed in June 2023.
Isabella Street is going to be a very different street within the next few years…
The Water’s Edge Promenade stretches from Sugar Beach near the foot of Jarvis Street, past Sherbourne Common, ending at the foot of Parliament Street – for now. There are future plans to keep extending Water’s Edge Promenade further along the eastern waterfront.
The Water’s Edge Promenade was a Waterfront Toronto initiative, envisioned by West 8 (an award-winning international office for urban design and landscape architecture) and DTAH (a landscape architecture and urban design company) as the “Green Foot” of the city at the edge of Lake Ontario.
Silva cells provide adequate soil volume for healthy tree growth of the double row of fall colouring maple cultivars, and rainwater is captured to water the trees as a passive irrigation system. The trees were selected a year ahead of planting, and were hand-picked individually at various local nurseries, as a cautionary measure due to the high profile nature of the project, and the significant quantity of trees required for the area (including for the adjacent Sugar Beach).
The granite cobblestone “maple leaf” promenade was constructed with skilled Irish stonemasons who were brought over to teach local contractors this special technique. The project is also part of the East Bayfront District’s comprehensive stormwater management plan, which includes a future wood boardwalk over a forebay system to treat stormwater runoff as part of the ‘treatment train’ approach employed.1
Almost as noticeable as Lake Ontario are the condo developments on, and near, the Water’s Edge Promenade:
I must say that the most striking building I observed on this walk was the Aqualuna Condos, located at 155 Merchants’ Wharf. This building was absolutely stunning and I was fascinated by its colour, form and architecture. Its opulent design was created by Danish architects 3XN, and apparently the building features first class amenities. I shudder to think what a unit here would cost.
The Water’s Edge Promenade is considered one of Canada’s Best Landscape Architecture Projects. It’s so nice to see our long-neglected waterfront coming to life and becoming a welcoming destination within the city.
Watching a suggested video on YouTube a few days ago reminded me of a fascinating urban relic in Toronto: the Hearn Generating Station:
The Hearn Generating Station (named after Richard Lankaster Hearn) is a vast decommissioned electrical generating station down in the docklands. The plant was originally fired by coal, but later converted to burn natural gas. Everything about the plant is on a massive scale and, according to sources, encompasses 650 thousand cubic metres of space. The plant opened in 1951 and closed in 1983.
The R. L. Hearn Generating Station was the site of Canada’s first 100 MW steam turbo-generator set. The station sits in what was once Ashbridge’s Bay, a shallow marsh that was filled in with rubble from downtown construction sites from 1911 to 1950s.
Located in the Toronto Docklands, the Hearn’s surrounding area has not been gentrified whatsoever. You would not know you are still within the boundaries of the City of Toronto; the location feels remote and desolate:
The Hearn Generating Station is located at 440 Unwin Avenue. Once reachable only by car or on foot, a TTC bus now has a route down Cherry Street which will take you to Unwin Avenue after passing over two of the dockland shipping channels. There are no sidewalks down Unwin Avenue, and it’s a long and dusty trek past industrial warehouses and landfill mess to get out to the Hearn.
Not the most uplifting neighbourhood…
At any rate, my goal is now in sight:
The architecture and former use of the structure of the Hearn reminds of the Battersea Power Station in London, UK. The Battersea, though, has been restored and transformed into a very hip and modern venue with a mixture of over 150 shops, bars, restaurants, leisure and entertainment venues. The Battersea has thrived but the Hearn currently remains decayed and abandoned.
BlogTO recently called the Hearn Generating Station the most dangerous site in the City of Toronto… with good reason. The site is a favourite with urban explorers and photographers, and there has been more than one death of these intrepid people on the site:
I was able to get these shots by sticking my camera lens through the fence (security is quite serious here, and the rolled barbed wire at the top proves a point). I was being closely watched by the Security there, but had no nefarious or illegal intent other than grabbing a few shots for the blog:
Here is the excellent YouTube video which triggered my interest in the Hearn Generating Station:
On June 5, 2014, the building was partially cleaned up and used for the Toronto Luminato Festival Big Bang Bash, their 2nd annual fundraising gala. It also featured the Yves Saint Laurent Opening Night Party later that evening. In 2015 the building was used for UNSOUND hosted by Luminato Festival. In 2016 Luminato Festival used the building for its festival.
