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Toronto Through My Lens

Tag: Bay Street (Page 1 of 2)

CIBC Square Park

September 28, 2025 / / 1 Comment

CIBC Square Park is the new downtown park in the sky.

When I first heard about this unique park I knew I wanted to find, explore and photograph it. Setting out, I followed some very convoluted and cryptic directions from a web forum that said to go through Union Station and follow a number of turns, elevators and hallways.

After 45-minutes worth of following or finding every dead-end and sealed-off passageway in Union Station, I took my frustrating search above ground. After a bit of exploration I found that the sky garden had a not-so-secret direct stairway off Bay Street, across from ScotiaBank Arena – 81 Bay Street to be exact:

CIBC Square Elevated Park is a one-acre public park situated above the downtown’s rail corridor. Spanning the fourth floor between the two new CIBC towers, the park features landscaped gardens, shaded areas and open spaces, offering a green oasis in the heart of the city:

A house for bugs and bees

The park opened to the public in 2024, but parts of it still look like a work in progress:

Weird silver tree, surrounded by some really ugly hoarding

The park is designed for year-round use, with amenities such as an ice rink in winter and spaces for relaxation and socializing. It is accessible via elevators from the towers and the aforementioned direct stairway at 81 Bay Street.

Looking west from CIBC Square Park

This elevated park bridges the rail tracks and adds a botanically diverse connection between downtown and the waterfront. The park is conceived based on its specific location at the heart of a changing Financial District and uses views and connectivity as the foundations for its design and user experience.

Looking down from CIBC Square Park
The Royal York peeks through the trees
Leaving CIBC Square Park, making my way to the stairs. ScotiaBank Arena on the right.
Retracing my steps back down to Bay Street

A City Stroll in Black & White

September 23, 2025 / / 1 Comment

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:

“Sons of England War Memorial”. On University Avenue at Elm Street. The Sons of England War Memorial is comprised of a bronze statue of a lone soldier atop a granite pedestal which is flanked by three lions. It was erected by members of the Toronto Districts Sons of England Benefit Society in memory of those who fell in the First World War. The memorial was created by sculptor Charles Adamson and dedicated in December 1923 at University and College Avenues and moved to University Avenue at Elm Street some time later.
These 3 girls were taking a new mattress home, walking it up Bay Street, between Gerrard Street West and College Street
Sri Lankan demonstration, Yonge-Dundas Square
Hangin’ out on Yonge Street, below Gerrard Street
The Zanzibar, 359 Yonge Street. Where else in town would you find 5 topless, bottomless vixens?
The McGill Street Arch. This is an historic stone arch on the east side of Yonge Street near College Park. It served as a gateway to the former McGill Street. It was salvaged from the demolished St. Andrew’s United Church (originally built in 1923 at Bloor Street East and Park Road) and rebuilt by the city in 1981 after the intersection of McGill and Yonge was closed to create a pedestrian parkette.
Waiting for a green light, corner of Dundas Street East and Victoria Street
Food truck in Yonge-Dundas Square
Performance at WorldFest, Yonge-Dundas Square
The Senator Restaurant, 249 Victoria Street. The Senator is a Toronto tradition, a 1940s-style diner with jazz-inspired decor, offering breakfast and classic comfort-food dishes.
Derelict Buildings. Elm Street, off Bay Street
Urban Artwork. On the hoarding around the Bond Place Hotel, Bond Street
The Massey Tower, 197 Yonge Street
“Born To Rise”. Mural in laneway off Mutual Street, just south of Dundas Street East. A Jasnine design.
The morning sun gleams off The Aura, Yonge and Gerrard
Another Jasnine creation. In lane behind 368 Church Street, north of Gerrard Street East
Condos at Jarvis Street and Dundas Street East
Under construction. New condos, corner of Church Street and Queen Street East
Monoliths. Church Street and Shuter Street
Jarvis and Shuter Streets
Lamp. Adelaide Street East
The King Edward Hotel, 37 King Street East
Biergarten, off King Street East
At Yonge Street and Wellington Streets
The delicate arches of Brookfield Place
“Jacob’s Ladder” by Toronto artist Luis Jacob, Berczy Park
“Family Group” by Almuth Lutkenhaus, Berczy Park. This sculpture has been moved from the west side of Berczy Park to the east side near the Flatiron building.
Rugs For Sale, Front Street East

