Then and Now: Yonge/Dundas and area

[Mustapha]

A bit further afield than Yonge and Dundas

but I'll post here.

I've always been a fan of 'urban exploration' websites - fascinating stuff to read of the exploits of dering-do in forbidden locations. Here we have the old tunnel between Union Station and the Royal York. Hardly the stuff of urban exploration but is is OLD, and I suppose one of the precursors of the modern PATH. Built in the 1920s? I suppose. Wonderful construction materials. The tunnel has a wacky layout: up and down, left and right, fun-house-at-the-CNE style - I suppose they were avoiding steampipes, etc.

 

[adma]

The tunnel has a wacky layout: up and down, left and right, fun-house-at-the-CNE style - I suppose they were avoiding steampipes, etc.

Not unlike that other pre/proto-PATH survivor, the Eaton's Annex/Bell connector...

 

[Mustapha]

Not unlike that other pre/proto-PATH survivor, the Eaton's Annex/Bell connector...

I haven't been through there since the the old Eaton store and Annex was demolished. The new tunnel follows the old route I suppose? The old tunnel was Eaton's paint department. Paint displayed against the walls. Wooden floors. A bricked lined curved roof tunnel painted white. The paint shaking machines doing their thing. There was soft ice cream for sale at the main store end; like what you get from the Mr. Softee truck or Dairy Queens of today. The Annex sold Eatonia branded stuff. Cheaper than the stuff in the main store. Cheap shoes from Romania and cheap shirts from Hong Kong if I remember correctly ...

The stock came and went and the place had a 'Winners' store vibe to it with a dose of pressed tin ceiling thrown in. My wife - my gf at the time shopped there; always looking for a 'find'.

 

[LowPolygon]

thank you for photographing that! its great that it remains unsullied.

walking through that skewed tunnel is one of the few quintessentially 'old Toronto' experiences we have left.

preserved period interior spaces are so much rarer than preserved facades and exteriors...

i stayed at the Royal York years ago and i remember how disappointed i was when i saw the cheap modern furniture and carpet, gaudy printed bedspread and drapes, and 80's style washroom. for some reason i expected the hotel to have preserved the original 1920's room furnishings...

 

[Mustapha]

Our City Fathers back in the day had no

problem straightening out Carleton to meet head on with College. Probably the TTC had something to do with this.

Before:

During:

After:

 

[Hypnotoad]

Love the College/Yonge corner. It is one of my favourite corners in the whole city and this before and after sequence is great. Thanks so much.

 

[Mustapha]

Love the College/Yonge corner. It is one of my favourite corners in the whole city and this before and after sequence is great. Thanks so much.

One of mine too, thanks. Now go have a old fashioned lunch at Frans.

 

[ganjavih]

Love the College/Yonge corner. It is one of my favourite corners in the whole city and this before and after sequence is great. Thanks so much.

It's one of the "big city feel" parts of the city. It's all about the canyon effect and streetwalls. Toronto could use more.

 

[Edward Skira]

I assume the same happened at Yonge and Dundas. Any pictures of it?

 

[Mustapha]

You would think so. I've had no luck finding a pic at Toronto Archives ...

 

[Earlscourt_Lad]

No, it's not running. As a kid who remembers the Eatons College street store, it wasn't running in the 60s either. The Eaton's Annex store had a pair running up until 1976-ish when the building was demolished for the Bell complex.

Slightly unrelated, Macy's has a few operational wooden elevators. Seeemed somewhat smoother than ordinary ones. Perhaps the wooden treads absorb vibration better than metal?

 

[Mustapha]

Slightly unrelated, Macy's has a few operational wooden elevators. Seeemed somewhat smoother than ordinary ones. Perhaps the wooden treads absorb vibration better than metal?

Thanks for the reminder. I remember from my last visit a couple of years ago. Macys basically feels like a 'Bay' store nowadays ... didn't buy anything.

Hey everyone, check this out. If you click twice on the old Toronto map, it gets BIG! and you can read it.

http://linguafresca.com/portfolio/moved.html

 

[Edward Skira]

I own a copy of that map.

 

[Mustapha]

new old and new pics

Foster Place: Then.

Now.

Hey cutie, look over here.

Elizabeth Street: Then.

Now.

Walton Street: Then.

Now.

Dundas at University: Then.

Now.

Dundas at St. Patrick looking NW: Then.

Now. St.Patricks church is still there; hidden behind the trees.

 

[TKTKTK]

Just to back-track slightly to the College/Yonge shots. Here a couple more that frame the realignment:


Original intersection of Carlton and Yonge (looking east from Yonge) before alignment with College Street. (I thiiiiink that Church in the background burned down)

Looking the other way, towards Eaton's:

Looking north towards the intersections of Yonge and Carlton (lower right) as well as Yonge and College (upper left).

College & Carlton's marriage (looking west towards College Park, same alignment as one of the above photos, but farther back obviously)

College & Carlton's marriage (Standing on Carlton, looking east towards Church, and MLG construction site)

After the College / Carlton street re-alignment (that's the Hydro building's foundation being constructed) looking out over Wood Street, and the future site of City Park.

And what that hole eventually built into: