East Danforth

[adma]

I asked Jane Jacobs(!) about Euro-style highrises-atop-gas-stations back in the early 90s. She--yes, she, Jane Jacobs--advised against it, for safety reasons.

 

[Marccram]

Jane's response

And so what have the records of safety been since?

 

[Skeezix]

P.S. Kinda off topic, but re: gas stations... It depends on how they decide to zone the area. Gas stations can be zoned out of existence, sort of. I believe that an existing gas station can stay there as long as they want, and the owners can sell it as a gas station too. However, if the city were to decide it didn't want gas stations there, they could zone the area in such a way to exclude gas stations. While any existing gas stations would be grandfathered, as soon as it gets changed to something else, it can never be a gas station again (unless then change the zoning laws yet again).

You are correct. It's called a legal non-conforming use.

 

[nfitz]

I attended one of the Kingston Road EA info meetings and was a little surprised by the comments by a group of Danforth business owners.[\QUOTE]I'm not surprised. I'm sure a lot of the drop in business in that area is by car, and the proposal is to eliminate the parking on Danforth on both sides of the street, which seems poorly thought out. I'd have thought that a lane of parking in that area would be more beneficial than 2 bike lanes - which don't seem to connect to anything; the bike planes could go along Clonmore/Gerrard/Hollis instead.

 

[Mustapha]

I heard that the Roxy Cinema (formally The Allenby, Art Moderne, 1939) at Greenwood & Danforth is finally succumbing to the wrecking ball. I had always hoped that the building would survive long enough until the area could support an east end cinema. If what I was told was correct, the front of the building will remain but the rest will go and then be rebuilt into a service station or something.
So many great memories there, it's so sad to see it go.

A few memories, for those who were there in the late '70's/early '80's when the place really rocked.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

Wonderful. Did you take these pics? The lineup people - they are all smiling at you, the photographer.

Take a picture of a group like that nowadays and one is sure to be scowling at you.

 

[Eug]

I'm not surprised. I'm sure a lot of the drop in business in that area is by car, and the proposal is to eliminate the parking on Danforth on both sides of the street, which seems poorly thought out. I'd have thought that a lane of parking in that area would be more beneficial than 2 bike lanes - which don't seem to connect to anything; the bike planes could go along Clonmore/Gerrard/Hollis instead.

That's a reasonable point. However, I think a better solution is to have more parking lots/buildings. I've never been a huge fan of the street parking situation along the Danforth.

OTOH, the city hasn't increased Green P parking spots fast enough for my tastes either.

What they did in my old condo building (downtown) was an interesting compromise. The developer was forced to make their "visitor" parking available to both visitors and the general public. So, our condo building's visitor parking is actually a Green P parking lot. I don't know how much residential will be built there, if any. However, with higher buildings and consolidation of existing lots, new buildings going up could include public parking.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Wonderful. Did you take these pics? The lineup people - they are all smiling at you, the photographer.

Take a picture of a group like that nowadays and one is sure to be scowling at you.

No. Two of my best friends are the Roxy manager and projectionist who were there in the 70's & 80's. These photos came from the fellow who was the manager who recently scanned his collection of slides into digital.
One more taken from the projection booth after a Rocky Horror screening, late 1970's.

 

[Anth]

Photos from that era don't come up often enough here. Thanks very much for posting them!

Perhaps you should consider an addition to the 1970s Toronto thread?

 

[Joe]

I heard that the Roxy Cinema (formally The Allenby, Art Moderne, 1939) at Greenwood & Danforth is finally succumbing to the wrecking ball. I had always hoped that the building would survive long enough until the area could support an east end cinema. If what I was told was correct, the front of the building will remain but the rest will go and then be rebuilt into a service station or something.
So many great memories there, it's so sad to see it go.

A few memories, for those who were there in the late '70's/early '80's when the place really rocked.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

Yeah... there are apparently plans for a Tim Hortons in the old Roxy/Allenby theatre, too.

I bike home past there every day... so if I see any workers I'll ask.

 

[Goldie]

the historic Allenby

My family went to movies at the Allenby on the 1940s when they gave away free dishes and books at many showings.
Sad to read of its demise.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

My family went to movies at the Allenby on the 1940s when they gave away free dishes and books at many showings.
Sad to read of its demise.

Great photo, I've never seen a pre-Roxy photograph of the cinema as the Allenby.
My mom & her family grew up in this area on Hertle Ave. (Greenwood/Gerrard) until they moved to the 'burbs in the mid '50's and I asked her a few months ago if she remembered the Allenby. She did, but has no memory of going there. She'd go to cinemas closer to home along Gerrard Street such as The Guild, The Classic and on special occasions they'd go to the fancy cinema, The Eastwood (now "India Centre" at 1430 Gerrard E.). The other cinema buildings still exist too, but also serve other purposes.

 

[Skeezix]

The plans are not to demolish the Roxy/Allenby, but rather to convert the site to a gas station. The former cinema facade is to be restored, and the building will be used for the station's retail component. As someone mentioned above, there may very well be a Tim Hortons counter in there, as is common at a number of stations.

At least that was the plan in 2008. Whether the recession sidetracked those plans or not, I do not know. Given that the building enjoys a heritage designation, however, the City would need to bless any new plans for the site.

 

[OttoSchloss]

I heard that the Roxy Cinema (formally The Allenby, Art Moderne, 1939) at Greenwood & Danforth is finally succumbing to the wrecking ball. I had always hoped that the building would survive long enough until the area could support an east end cinema. If what I was told was correct, the front of the building will remain but the rest will go and then be rebuilt into a service station or something.
So many great memories there, it's so sad to see it go.

A few memories, for those who were there in the late '70's/early '80's when the place really rocked.

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge, then click again on the image for full size.

That's where I used to buy my LSD in the 80s. *sigh*

 

[Eug]

The plans are not to demolish the Roxy/Allenby, but rather to convert the site to a gas station. The former cinema facade is to be restored, and the building will be used for the station's retail component. As someone mentioned above, there may very well be a Tim Hortons counter in there, as is common at a number of stations.

At least that was the plan in 2008. Whether the recession sidetracked those plans or not, I do not know. Given that the building enjoys a heritage designation, however, the City would need to bless any new plans for the site.

That's actually quite an interesting compromise. Where would the gas pumps be then, and how would you get to them?

 

[Skeezix]

That's actually quite an interesting compromise. Where would the gas pumps be then, and how would you get to them?

If I recall correctly, the pumps are to be located on the vacant lot immediately to the west of the theatre.