There are future plans, though, for this behemoth and the portlands area in general. According to the development site:
A massive redevelopment proposal is planned for the historic Richard L. Hearn Generating Station in Toronto’s Port Lands. Dubbed The Hearn District, the redevelopment would incorporate the shuttered power station into a multi-use district to be built over 30 acres by the Cortel Group. With the conceptual design for the masterplan by PARTISANS, SvN, and public realm design by CCxA, the proposal envisions thousands of residential units and extensive cultural and commercial spaces.
Click here to read the full details of this redevelopment proposal.
Let’s hope this comes to pass. It would be wonderful to see this amazing building and the desolate area of Toronto come alive.
In decades past, “the stockyards” at Keele Street and St. Clair Avenue West were just as the name implies: stock yards where cattle, sheep and pigs were slaughtered and sold for human consumption.
The property began as a 30-acre lot but eventually expanded to be nearly 200 acres. A fire in 1908 burnt down most of the timber structures; they were quickly replaced by concrete ones. As the stockyards expanded, more and more packing houses began popping up along St. Clair Avenue West. Famously, Maple Leaf Foods opened in the neighbourhood in 1927.
Given all the animals and meat-packaging companies, the area had a rather unpleasant smell, which only further reinforced Toronto’s “Hogtown” nickname (I’ve always wondered why Toronto is still sometimes referred to as Hogtown… now I know):
In 1944, the Ontario government took ownership of the stockyards, renaming them the Ontario Public Stockyards and later the Ontario Stockyards. This site was one of the largest in all of North America:
In January 1994, the Ontario government closed the yards; demolitions were mostly complete by March. The horse exchange was demolished in December 1994. An administrative building, erected in 1904/05, was demolished in 1995. The last manager of the stockyards moved to the CNE in 1995.
The area was redeveloped and the current mall opened in March 2014. The Stock Yards Village mall is anchored by several major stores, including SportChek, Winners, and HomeSense. The mall formerly had a Target from March 2014 to April 2015. That space remained vacant from April 2015 to November 2017, when Nations Fresh Foods opened:
The architecture of the outdoor mall is rather odd: the small streets twist and wind around the shops, and the shops themselves are located on 3 different levels which can only be reached by going to the parking lots or the suspended pedestrian bridges. The site is part-pedestrian mall, part-vehicle throughway, and part-parking lot. Music blares from loudspeakers situated throughout the entire site, sidewalks are wide, and benches are scattered throughout the outdoor mall. Clearly, the architects were striving to achieve a “village feel” to the place:
Nations Fresh Foods is an independently owned grocery store chain, founded in August 2012 in Woodbridge. According to the company, Nations are considered “a new, higher-end, banner store”. In total, the parent company owns 8 stores: 5 Nations Fresh Foods stores, 2 Oceans Fresh Foods Market stores, and 1 Grant’s Foodmart store, which is another affiliate chain. Two of the stores are located in Brampton, three in Mississauga, one in Vaughan, one in Hamilton, and one in Toronto.
A ride up the escalator will bring you to the Nations Experience, a vast, noisy and chaotic gaming spot/playground for kids:
And yes, there is actually a bona fide grocery store amidst the chaos:
Over the decades, the neighbourhood has almost completely transformed. Since the closing of the original stockyards the land has been redeveloped, mainly for big-box stores.
These days the Ontario Stockyards are found further north, in Cookstown.
The lone row home at 54 1/2 Saint Patrick Street dates back to Toronto’s slums in the late 19th century. Built somewhere between 1890 and 1893, this bay-and-gable relic from a bygone era once was one of six identical, structurally intertwined homes on what was then known as Dummer Street.
Time passed, the street names changed, and a particularly sharky land holdings company began buying up property throughout the neighbourhood in the middle of the 20th century. Eventually, the owners of the row houses caved, but not as a unit. Each half of the row houses’ wholes were torn down at an excruciatingly slow pace… until 54 1/2 remained the only one left.