Prepping For Pride

June 26, 2024 / / 1 Comment

Pride Weekend in Toronto is soon upon us. In preparation, this month an explosion of rainbows and inclusion messages from local business and merchants have been appearing in the downtown core. Here’s some of what I’ve come across in the last few weeks:

Eaton Centre

Rogers Headquarters, 333 Bloor Street East

Manulife Head Office, 250 Bloor Street East

OrangeTheory Fitness, 160 Bloor Street East

160 Bloor Street East

175 Bloor Street East

Circle K, 121 Bloor Street East

The Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA)

RBC, 2 Bloor Street East

Holt Renfrew, 50 Bloor Street West

TD Canada Trust

Bay & Bloor Streets
Bay & Bloor Streets
Church & Wellesley Streets

A Pride Chicken at Nandos, 832 Bay Street

Ontario Nurses’ Association, 85 Grenville Street

Pride Bicycle Lock, Church Street

LCBO

Underneath Hudson Bay Centre, 2 Bloor Street East
Underneath Hudson Bay Centre, 2 Bloor Street East
Yonge & Wellesley Streets

Rexall, Church & Wellesley Streets

Scotiabank, Yonge & Wellesley Streets

Shopper’s Drug Mart, Yonge & Charles Streets

Jack Astor’s, Yonge & Bloor Streets

Toronto Public Library, Yorkville Branch

The Wine Rack, Church & Wellesley Streets

Dudley’s Hardware, Church Street

And, of course, the epicentre of it all:
the corner of Church & Wellesley Streets

Happy Pride Everyone!

“Across Time and Space, Two Children of Toronto Meet”

February 15, 2024 / / 2 Comments

In 2011 sculptor Ken Lum completed his work: Across Time and Space, Two Children of Toronto Meet. The piece is located west off Bay Street and south of Dundas Street West, directly behind City Hall. It involves a long passageway from Bay Street to City Hall.

Two bronze sculptures placed on either end of this corridor represent historical immigrants to the area in the form of two children from different eras. The boy wears traditional Chinese clothing, closely related to the clothing worn during the Qing dynasty including the six paneled “Little Hat,” and the tunic with a mandarin collar and frog buttons which were popular during this period.

Pinned lettering in oxidized bronze separating the children reads: Across time and space, two children of Toronto meet…

The girl wears a simple collared, long sleeve dress with a bandana tying her hair.

The work calls the audience to think about the children’s divergent histories which have preceded their settling in Toronto. Specifically, the figure of the boy in traditional clothing is symbolic of the Chinese immigrant community through his cultural clothing. In contrast, the figure of the little girl in European dress, becomes a reminder of Canada’s white immigrant history, which has interacted directly with the Chinese immigrant history in the nation.

By facing the children toward one another, Lum uses his art to point towards a complicated web of national settler histories that converge and negotiate with one another, which has taken place in this very area of the downtown core.1

1Kaliyah Macaraig, Open Library

Lower Bay Station

January 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Below the main platform of Bay subway station there is an additional platform which has long since been abandoned. The platform was used for only six months in 1966 when the TTC experimentally ran trains whose routes included portions of both the Yonge–University and Bloor–Danforth lines.

This abandoned platform is sometimes referred to as “Lower Bay” by the general public or “Bay Lower” by the TTC.

A few years ago the station was opened to the public during the Toronto Doors Open event, and there were a ton of interested people – myself included – exploring the station.

At the entrance to Lower Bay Station
Heading down into Lower Bay station

The platform was in service from February to September 1966, after which time it was shelved. The experiment (called “interlining” in transit-speak) was deemed a failure, largely because delays anywhere on the subway line quickly cascaded to affect the entire system. Also, as the stations had not been laid out effectively for cross-platform interchange, trains travelling east from St. George and west from Yonge alternated between the two levels, leading passengers to wait on the stairs in-between the levels, since they were unable to tell which platform would receive the next train.1

A Second Life As A Film Set

Lower Bay and the tracks leading to it still exist and are now used to train new operators, to move trains between the two current lines, for platform-surface experiments, and to allow filming in the subway without disrupting public service. For film sets, the station has been modified several times to make it look like a regular North American subway station.

Notable movies shot at Lower Bay include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Don’t Say A Word, Johnny Mnemonic, Bulletproof Monk, Mimic, End of the Line, The Recruit, and The Sound. The sandwich boards for the movies shot at the station were prominently on display that day:

Lower Bay did not look terribly different from the regular, upper platform, but it was an interesting experience nonetheless.

1Wikipedia

“Pi”

July 13, 2023 / / 1 Comment

Last week I happened across a curious piece found at 220 Bay Street, nestled in a passageway behind the TD Centre off Wellington Street West. Created by Canadian artist Evan Penny, this large sculpture – entitled Pi – is of a man’s head which has been cut into four pieces. The pieces are cut at ninety degree angles with straight lines which are in sharp contrast to the roundness of the outside of the head and the features of the face. The tallest piece measures approximately four feet high.

The features of the man’s face are very strong but they show little expression as if he is lost in thought and the fact that his head has been turned into a puzzle has not registered.

The bronze is a deep green colour which gives this sculpture a warm complexion.

This sculpture has been in place since 1996. I am amazed I had not come across this work until just recently; it resides in kind of a hidden pocket in the King/Bay area so that may explain it.

Street Art by Niyi Adeogun

April 13, 2023 / / 1 Comment

I came across these last weekend, painted on the side of a building on the northwest corner of Bay Street and Adelaide Street West. Quite good, I think.

According to the bio on the right of the image, the creator is Niyi Adeogun, an interdisciplinary artist, design engineer and creative entrepreneur. He has a passion for art and innovation and continually explores how integrating both can improve people’s daily interactions with the world around them. He founded and leads a creative agency called ZeroResistance studios. His website can be found here.

“Blossom”
“Blossom”
“Double Standards”

Clover Hill Park

January 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

And exactly where is Clover Hill Park you may ask? Situated in the northwest corner of Bay Street and St. Joseph Street, it is nestled in amongst the University of Toronto buildings and St. Basil’s Catholic Parish at U of T. It’s kind of small and easy to miss but has a few interesting things to offer.

At one point, neighbourhood residents were incredibly frustrated with the park’s development. In the late 2010s it was finished and ready to enjoy, yet remained closed for months surrounded by fencing. City Councillors at the time – Mike Layton and Kristyn Wong-Tam – received many letters of complaint from area residents. At the time, both Councillors cited issues with payment of the developers, Saddlebrook, which had prevented the City from opening the park.

The building of the park was part of a master plan in 2006 for new condos in the area along with a green space for residents tied to the 50 St. Joseph Street parkette enlargement. Construction of the park began in 2017; in November 2020 it was finally opened and warmly welcomed by the community as a much needed green space.

Although it looks pretty dismal in mid-January, as below, it’s a green and inviting park in the summertime. There’s a little bit of something for everyone at Clover Hill Park:

Mushrooms of the non-magic variety

Bunnies, snails and foxes, oh my…

Sculptures

This piece is entitled Zen West. Created in 1980 by Kosso Eloul, the stainless steel sculpture was donated by Father Dan Donovan of the Basilian Order in 1980.

And of course, the beloved Primrose!

Shameless self promotion:
If you’d like to learn about her story, please visit my Primrose post here.

“The Ascent”

November 19, 2022 / / 2 Comments

This piece, entitled The Ascent, is located outside Starbucks at 1121 Bay Street, corner of Bay and Charles Streets. Designed by Toronto husband and wife team Paul Kipps and Colette Whitens, it features nine female silhouettes climbing upward.

A bit of trivia: this Starbucks location is the former site of the famed, but long-gone, restaurant La Scala.

“Liquid Echo”

November 17, 2022 / / 0 Comments

This sculpture is located in front of the Penrose condos at 750 Bay Street. As part of this condo’s development in 1999, this waterfall-inspired artwork by Catherine Widgery was installed. Liquid Echo was commissioned by H and R Developments as part of the program of integration of art and architecture for the City of Toronto.

The entire plaza in which the sculpture sits is over 100 feet long by about 33 feet wide and was designed as part of the work. The vent shafts to underground parking across the front of the site, that would have been massive concrete planters in the original plans, were razed and replaced with circular openings that house the supporting structure for the twenty-four spiral cut columns that turn to create the impression of a water fall.

All the language of the elements in this work is a translation of the experience of nature. My goal is to find a language and materials appropriate for the urban environment. Large boulders were cut and reassembled along the grid of the pavers to be seating in the warm weather. Inlaid into the pavers are sections of circles made from stainless steel to suggest the way light bounces off of water that has been disturbed. Small groves of honey locusts (on platforms to minimize the massive planters necessary for this site) frame the space and the stairs provide additional seating.

Catherine Widgery
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