Queen W & Portland fire

[cacruden]

I work in the big office tower at 555 Richmond Street behind the fire scene (which some of you probably think is so ugly that it deserves to be burned down). Going south on Bathurst in the morning I almost did think that it was my workplace that was on fire. Thankfully it wasn't (although all the corridors and elevator shafts smelled of smoke).

Here are my some of my photos of the fire... (the rest are found here on Flickr)

8:00 am

Bad luck, wish it was the purple building instead....

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

CityTV news at 11 is showing small fires still burning, and demolition crews are setting up to begin pulling damaged structures down. It's too painful to watch.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (was to be) MY SUSPECT VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SUPPORT SUSPECT ON MARKHAM STREET!

Who ever is responsible for this MUST be castrated!... TWICE!

Priestley Demolition is preparing to tear down what remains of the facade where Suspect was. Don't look.

 

[smuncky]

Bad luck, wish it was the purple building instead....

oh no you don't. the reverb stays.

 

[Vito81]

Atleast the old King Sol is still intact, That is one of my favorite buildings, that place is like a time capsule inside

 

[CDL.TO]

From Flickr check out what Toronto lost:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2302/2280326352_8f9a348e4f_b.jpg

Those photos makes me suspect that Abraham's Antiques (with the green sign) being only one-storey is all that saved the Richardson (?) Building (former King Sol) from destruction.

 

[Jayomatic]

I agree that the King Sol building is one of my favourites as well. When i first heard of the fire I thought it was King Sol for sure since it was just sitting there empty. That building is a gem and I really hope some great retailer fixes it further and makes it shine.

I hope they find a way to rebuild a couple of the taller brick structures to look the exact same as what was there. It shouldn't be too difficult but I'm a bit worried Toronto will get some precast or half-assed version using some sort of shitty precast to look like bricks. Hopefully people will speak up and for the city and developers to not cheap out.

 

[CDL.TO]

Graphic showing what stores were damaged from The Star (PDF)

 

[Archivist]

That's a great graphic from the Star. This makes me sad. I think what makes these areas so good for the city is the sheer density of the retail - very small storefronts with many entrances. That sometimes seems to me what we aren't able to reproduce easily.

 

[Glen]

It wasn't Home Depot.

I put my money on Rona or Lowes.

 

[adma]

oh no you don't. the reverb stays.

Moreover as behind all that paint and grunge, it's one of the first works of E.J.Lennox (albeit sans its original mansard)

 

[MetroMan]

Duke's owner -- interviewed on TV -- didn't seem overtly worried which leads me to believe that he had insurance that covers this.

Maybe Duke's can be relocated to the Burroughs building which despite some nice renovations has sat mostly empty aside from occasional clothing warehouse sales.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Well I guess if you heard it on the news it must be truthful.

I blame the evil developers for this.

are you being sarcastic? i'm sure the police wouldn't cover up for someones drug lab. of course, maybe one hasn't been found yet; anything's possible. i was just quoting what i heard on the news.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The insurance companies will pay out the owners nicely, each of which will do the math...do I keep the couple hundred grand I've just received and retire nicely, or do I use it all to rebuild the business and continue working in low-margin retail until I die?

My guess is that most of the owners will take the money and run, and sell their property (for another profit, above the insurance pay-out) to developers. Those developers will then build higher-end retail, with condos above.

Fire is the great gentrifier, as it gives an area or a city a clean slate to rebuild. We wouldn't have the wonderful avenues, parks and buildings of Sir Christopher Wren's London if we hadn't also had the Great Fire of London to clean out the slums and ramshackle building of the downtown area. Queen West will rebuild, and in five years I beleive will look and feel better than before.

 

[299 bloor call control.]

Yes, but Queen Street was gentrifying fine without a massive blaze. And in that blaze, we lost a big part of what drew gentrifiers to the neighbourhood to begin with. In fact, I think the gentrification in this section of Queen West is going to hurt now, with a Home Depot on one side, and an empty lot on the other that will very unlikely be replaced with something with as much character density as what burnt down.

 

[maestro]

I hope they find a way to rebuild a couple of the taller brick structures to look the exact same as what was there

I hope not. I'd rather see something of quality more in tune to 2008 than a tribute facade. It was the businesses that made this block which will undoubtably move on and not the building which weren't outstanding by any means.