This begs the question: how does half a building cleave away so cleanly only to leave the rest of it standing? Very carefully. In a miraculous feat performed with clumsy and powerful machinery, a demolition crew managed to tear down 54 1/2’s neighbour to the north with such precision as to not disturb any of the original facade on the building that was to remain. The white, exterior wall had once been a load-bearing wall hidden internally to divide the neighbours’ bedrooms and living rooms from each other. One slip with an excavator and the half-house would have come tumbling down.
By 1975, The Village by the Grange Housing Project opened just next to the Half House, giving it another odd appearance – a half of a house next to a full housing project. And that’s the way it has stayed for decades.
As of 2013, the house was reported to be privately owned and vacant. The current assessed value, according to city officials, is $648,000. As it begins to show signs of wear, its status as last bastion of the neighbourhood’s less pleasant days are beginning to show on its craggy, half-face. Then again, if any house has earned its character, it’s this one.
Text source: Atlas Obscura – Toronto’s Half-House
The sun was actually shining for more than three minutes last weekend, so I set out for another photowalk in the city. It had been a few years since I’d walked along Richmond Street East, so I thought I’d give that street a try with my trusty camera in tow.
Richmond Street East runs from Yonge Street to just east of Parliament Street, where it crosses the Don River and becomes known as Eastern Avenue. As you walk along Richmond Street East, you can tell its had a long history of hard labour and warehouses. In the 20th century, the area saw the rise of large-scale warehouses, factories, and office buildings, many of which replaced earlier low-rise structures.
These days Richmond Street East is definitely – and literally – on the rise: there are condo projects everywhere you look. The street is a vibrant part of Toronto’s downtown core, with a mix of commercial, residential, and entertainment spaces.
Walking from the start of the street at Yonge, and finishing at Parliament, here’s a bit of what I encountered:
TO Cityscapes has returned from hiatus!
Last weekend, while in the Bay-Bloor area, I suddenly had an idea to check on the state of the Cumberland Terrace mall. I knew it had fallen from grace lately, but I just wanted to see how far down it had gone – way down, as I found out.
For those not familiar, Cumberland Terrance is a two-story mall running from Bay Street to Yonge Street – a considerable distance. The lower level host(ed) a huge food court, and the street level contains shops and services (or what’s left of them…).
It was mid-day Saturday – peak time for people to be out and about, I should think. As I walked through the lower level food court area, it gave off a creepy vibe: there was no one around, other than a homeless person or two, and everything was shuttered. What little sound there was bounced off the barren walls and floors. I went up to the street level portion of the mall to see if it was in a similar state; it had fared a little better as it didn’t look quite as deserted as the lower level.
“The nicest way from Yonge to Bay” was Cumberland Terrace’s slogan when it opened on October 14, 1974:
Described in an ad as “three glass-enclosed levels of intriguing shops and restaurants,” it utilized fashionable hues of red and orange brick and flooring to enhance its landscaped interior. Initial tenants included a mix of chains (Black’s, Classic Book Shops, Dack’s Shoes, LCBO), and independent retailers with odd names like “Mr. Eat ’Em”.
Highlights of the opening on day one included a steam calliope playing at the northwest corner of Yonge and Bloor, and a display of classic cars sponsored by a cigarette maker. Within a month, DeBoer’s opened a two-floor furniture store. The mall’s location above a busy subway junction and across the street from a new parking lot seemed to bode well for its future.
The mall slowly decayed over the following decades, as its higher-end retailers moved elsewhere and its upper levels emptied. As the owners failed to upgrade the premises, Cumberland Terrace became an unofficial monument to 1970s shopping design. Despite providing a home for independent businesses, it was increasingly viewed as a blight on the increasingly aspirational neighbourhood streetscape. **
In Toronto, Cumberland Terrance is one of the last barely-altered examples of 1970s retail architecture. It never did bounce back after COVID wrecked havoc on the world; it’s a pity the mall has come to such a sad state.
Like many, I remember how this mall was the place to shop and eat back in the day. Fast forwarding to today, here’s how the lower level looks:
Apparently there have been many different development proposals over the years. The latest one can be found here.
