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rbtaylor
Guest
Aparently wrecking balls make it very difficult to separate the material for recycling afterward, so they're rarely used anymore.
Toronto Auberge On The Park | 148.9m | 45s | Tridel | Graziani + Corazza
E
elook
Guest
I walked over to the site again this afternoon to get a better look at the progress. You can still get quite close to the building - close enough that you end up in a good dust cloud now and then.
The wrecking crew is happy to allow spectators, by the way, so long as you stay on the safe side of the fence.
Here's the pics:
The wrecking crew is happy to allow spectators, by the way, so long as you stay on the safe side of the fence.
Here's the pics:
E
elook
Guest
And a couple more...as usual, the Flickr photoset has all the shots I've taken so far. Inn on the Park photoset
The original sign "INN ON THE PARK" is faintly visible in this shot:
The original sign "INN ON THE PARK" is faintly visible in this shot:
M
mark simpson
Guest
that's the method they're using since the building has being stripped down to its concrete structure
hitting the building from the side is less efficient as the exterior facade is not bearing, accuracy is not there, and the support columns are strengthen by the weight of the slab above
D
Darkstar416
Guest
From the Torontoist blog:
Toronto's Famous Architects: Peter Dickinson
Yesterday, the wrecking ball had its way with the last vestiges of the landmark Inn On The Park. Once run as an upscale Four Seasons hotel, then as a Holiday Inn, and finally as the bland Don Mills Hotel, the demolition was viewed by many as another of Toronto's development tragedies despite having fallen into disrepair.
The renowned modernist architect behind the Inn On The Park is familiar for his buildings but less so for his name. Born in London, England in 1925, Dickinson arrived in Canada after World War II, making a name for himself that would resonate long past his early death from cancer in 1961. As Canada's most celebrated architect at the time, he is best known for the Hummingbird (née O'Keefe) Centre and Montreal's CIBC tower, but many more of Dickinson's legacies are prominent around Toronto.
It has been said that Dickinson built the Inn On The Park for the Four Seasons hotel chain on his deathbed. A luxurious retreat, it was perched on a hill at Eglinton and Leslie overlooking the Don Valley; an appealing location for executive conferences and celebrity getaways. What is most prominent about the design is what can only be seen from the air: it was built in the six-pointed shape of the Star of David. The architect had previously designed the hotel chain's first project, the modest Four Seasons Motor Hotel, built in 1961 at Jarvis and Carlton.
The 1950s were a time of huge growth and shifting trends in Toronto. Highrise apartments were a relatively new and vibrant concept meant to appeal to middle-class, young urban sophisticates, but often arrived at the expense of old Victorian neighbourhoods. Dickinson's five 14-storey towers dominated Regent Park, aligned to compass points rather than the street grid, and were seen at the time to be a revolutionary improvement over the razed slum of South Cabbagetown. With the current redevelopment of Regent Park, only one of his towers will remain.
Another of his apartment buildings at 500 Avenue Road was the first in Canada equipped with an individual thermostat control. The famed Benvenudo Apartments in Forest Hill have been recently turned into upscale condominums, and renovations have updated Dickinson's hotel designs like the Marriott Courtyard and Park Plaza courtyard and canopy (now the Park Hyatt). A Sheraton hotel for Montreal was designed but never completed. Peter Dickinson also built the Church Street Public School and York Mills Collegiate, but also religious institutions like the grand Beth-Tzedec Synagogue and Willowdale's Jesuit Seminary.
As Dickinson lay dying, his most acclaimed tower neared completion. La tour CIBC in Montreal was the tallest building in the Commonwealth at the time, which incorporated the illustrious glass curtain wall first employed in New York's Lever House and imitated countless times in noteworthy architecture since. Its floorplate was small for the era due to zoning restrictions, reflecting the trend for tall and skinny skyscrapers to come.
Next to today's flashy building materials, construction technology and bold designs, many of Peter Dickinson's works look rather grim. Many of his structures in the downtown core (4 King West at Yonge, 111 Richmond West at York, 365 Bay at Richmond) no longer fit into their neighbourhood context and can even be considered loathsome and ugly. The Inn On The Park, however, symbolized something different. It was a hallmark of post-war optimism within a booming city, intended as a decadent urban escape from the glass and concrete.
What will replace it is another symbol of luxury: a Lexus dealership.
