News   Oct 04, 2024
 249     0 
News   Oct 04, 2024
 540     1 
News   Oct 03, 2024
 1K     0 

The Junction

That is indeed what we were talking about

No it isn't. To repeat: "I'm referring specifically to the Bloor West zone (i.e. W of Runnymede)".

As urban as West Toronto was, that would have been the last part to urbanize, and it was still only "getting there" at best by 1909; it was also a little off-orbit relative to the industrial heart of the Junction, and really registered more as a Model T-era commuter suburb for a post-amalgamation Toronto...
 
We're both talking about Bloor West, west of Runnymede. I was making the comparison of the urbanization of the Junction part of West Toronto versus Bloor West. I was making the point that in 1909 the Junction was far ahead of the Bloor area west of Runnymede, where the urbanization was only beginning.
 
I guess the difference might be between a pre-1909 "West Toronto" (i.e. the Junction), and a post-1909 "West End Toronto" (i.e. Bloor West)...
 
Well I'l be moving into the area in about a year or so, and i'm really excited about the area, fell in love with it the first time i saw it (which was pretty recent). So if there's any junctionian/junctionist people here i'd love to hear about current developments that u are observing, as it interests me.

two things in particular i was wondering about the area...

1. what is the status of that railway bike patch that was supposed to be from dupont and dundas to king and portland or queen and ossington or something like that? the information available seems outdated on the webpage and i was just wondering if this project was totally halted? its a shame because i can't wait to be living at the junction and riding my bike to the core of downtown...i already do walks...it takes about an hour and a half..

2. saw a short written piece in this weeks Eye magazine, referring to "The Hole in the Junction" referring to a space that used to be McBride Cycle and the site was torn down for a condo, however that plan didn't fall through. so what is the status of this place?


It's my understanding that the tender put in was too high. Funding is still there but it's delayed waiting on new contractor tenders.
Most likely looking at 1-2 years from now before completion.

As for The Junction boundaries, there are the "official" boundaries, but then there are the boundaries recognized by the shopping district only (which was mentioned in this thread elsewhere). For any history buffs a good source for historical information, photos and maps is the West Toronto Junction Historical Society www.wtjhs.ca
I myself live east of Keele just north of the CP tracks. If anyone asks me where I live I still say in the Junction area (considering if you walk to the end of my street you can literally see the junction of the railway tracks so I think that's a valid statement...lol!)
 
I would say that if you live east of Old Weston Road and south of St. Clair you're still in the Junction. It's great to have someone with some slightly more inside information on the railpath. They're not moving fast, but I noticed a couple of weeks ago that they do have some equipment that has cleared the weeds growing in the northern most part near Dupont. Lilibet- You mentioned that it will be done in 1-2 years, but does that include the part south of Bloor? This project has to make it to Queen.
 
I would say that if you live east of Old Weston Road and south of St. Clair you're still in the Junction. It's great to have someone with some slightly more inside information on the railpath. They're not moving fast, but I noticed a couple of weeks ago that they do have some equipment that has cleared the weeds growing in the northern most part near Dupont. Lilibet- You mentioned that it will be done in 1-2 years, but does that include the part south of Bloor? This project has to make it to Queen.

Junctionist, I'm not holding my breath about the Railpath continuing further south of Dundas West/Lansdowne anytime soon. The portion that's being converted was purchased from CP Rail however the remaining portion south of this intersection is CN property and they're not planning to let go of it anytime soon as it is on a section that they intend to use for GO train expansion (and the controversial air rail link).
It would have been amazing if the whole stretch was converted as it could have potentially linked up with the waterfront Martin Goodman trail but I guess the needs of bedroom communities take priority over the needs of city dwellers but if it helps keep more cars off the road then I should quell my bitterness...:)
The time frame I mentioned is based upon what my source gave me.
Given that tendering has yet to be completed, work will not likely begin until spring and then add on the length of time it will take to complete the task.
A lot of the equipment and machinery that's on the railways lands north of Dupont is likely there because of the work that's also being done on the Georgetown Go line which is being tunneled from Dupont to St. Clair West.
One thing I've been trying to find out about is the effect that the construction of the new housing division on Wallace is having on the path.
There is remediation work being done and the section of the railpath between Macaulay and Wallace has been reduced to a width of about four feet, with safety fencing encroaching on the pathway which would make you think that even if they were ready to go, that would be an obstacle.
Hopefully good things come to those who wait...
 
Toronto Star article

Here's an article from yesterday's paper about a store in the Junction: http://www.thestar.com/article/286723

The article goes into a bit of detail about gentrification and how the neighbourhood is changing.

Article:

Forever Interiors' attitude: Reuse, recycle, rejoice

Andrew Wallace / toronto star
Forever Interiors’ Martin Scott is so green, says Rita Zekas, that he rivals Shrek. His Dundas St. W. store has been open for just over two years. Email story


Dec 22, 2007 04:30 AM
Rita Zekas
Living reporter

We hadn't been to The Junction, that outback at Dundas and Keele, since 2001, when we visited the set of the musical film Call Me Irrepressible starring Jason Priestley, whom we dubbed a "song-and-pants man" because of his inflated, draping, vintage trousers.

Film-location people tend to gravitate to The Junction for its seedy, somewhat disreputable vibe. Now it's going the way of Parkdale and getting gentrified.

Shops like Forever Interiors at 2903 Dundas St. W., headquarters for recycled furniture, decor and antiques, and Cornerstone at 2884 Dundas St. W., 40,000 square feet of fine furniture and antiques, are springing up among the quickie cash-your-cheques places.

Throw in a Starbucks and Whole Foods and watch the yup-and-comers congregate.

