I came upon yet another Elicser mural on my travels around downtown Toronto. This one is located in an alley off Adelaide Street East, one block west of Sherbourne Street.
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In front of the condo The Gloucester on Yonge at 3 Gloucester Street (corner of Yonge Street and Gloucester Street), there is a fairly new sculpture entitled Cloaked Presence.
Created by American artist Albert Paley in 2021, the piece was commissioned by the developer Concord Adex as part of its Percent for Public Art Program for Private Development. In Toronto, this “percent for public art policy” states that 1% of capital project costs on private development projects go towards public art. A fantastic concept, I think, and it really gets new art and sculpture out front of most of the new condos.
Here’s a short video showing how the piece was assembled in front of its new home at The Gloucester on Yonge condo:
Coming home last night I spied this new mural on the northeast corner of Gloucester Street and Church Street. Very fitting, I thought, as we’re one week away from Pride:
I’m not exactly sure what the issue was that day, but I happened to catch this Algerian protest as I passed through Yonge-Dundas Square, April 6, 2019.
St. Andrew’s is located at 73 Simcoe Street, on the southeast corner of King Street West and Simcoe Street. The church was built in the Romanesque Revival style and opened for worship in 1876. At that time, its location at King and Simcoe Streets was a busy place and most of the congregation lived within easy walking distance of the church. Across the street stood Government House, the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Upper Canada College stood on a second corner and on a third was a popular tavern. With St. Andrew’s, the four corners were known locally as Legislation, Education, Damnation and Salvation!!
On the side of the Shoppers Drug Mart at 565 Sherbourne Street, there exists a mural entitled Article 26: A Mural Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Amnesty International Toronto Organization is a group working in the city to raise public awareness of human rights issues. Thirty murals exist throughout the city, each based on one of the thirty articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Located at 121 King Street West, this sculpture is entitled Megaptera, and was created by Transylvanian-born artist George Schmerholz. Megaptera novaeangliae is the scientific name of humpback whales, the name translating to Great Wings.
The humpback whale here is depicted with her calf. The sculpture was carved from a single block of granite, called “Prairie Green”, which was sourced from Riviere à Pierre, Quebec. The sculpture, dedicated on May 18, 1993, weighs 43,000 pounds and took 1.5 years to create.
Hello everyone and welcome back after my TOcityscapes hiatus! If you’d like to see what I was up to while in Tuscany, Italy you will find my blog here.
This past weekend I attended Doors Open Toronto and visited a couple of venues. Of most interest to me was The El Mocambo on Spadina Avenue. As someone with a passionate interest in pop/rock music history, I’ve always wanted to see inside the “El Mo” to see what it’s like.
A Bit Of History
The venue has played a crucial role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948 – the place is Toronto music history personified!
Opening in 1948, the El Mocambo was one of the city’s first cocktail bars. The establishment’s name and iconic neon palm sign were inspired by a San Francisco nightclub. At that time, the main floor was converted into a dining hall with a dance floor on the second floor that featured Latin music. Live music was not permitted until July 1948 (imagine that!?), when the Liquor Licence Board of Ontario reversed an earlier ban.
Bring On The Rock n’ Roll!
The business and building were bought in 1972 by Michael Baird and restaurateur Tom Kristenbrun. Under the pair’s ownership, the “El Mo” became a youth-oriented blues and rock music venue. It brought bands like Downchild Blues Band (which became the club’s house band), as well as Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and many others, “up the street” and paid them a regular fee to perform. During the early 1970s, the upstairs featured mostly “retreads” and “has-been” acts, with the occasional group on the rise. Most of the time, drink sales determined which bands would return. The bands would start out downstairs and if the revenue they generated increased, they would sometimes graduate to upstairs. Up and coming performers such as Tom Waits, U2 and Elvis Costello performed at the El Mo in the 1970s.
The Rolling Stones Surprise Gig
On March 4, 1977, looking for a low-key venue to record in, The Rolling Stones played two performances at the club. The second performance occurred the next night, March 5, 1977. The Stones billed themselves as “The Cockroaches”, and club patrons got the surprise of their lives when this band turned out to be the Rolling Stones. The live album of these Stones performances, entitled El Mocambo 1977, was released in 2022.
Saved, Renovated, Rejuvenated
The club was expected to close after a last show on November 6, 2014. However, on the eve of its impending closure, it was announced that the club had been purchased for $3.8 million by Michael Wekerle, who arranged to renovate it and maintain it as a live music venue. Currently, the El Mocambo is open and operational after its 30 million dollar renovations to two stages, several different bars, a recording studio, private rooms, and dance floors. It looks terrific and has been beautifully restored, with a strong emphasis on the club’s past (and rightfully so).
Hello to my faithful subscribers! Just a quick post today to let you know that TOcityscapes is going on a little hiatus.
I am off to Tuscany, Italy on a much-delayed photography trip. There won’t be any TOcityscapes posts for a couple of weeks, but if you’d like to follow my travel adventures on this upcoming trip, just head on over to my travel site and subscribe. That way the system will send you alerts when I publish new travel posts from Italy. I am hoping to blog daily if I can while there, but I’ll just have to see how my time goes – due to the photographic nature of this trip there will be a lot of early mornings and late nights. If I can’t blog while there I’ll definitely post once I’m home again.
Here is my travel site: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost. You’ll find the Subscribe tool on the About and Contact pages, and in the site’s footer.
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I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Take care!
A private road north of St. Joseph Street, west of Bay Street, is home to red brick Edwardian style mansions that were built in 1892 by Remigius Elmsley as the first subdivisions in the City, located on the former family home, Cloverhill Estate.
The heritage properties are owned by University of Toronto, St. Michael’s College, some serving as student residences. The four houses of residence collectively contain 20 single and 12 double rooms. The buildings underwent a $4 million renovation in 2007.
The remaining houses are used as administrative offices: Founders House (1 Elmsley); Phelan House (3 Elmsley); and Windle House (5 Elmsley).
Developed during the 1890s, Elmsley Place attracted professionals and politicians, including Sir George W. Ross, who lived at No. 1 Elmsley while serving as Ontario’s premier. After the Supreme Court of Canada presided over the extension of present-day Bay Street northward during the 1920s, the college purchased the title to the street. By the late 1940s, the laneway was closed off and the Edwardian-style homes were converted to offices and student residences. Today, cut off from traffic, this tree-lined cobblestone lane is a perfect walk into the heart of the St. Mike’s campus.
A gateway across from the John M. Kelly Library on St. Joseph Street marks the entrance to Elmsley Place, a laneway that was once a prestigious late-Victorian subdivision. The Elmsley family were major 19th-century landowners whose holdings included what became the original campus of St. Michael’s College and the current Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood.
Formerly known as the Sir George Ross House. Sir George Ross was, at various times, a professor, member of parliament, senator, provincial Minister of Education, premier of Ontario, and president of the Canadian Authors’ Society.
McCorkell House operates as furnished female student dormitories
McCorkell House operates as furnished female student dormitories
Phelan House was originally called the William E. Chalcraft House
Previously known as the H. Hartley Dewart House. The late H. H. Dewart was a former provincial Liberal leader.
The Hall is situated on the north end of Elmsley Place, 81A St. Mary Street
This house contains furnished male student dormitories
This is the only home on the street which St. Michael’s College does not own.
Latest Comments
You know what Marvin ? I never knew about this. I really have never got close enough to see all…
Yes Marvin. I have been to a couple of these festivals in the past. It is a HUGE EVENT now…
I have always admired this sculpture but it seems to disappear amongst all the grey facades of the surrounding buildings.…
11 Walmer Road was originally clad as it is clad post 2018 with black bricks and white bricks etc. They…
Yes I've seen these sculptures and have enjoyed them. Sculptures and statues really liven up a city!