News   Dec 20, 2024
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News   Dec 20, 2024
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Church-Wellesley Village

There's going to be a new asian (Japanese/Chinese/Thai) place at Carlton and Church, next to Daybreak.
 
Brilliant! I wonder if Wong-Tam would be receptive to acquiring the Church & Wood or Church & Maitland lots? Everyone in the area complains about the lack of green space/public space and either of those properties (especially Wood & Church) would lends themselves well to that purpose. By late next year she'll be rolling in section 37 funds and although she has great aspirations for all areas of her Ward the Church-Wellesley area is very close to her heart. Maybe this is worthy of a discussion with her, surely she'd know if either property is available and what the asking price would be.
If you send her office a note, please share with the forum her response!
 
They did disappear for a few days but they're back.
 
Church street highrise projects

It seems several highrises proposals have been put forward/considered on Church st:

60 colborne (10+28s Colborne& Church)

99 Church Street at Richmond St East (currently parking lot)

260 Church Street at Dundas St East (Pizza Pizza)

365 Church Street at Gerrard East (30s)

81 Wellesley Street East at Church (demolition complete)

66 Isabella St at Church (new rental addition)

625 Church Street at Hayden

Right now, the only highrises (20+) on Church st seems to be Spire (Adelaide) and Jazz (Shutter).

anything else? Church st will be a lot different in 10 years.

that horrible yellow Gino Pizza at NE corcer of Church/Queen is out of business. I hope some sane developers will buy it and the pawn shop north of it and replace them with something less depressing.
 
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There are some great buildings at Queen & Church, as usual, simply in need some TLC instead of a wrecking ball. Just east on the north side of Queen there's potential for mid-rise development.
 
Can anyone tell me more about the graffiti mural on church st. by St. Mike's hospital?? Or where I can find out who painted it?

This was painted in 2009 by a group attached to the Met Church. See: http://www.wondercafe.ca/paint_your_faith The website says: "On September 19, 2009, Paint Your Faith launched at downtown Toronto’s Metropolitan United Church with the unveiling of a stunning, one-of-a-kind urban art installation covering a 30’ x 60’ exterior wall donated by the church. The work, created by four internationally acclaimed street artists as a collective interpretation, instantly became a part of the vibrant Toronto landscape.

The mural reflected the collective interpretation of faith of four world-renowned aerosol artists – California artists Chor Boogie, Siloette, and Toronto artists Elicser, and Mediah – created over two weeks of collaboration."
 
Unfortunately, everyone associated with this visually dreary feel-good project will go straight to Hell as a result. Meanwhile, in important religious art news, Michelangelo's lost mural The Battle of Anghiari has apparently been located behind Vasari's The Battle of Marciano in Florence's city hall:

Drills probe for lost Leonardo da Vinci fresco
Philip Pullella
FLORENCE— Reuters

Art researchers and scientists said on Monday that a high-tech project using tiny video probes has uncovered evidence that a fresco by Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci lost for five centuries may still exist behind a wall of Florence’s city hall.

“Together with art historians and scientists combining historical evidence and technology, this research team has unlocked a mystery that has been with us for more than 500 years,†said Terry Garcia, an executive vice-president of the U.S. National Geographic Society, which sponsored the research.

The project to find what has come to be known as the “Lost Leonardo†has been controversial, in part because researchers had to drill several holes into an existing work and because not all agree that the Leonardo fresco is still there.

At the start of the 16th century, Florence’s leaders commissioned Leonardo, then at the height of his career, to paint a massive fresco celebrating the Florentine Republic’s victory over the Milanese in a battle on the plains of Anghiari that took place in 1440.
Leonardo, who loathed war as “a most beastly madness,†depicted a group of horses and riders furiously fighting.

He abandoned the project a year after he started, probably because a new experimental technique for frescoes failed. But some of his preparatory studies remain, as well as other artists’ copies of the original fresco.

All traces of the original were lost more than 50 years later when Giorgio Vasari renovated the great Sala dei Cinquecento in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio and was ordered to paint a new fresco, The Battle of Marciano, to accommodate the higher walls.

Some believe that Vasari was loathe to destroy Leonardo’s work, so he built a new wall with an air gap of several centimetres in front of Leonardo’s piece in order to preserve what was left.

Researchers used tiny, medical-style endoscopic probes and other high-tech tools inserted through existing cracks in the outer wall holding the Vasari fresco and took samples of substances.

“We found traces of pigments that appear to be those known to have been used exclusively by Leonardo,†said Maurizio Seracini, an engineer and expert in art diagnostics who has been on the trail of the “Lost Leonardo†for three decades.

“These data are very encouraging,†he said.

Mr. Garcia said it was now up to Italy’s culture ministry to decide the next steps and if to explore other parts of the wall.

But some art historians are skeptical, saying the fresco of Battle of Anghiari was most likely destroyed before Vasari painted his new fresco.

Some art historians working on the project withdrew their support and Italia Nostra, Italy’s leading nature and arts conservation group, asked Florentine authorities to halt it because they said it risked harming the Vasari fresco and because they believed it was unlikely that the original Leonardo was there.

Mr. Garcia dismissed the criticism. “I think we have demonstrated that those who said the Leonardo was not behind the wall are wrong,†he said.

“All of the holes that were put into the mural were either in areas that had been previously restored or in fissures, so the original Vasari was not touched,†he said.

But even some of the participants at the presentation urged caution.

“We need further certainties and maximum protection for the Vasari fresco,†said Cristina Acidini, arts superintendent for Florence, in response to a question about what the next step would be.

“There are pros and cons about every art project,†said Marco Chatti, head of the Opificio Delle Pietre Dure, Florence’s most prestigious arts restoration laboratory.

Florence mayor Matteo Renzi said more work needed to be done on the project to reveal the condition of the Leonardo, which he believes is behind the wall.

“I ask the government to authorize us to find out how much [of the Leonardo] is left, in what condition it is in, and to evaluate if we can bring this work of Leonardo back into the light for the whole world,†Mr. Renzi said.

The mayor said he believed that modern technology should allow the public to appreciat both the Leonardo and Vasari.

“But if I had to choose, I would choose Leonardo.â€
 
The greek place beside Flatirons is gone and there's an Indian place there now, and the asian restaurant next to Daybreak is open.

Reither's has closed for good as well.
 
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This is a crappy iPhone snap with a street light in the middle so it didn't turn out well. The historic 519 Community Centre has installed lighting to highlight it's features facing Church Street, it looks terrific in person though I'm a little mixed about the green along the top. Well done though!

519_sm_March19-12.jpg


Edit: Some may or not be aware that this building and surrounding land (now Cawthra Park) was once home to the very exclusive Granite Club from around 1880 to the mid 1920's. The 519 building lost the south half of the building (I haven't been able to determine when or why) but the about 60% of the original building still stands today along with a new wing at the south end that opened in 2006.
 
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Sad news :( Reither's Fine Foods closed today for good. I don't know the details but heard the owner called the employees together and gave them the news along with their last pay cheque :(
 

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