syn
Senior Member
It would be nice if 1BE had more of a landmark design, but it still looks fairly good. What's disappointing is that they couldn't come up with a more elegant design for the crown/spire.
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adma
Superstar
From Cathy Nasmith's Built Heritage News #123
smuncky
Senior Member
hopefully they'll be able to safely get it down and store it.
GL to them!
GL to them!
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
nice warm and fuzzy community spirit story. I would like to help too but have no money or qualifications... guess I'll just stay tuned.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Window saved
Handsome old window rescued
Jul 25, 2008 04:30 AM
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Joe Fiorito
The updates come early this month:
As of yesterday, that handsome old window at 719 Yonge St. was in the process of salvation, thanks to the alert work of the preservation crowd.
As you know, the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor Sts. is about to be demolished to make way for our newest tower. When hoardings went up, various of our architecturally minded eagle-eyes spotted the glorious stone-bound and metal-clad fenestration and sent rapid notes about its pending loss.
Cathy Nasmith, an architect and the chief of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, passed the messages along, and this person talked to that person, and the builders were beseeched, and the wisdom of our finest craftsmen was also sought.
Plans at the moment are for the window to be dismantled and stored at the Brick Works until a new purpose for it can be found.
As of yesterday, John Wilcox, a heritage specialist, had taken out some of the glass. He couldn't get it all. He needed scaffolding. He was also worried about the pigeon poop, which had been festering up there for years; festered guano causes blindness. "No window is worth that," he said. There are, apparently, guano abatement guys; who knew?
Now a minor bit of window cleaning: I had a note from a source who said the window had once fronted a famous ballet studio. My source has since admitted to an error of memory – the ballet studio was across the street.
She now thinks the window admitted light into what was, at one time, a practice studio once used by dancers who twirled for the CBC in the early days of television. She remembers those dancers.
Mnemosyne, meet Terpsichore.
I also got this note from Robert Hall, who writes:
"I'm pleased to tell you that I can shed some light on the design of the building at 719 Yonge Street. The architect is A. Frank Wickson (1861-1936). The first portion of the building was constructed in 1904 for the successful Toronto baker George Coles.
"The reference for this item is City of Toronto Archives, Building Permit No. 558, dated 28 May 1904. On that day, Wickson was given a permit for a three-storey brick store for Mr. Coles, located at 719 Yonge Street, to cost $12,000. The location of the building is confirmed in Toronto Directories for 1906, 1907 and 1908.
"The bakery business of Coles was very successful; in 1913 he returned to Wickson's office, then renamed Wickson & Gregg, and commissioned a three-storey brick and stone addition, with offices, and an addition to the bakery plant, at 719-721 Yonge Street ...
"I suspect that the impressive window still facing Yonge Street, with the bold Gibbsian surround executed in masonry, was part of the 1913 expansion of Coles bakery operation. Other works by this architect include the Berkeley Street Fire Hall reconstruction (1903-04, still standing); the Marmaduke Rawlinson Warehouse on St. Joseph Street (1905-07 additions 1913, 1920, still standing); and an important pair of houses at No. 6-8 Elmsley Place, St. Michael's College, U of T, built in 1904 for Alphonse F. Jones and William R. Houston and still standing."
We love those still standing.
Handsome old window rescued
Jul 25, 2008 04:30 AM
Be the first to comment on this article...
Joe Fiorito
The updates come early this month:
As of yesterday, that handsome old window at 719 Yonge St. was in the process of salvation, thanks to the alert work of the preservation crowd.
As you know, the southeast corner of Yonge and Bloor Sts. is about to be demolished to make way for our newest tower. When hoardings went up, various of our architecturally minded eagle-eyes spotted the glorious stone-bound and metal-clad fenestration and sent rapid notes about its pending loss.
Cathy Nasmith, an architect and the chief of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, passed the messages along, and this person talked to that person, and the builders were beseeched, and the wisdom of our finest craftsmen was also sought.
Plans at the moment are for the window to be dismantled and stored at the Brick Works until a new purpose for it can be found.
As of yesterday, John Wilcox, a heritage specialist, had taken out some of the glass. He couldn't get it all. He needed scaffolding. He was also worried about the pigeon poop, which had been festering up there for years; festered guano causes blindness. "No window is worth that," he said. There are, apparently, guano abatement guys; who knew?
Now a minor bit of window cleaning: I had a note from a source who said the window had once fronted a famous ballet studio. My source has since admitted to an error of memory – the ballet studio was across the street.
She now thinks the window admitted light into what was, at one time, a practice studio once used by dancers who twirled for the CBC in the early days of television. She remembers those dancers.
Mnemosyne, meet Terpsichore.
I also got this note from Robert Hall, who writes:
"I'm pleased to tell you that I can shed some light on the design of the building at 719 Yonge Street. The architect is A. Frank Wickson (1861-1936). The first portion of the building was constructed in 1904 for the successful Toronto baker George Coles.
"The reference for this item is City of Toronto Archives, Building Permit No. 558, dated 28 May 1904. On that day, Wickson was given a permit for a three-storey brick store for Mr. Coles, located at 719 Yonge Street, to cost $12,000. The location of the building is confirmed in Toronto Directories for 1906, 1907 and 1908.
"The bakery business of Coles was very successful; in 1913 he returned to Wickson's office, then renamed Wickson & Gregg, and commissioned a three-storey brick and stone addition, with offices, and an addition to the bakery plant, at 719-721 Yonge Street ...
"I suspect that the impressive window still facing Yonge Street, with the bold Gibbsian surround executed in masonry, was part of the 1913 expansion of Coles bakery operation. Other works by this architect include the Berkeley Street Fire Hall reconstruction (1903-04, still standing); the Marmaduke Rawlinson Warehouse on St. Joseph Street (1905-07 additions 1913, 1920, still standing); and an important pair of houses at No. 6-8 Elmsley Place, St. Michael's College, U of T, built in 1904 for Alphonse F. Jones and William R. Houston and still standing."
We love those still standing.
It's impressive how quickly things came together here!
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Sir Novelty Fashion
Senior Member
I'm glad they saved it.
Maybe we could tack it onto the bottom of B/A?
Maybe we could tack it onto the bottom of B/A?
ProjectEnd
Superstar
Facade Graveyard! Facade Graveyard!
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
Demolition Update, July 25th
Ryuinfinity
Active Member
Wow! Looks like they'll be beginning excavation the second the debris is cleared!
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I was surprised to see that too which is why I grabbed a snap of it. Perhaps they're just excavating basements which will be filled in afterward, who knows.
whatever
Senior Member
I think you're right, and that this is just a temporary excavation. I don't think they even have any of the necessary permits to begin all-out excavation
drum118
Superstar
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
thanks for those vids... you can clearly hear the demolition going on in the first one.
scarberiankhatru
Senior Member
The window's glass and metal may be saved, but what about the stone 'sunburst' surrounding it? "It may not be possible to save the stone surround" said Cathy Nasmith's Built Heritage News #123 and Joe Fiorito's articles doesn't say if the stone is included.
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