We will just have to wait and see what becomes of the space.
** Source: JB’s Warehouse & Curio Emporium
So many people have expressed an interest in the so-called Cube House at 1 Sumach Street. I just saw this article in blogTO and wanted to repost it here for those interested in a recent update regarding the house’s future.
The author of this article is Jack Landau, writing for blogTO.
The fate of Toronto’s iconic Cube House seems sealed, but a new company that has taken the helm of the forthcoming redevelopment is considering paying homage to the soon-to-be-demolished structure in a fun and creative way.
The eccentric structure at 1 Sumach Street was built in 1996 with an unconventional design by architect Ben Kutner and his partner Jeff Brown, inspired by Dutch architect Piet Blom’s similar works in Rotterdam and Helmond.
While beloved by many architecture enthusiasts, the building was first threatened when a proposal for the site planned for the current structure to be torn down and replaced with a new (and unique in its own right) 35-storey tower.
Block Developments acquired the site from previous developer Markee in 2023, and the company shared more details about the future of the Cube House in a press release on Thursday.
Block states that it has “been working closely with engineers and inspectors to explore ways to safely preserve the Cube House,” amid campaigns to save the heritage-listed landmark, but failed to find a solution that retained the beloved building.
However, the Cube House is set to live on in an unexpected way, as Block announced that it had partnered up with local artist Benjamin Von Wong to reimagine the structure following its impending demolition.
“After exploring multiple paths for the Cube House’s future, it became clear that it could not be safely preserved. Instead, we have chosen to continue its legacy through this collaboration with Benjamin,” says Joseph Reichmann, Chief Development Officer of Block Developments, adding, “We look forward to seeing where his creative process takes us.”
Von Wong is best known for his works that transform recycled and reclaimed materials into sculptural art, including his well-received “E-Waste Generator,” currently running as part of Arcadia Earth’s Toronto Exhibit.
Von Wong’s work on the upcoming 1 Sumach project will see materials from the Cube House repurposed into a sculptural artwork intended to extend the structure’s legacy well past its demise.
“I’ve always tried to create art that triggers a sense of shock, awe and wonder,” says Von Wong.
“The Cube house does all three, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to repurpose and reimagine what a future metamorphosis could look like in this creative partnership with Block Development that respects both the community and its legacy.”
“The cube house was originally envisioned as an urban community – but as that chapter closes and a new one opens up, I’m excited to see how we can honour that legacy as we design an installation that explores new ways we relate to ourselves, each other and the world around us.”
Joseph Reichmann stated that the team is “excited to partner with Benjamin to reimagine the Cube House in a way that honours its architectural significance while embracing the future of the site.”
The new project planned to replace the Cube House is expected to bring a mix of market-rate rentals, condos, and affordable housing to the site.
According to Block, “Plans for the overall development site are still under development,” and the developer is working with the City “to present a vision that will bring much-needed housing and community amenities to the neighbourhood. The developer is also exploring the possibility of including a grocery store, as well as various housing options.”
At 189 Yonge Street we find the fabulous Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. These are separate theatres located in the same building: the Winter Garden is located seven storeys above the Elgin, which is at street level. They are the last surviving Edwardian stacked theatres in the world.
Currently owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, the pair of theatres were originally built as the flagship of Marcus Loew’s theatre chain in 1913. The building was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, who also designed the Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly named the Pantages Theatre). The Elgin Theatre has a seating capacity of 2,149, while the Winter Garden Theatre seats a maximum of 1,410.
Before construction of the stacked theatres, Marcus Loew intended to rent out the Yonge Street frontage as commercial space, but the dimensions contravened a 1912 Toronto bylaw. To bypass the bylaw, Thomas Lamb had to file drawings with the City Architect’s Office that showed a “sham” entrance on Victoria Street. Today, the Victoria Street entrance is still used — as the stage door.
Both theatres were built to host vaudeville acts and the short silent movies of the time. Each theatre was intended for a different class of patron. The gold-and-marble, domed, “hard-top” lower theatre (originally called Loew’s Yonge Street Theatre) was home to continuous vaudeville and movies. The theatres played host to such greats as George Burns & Gracie Allen, Sophie Tucker, Milton Berle and Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy.
