Abandoned or neglected buildings in Toronto

[AlbertC]

A handful of examples come to mind including the forever unfinished buildings at Bloor & Ossington, College & Roxton, along with the Queen & Sherbourne building where the defunct Korman House development would've been, and one on Sherbourne south of Dundas East.

Back in May earlier this year in 2019, the former Peacock Hotel along Dundas West in the Junction was on fire. And it unfortunately remains in a neglected state since then.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peacock-hotel-junction-fire-1.5146198

 

[fiendishlibrarian]

First thing that comes to mind are a couple (?) of houses on the west side of Walmer, just north of Bloor approaching Lowther. Don't know if they're still in that state, been at least a year since I've walked past them.

 

[christiesplits]

This thread would have been bumpin' in the 90s and early 00s.

 

[AlbertC]

Interesting website on the topic of abandoned Toronto buildings:

Abandoned Places in Toronto , Ontario

From the list, one of the more higher profile entries was the old Canada Linseed Oil Factory building on Wabash Ave, which is now part of Sorauren Ave Park. Quite a log of coverage on it.

Linseed Factory

Abandoned Linseed factory - closed during the 1960(a)s Update by Kenndruuh: Feb/2014 BREIF HISTORY: The property was purchased and the foundation wa...

www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com

http://spacing.ca/toronto/2010/04/0...da-linseed-oil-mills-buildings-sorauren-park/

There are plans to revive it though, as the Wabash Community Centre. I don't believe any substantial work has begun yet. But according to reports, it's expected to open in 2023:

http://www.buildwabashnow.org/

Current state:

 

[AlbertC]

A couple on Spadina, both caused by fire damage:

 

[AlbertC]

Video of the old Canada Linseed Oil Factory building:

 

[AlbertC]

I reckon this building at College & Roxton has been in this state for well over a decade now:

 

[adma]

Funny thing, I passed by that disused apartment building at the bottom of Riverside Dr and S Kingsway today, and then came across this thread...

 

[DSC]

I reckon this building at College & Roxton has been in this state for well over a decade now:

According to Streetview it was being renovated in 2007 (their earliest photo) and has gone downhill from then.....

 

[Avenue]

I think there are extremely few abandoned/neglected buildings in Toronto by north american standards.

 

[AlbertC]

The construction boom in the past couple decades has certainly revitalized many areas and have lead to the integration/adaptation of many older buildings towards modern usage, whether it be for residential, office or commercial. The Distillery District and Liberty Village are two major areas that come to mind right away.

Examples from other similar sized North American cities like Philadelphia provides a pretty interesting and sharp contrast:

12 incredible abandoned places in Philly

Here, we present a map of some of the most prominent abandoned buildings throughout city, some that are still very much vacant and others that are showing signs of change.

philly.curbed.com

 

[someMidTowner]

The construction boom in the past couple decades has certainly revitalized many areas and have lead to the integration/adaptation of many older buildings towards modern usage, whether it be for residential, office or commercial. The Distillery District and Liberty Village are two major areas that come to mind right away.

Examples from other similar sized North American cities like Philadelphia provides a pretty interesting and sharp contrast:

12 incredible abandoned places in Philly

Here, we present a map of some of the most prominent abandoned buildings throughout city, some that are still very much vacant and others that are showing signs of change.

philly.curbed.com

Toronto is definitely lucky in comparison to other North American cities. Was recently in Buffalo and there are soooo many cool buildings that are just barely hanging on by a thread:
Buffalo Central Terminal by Jack Landau, on Flickr
WOnDeR bREAD by Jack Landau, on Flickr

 

[AlbertC]

Toronto is definitely lucky in comparison to other North American cities. Was recently in Buffalo and there are soooo many cool buildings that are just barely hanging on by a thread:
by Jack Landau, on Flickr
by Jack Landau, on Flickr

It's been a couple of years since my last visit to Buffalo, but yes I totally agree. The drive going into the city can be quite an experience, seeing so many enviable buildings of fine architectural quality but left in various degrees of neglect.

The Central Terminal was regrettably a place that I was unable to check out as we spent too much time in Elmwood Village and Allentown areas during the day, and somehow even ended up going to Albright-Knox museum.

The conversion of the former abandoned, Buffalo State Asylum into the current Hotel Henry complex has been a positive for them though:

Buffalo's newest hotel opens in abandoned asylum

And it looks incredible.

www.lonelyplanet.com

Our old friend, Harry Stinson supposedly even has a vision to redevelop the Wonder Bread building. Maybe someday.

Stinson's Wonder Bread Vision

Canadian developer Harry Stinson, is looking to get a second major development project off the ground in Buffalo. After taking a swing at the Central Terminal, and rebounding to tackle the former Adam's Mark (now Buffalo Grand Hotel), Stinson has now set his eyes upon the Wonder Bread factory buildi

www.buffalorising.com

 

[Neutrino]

Funny thing, I passed by that disused apartment building at the bottom of Riverside Dr and S Kingsway today, and then came across this thread...

Synchronicity

 

[AlbertC]

696 Yonge Street