Toronto's Famous Architects: Peter Dickinson
Yesterday, the wrecking ball had its way with the last vestiges of the landmark Inn On The Park. Once run as an upscale Four Seasons hotel, then as a Holiday Inn, and finally as the bland Don Mills Hotel, the demolition was viewed by many as another of Toronto's development tragedies despite having fallen into disrepair.
The renowned modernist architect behind the Inn On The Park is familiar for his buildings but less so for his name. Born in London, England in 1925, Dickinson arrived in Canada after World War II, making a name for himself that would resonate long past his early death from cancer in 1961. As Canada's most celebrated architect at the time, he is best known for the Hummingbird (née O'Keefe) Centre and Montreal's CIBC tower, but many more of Dickinson's legacies are prominent around Toronto.
It has been said that Dickinson built the Inn On The Park for the Four Seasons hotel chain on his deathbed. A luxurious retreat, it was perched on a hill at Eglinton and Leslie overlooking the Don Valley; an appealing location for executive conferences and celebrity getaways. What is most prominent about the design is what can only be seen from the air: it was built in the six-pointed shape of the Star of David. The architect had previously designed the hotel chain's first project, the modest Four Seasons Motor Hotel, built in 1961 at Jarvis and Carlton.
The 1950s were a time of huge growth and shifting trends in Toronto. Highrise apartments were a relatively new and vibrant concept meant to appeal to middle-class, young urban sophisticates, but often arrived at the expense of old Victorian neighbourhoods. Dickinson's five 14-storey towers dominated Regent Park, aligned to compass points rather than the street grid, and were seen at the time to be a revolutionary improvement over the razed slum of South Cabbagetown. With the current redevelopment of Regent Park, only one of his towers will remain.
Another of his apartment buildings at 500 Avenue Road was the first in Canada equipped with an individual thermostat control. The famed Benvenudo Apartments in Forest Hill have been recently turned into upscale condominums, and renovations have updated Dickinson's hotel designs like the Marriott Courtyard and Park Plaza courtyard and canopy (now the Park Hyatt). A Sheraton hotel for Montreal was designed but never completed. Peter Dickinson also built the Church Street Public School and York Mills Collegiate, but also religious institutions like the grand Beth-Tzedec Synagogue and Willowdale's Jesuit Seminary.
As Dickinson lay dying, his most acclaimed tower neared completion. La tour CIBC in Montreal was the tallest building in the Commonwealth at the time, which incorporated the illustrious glass curtain wall first employed in New York's Lever House and imitated countless times in noteworthy architecture since. Its floorplate was small for the era due to zoning restrictions, reflecting the trend for tall and skinny skyscrapers to come.
Next to today's flashy building materials, construction technology and bold designs, many of Peter Dickinson's works look rather grim. Many of his structures in the downtown core (4 King West at Yonge, 111 Richmond West at York, 365 Bay at Richmond) no longer fit into their neighbourhood context and can even be considered loathsome and ugly. The Inn On The Park, however, symbolized something different. It was a hallmark of post-war optimism within a booming city, intended as a decadent urban escape from the glass and concrete.
What will replace it is another symbol of luxury: a Lexus dealership.
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elook
Guest
That report is somewhat premature, given what is still standing today at the site. I'd say the "last vestiges of the landmark Inn On The Park" will be with us for a few more months still.
Taken this morning:
Taken this morning:
A
adma
Guest
This may sound a little cheap, but looks almost like somebody photoshopped a bit of Beirut onto the edge of Wilket Creek...
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elook
Guest
More shots from today. They've gotten into the swing of things (pun intended). Link to a video in the next post.
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elook
Guest
A few more days, a lot less Inn on the Park. This thing has maybe a week to live.
August 18:
August 21:
August 22:
August 23:
August 18:
August 21:
August 22:
August 23:
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Crazy Canuck07
Guest
It looks really creepy now with just the elevator shaft left standing. It soon will be gone though.
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unimaginative2
Guest
It begs the question: what will be the fate of Toronto's other Four Seasons after the shiny new model is built?
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elook
Guest
A couple more...still hacking away at the stump.
August 30:
September 8:
August 30:
September 8:
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elook
Guest
Just a quick note. The Inn on the Park is essentially gone now. I can't see anything from my vantage point, and a trip to the site revealed a 40ft high pile of rubble.
RIP.
RIP.
A
adma
Guest
Other than that octagonal dildo thingy, of course...or is it hexagonal...can't remember...