The classical architecture of the Elgin was typical of vaudeville stages, set apart by its lavish interiors. Renowned for its warmth of colour and coziness, it was decorated in modern French Renaissance style – with gilt, imitation marble, red damask and ornamental plasterwork of festooned grapes, ribbons and musical instruments.
In 1939, the Elgin held the premieres of classic films such as The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. It would continue to be open for the public from the end of World War II into the late 1970s, but as a cinema the theatre was facing high taxes. Even in 1940, as it lost money, the Elgin was beginning its journey towards degradation as the splendour of the old vaudeville days was starting to fade.
The upper-level Winter Garden is an “atmospheric” country garden under the stars, painted with murals of plants and garden trellises, with tree trunk columns and lantern lights. This upper theatre was originally built for the “big time” vaudeville market and had reserved seats at premium prices, catering to affluent patrons. As well as competing in a different market, the upper theatre could be used for experimentation with acts, without the risk of closing the lower theatre.
With the decline of vaudeville, the Winter Garden closed in 1928. It remained closed for more than half a century, becoming a time capsule of a bygone era. The lower-level Elgin, with its grand domed ceiling, continued as a movie house, gradually slipping into disrepair with the passing of each decade. After closure there was left inside a large collection of vaudeville flats and scenery, now the world’s largest surviving collection.
In 1969, Loews sold the Elgin to Famous Players. By the late 1970s, the Elgin was showing mainly B movies and soft-core pornography. In 1981, the Ontario Heritage Foundation bought the structure from Famous Players. The Elgin was closed as a movie theatre on November 15, 1981; the final film presented at the theatre was the erotic sex comedy What the Swedish Butler Saw.
From March 1985 through March 1987 the musical Cats was very successfully presented in the essentially unrestored Elgin, showing the viability of the theatre. Cats went on to gross nearly $22 million in ticket sales, making it one of Toronto’s most successful commercial shows.
Later in 1987, a $29-million restoration began in both theatres, directed by architect Mandel Sprachman; this was the largest theatre restoration ever undertaken in Canada. The gilt plaster detail work in the Elgin required more than 300,000 wafer-thin sheets of aluminum leaf. The walls of the Winter Garden had to be cleaned using hundreds of pounds of raw bread dough to avoid damaging the original hand-painted watercolour artwork. More than 65,000 square feet of new space was created, including lobby and lounge areas and an eight-storey backstage pavilion housing modern dressing rooms and two rehearsal halls. The theatres reopened to much acclaim in 1989.
The Elgin had suffered extensive alterations through its declining years of use as a movie theatre. The proscenium arch had been destroyed to accommodate a wider screen and the opera boxes had disappeared. With the original architectural drawings and archival photographs as reference points, the interior of the Elgin with its gilt ornamental plaster surfaces, red damask wall coverings and imitation marble features was painstakingly restored or reconstructed.
Here’s an excellent short video detailing the history, decline and rebirth of these beautiful theatres:
The Elgin and Winter Garden theatre building is a National Historic Site of Canada, and the theatres remain one of Canada’s finest theatrical stage complexes. A sampling of shows that have been presented here includes:
The theatres have also presented musical and comedy concerts, lectures, award presentations, gala screenings from the Toronto International Film Festival and a variety of special events and receptions.
According to the website TorontoGhosts.org, a number of paranormal occurrences in the theatres have been reported over the years, including:
If you’re still reading this – thank you! I realize this has been a long-ish post but with such a fantastic subject, it’s easy to get a little carried away – the building is certainly deserving of architectural praise. We are so very fortunate to have this historic, gorgeous theatre complex in our city and shouldn’t take it for granted. The Elgin and Winter Garden came very close to being demolished like so many of Toronto’s heritage buildings… and that would truly have been a shame.
References:
Heritage Matters
Ontario Heritage Trust
HistoricPlaces.ca
Local Film Cultures: Toronto
TorontoGhosts.org
I love black and white! Great job on putting together this collection.
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I came upon this by accident with a friend when it was under construction. At the time we said we…