Forever Interiors' owner Martin Scott bases his business on reclaimed wood. Harvest tables are made from recycled wood, including old structural beams and ultra-wide roof boards. Custom-designed cabinets evolve out of a combination of salvaged furniture and reclaimed wood.

He's almost Shrek green.

We are captivated by a school of whimsical wooden fish in a variety of colours and species on the walls. "I cut them out and local artists paint them," Scott says. "...I get old tin that I use for the fish (fins) from a demolition guy in a truck."

At $34.99, they are irresistible and ideal for last-minute gift giving. "Somebody from a film wanted to rent 10 fish for a trailer park," Scott recalls, offended, "and I said, `No way.'"

Designers, movie-location scouts, movie people and regular folk make their way to Scott's shop.

"I get spillover," he says.

Rachel McAdams, who was in the area filming Time Traveler's Wife, bought one of his popular shelves with the vintage coat hooks priced from $39 to $99 and made from old roof boards.

McAdams is also tapping him for furnishings for her T.O. home.

Scott depends on "bike guys," pickers on bicycles who ride around the area sifting through the garbage for broken items that he makes into new furniture.

The bike guys are not kids.

"Chester shocked the life out of me," Scott recalls. "He said he'd be 60 years old in a week. He spends 12 hours every day on a bike and supplies me and other people."

Scott took a huge old door and made it into a hallway bench on which to sit while taking off your shoes. It's all found wood, with the door on one side, floorboards on the other and storage underneath. All that for $249.99.

He'll take old five-foot-high mirrors that are refuse from apartment buildings or renos, attach them to old floor boards from century homes and price them at $195 to $395.

Scott sells church pews from the neighbouring Victorian Presbyterian church for $350. "The church was converted (no pun intended) into lofts," he says.

There is a magnificent armoire with a "sold" sticker marked at $4,900. "A moving company called me up (offering it)," Scott says. "It's not old – only 15 years old – but it costs $17,245 regularly."

What is totally gob-smacking is a coffee table top made from a bowling alley floor that Scott obtained in collaboration with The Post and Beam Reclamation Ltd., several stores down at 2869 Dundas W. The Post and Beamers deal in reclaimed architectural materials and have been known to go all the way to Argentina to buy a church door, but the door is such a work of art, it's almost a religious experience.

"They said, `C'mon, let's grab the wood' (from the bowling alley) and I helped them," Scott recalls. "They sell the raw material, I sell the finished products. If I'm lucky, maybe one of those bike guys will come by with a base for the table."

Forever Interiors has been open for just over two years. Before that, Scott worked in marketing for a mid-sized software company. He was downsized.

He is not necessarily artsy-craftsy, he demurs. "I learned right here," he explains. "My brother is a real estate agent and we reno'd houses. I sold my house and it became my stock. Then my brother bought a house under construction and it all ended up being in the store."

A 100-year-old trunk priced at $195 bears a sign proclaiming, "Been to China and back." A trunk underneath it says, "Don't know where it's been" and sells for $65.

Scott's price points are moderate: A pair of wooden candleholders is $7.50; a baker's table, metal with enamel paint, is $149; a great vintage floor ashtray is $65; a wonderful hobby horse is $58; lamps and chandeliers go from $27 to $87; a charming birdhouse is $35; and picture frames are $12 and up.

"Art dealers come in and clean me out of frames," Scott says. "There is an art school around the corner."

To replenish stock, Scott goes to garage sales, content sales and auctions. "And people call me up now," he adds.

His client base includes some of the people in the 'hood, though they tend to stay put after dark. It is still somewhat dodgy, after all, and it gets dark before 5 p.m., when most people are still at their primary work stations, though Scott can be found toiling away in his shop renovating.

"This is a very professional neighbourhood," Scott explains. "The problem is, they (customers) don't come to the street. We need coffee shops and produce stores. We need comfy, cozy places to hang out in the evenings."

His philosophy is to steadfastly stay forever old.

"The only thing new is the idea," he says. "It's as simple as one, two, three. One: nails. Two: screws. Three: glue."
 
I've always wondered if the big Irish/Slavic presence was what drove Anglo-Protestant moralists to make the area dry.

I thought it had more to do with the drunken brawls that broke out during the weekend farmer's market way way back when. Perhaps that is just another urban myth but that is what I was told when I first went to the junction in the late 60s. Does anyone have a more informed opinion?
 
Wasn't it an economically depressed area at the beginning of the last century? I thought everyone went out and got drunk to drown their sorrows, and the "dry" thing was intended to sober them all up a bit ...
 
I have no idea if it was economically depressed. The local cattleyards and slaughter houses must have been an economic boon plus there was a fair amount of manufacturing also being carried out. The area's architecture doesn't really suggest a depressed area either. As I posted earlier, I had heard it was those damn farmers coming to town and getting totally bladdered and having a bit of a barney much to the chagrin of the Mrs. farmers. The area certainly went into decline once it went dry (so would I!). I would love to know the true history - anyone?
 
If we're playing Clue, it was the Stockyard workers in the Junction

Here's the lowdown on prohibition in the Junction:

CBC did a report on prohibition in Canada and according to their story, on "April 30, 1904: A Toronto West End neighbourhood goes dry to end drunken rowdiness. Residents of West Toronto, now called the Junction, ban alcohol to stop fights between men working in the railway stockyards. A series of failed referendums leaves the Junction dry until 1997." http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/prohibition/

So, it was actually the railway stockyard workers who got too drunk and rowdy. Wikipedia mentions that due to all the passing trains, residents of West Toronto were concerned that their town would get a bad reputation if all the train travellers saw a lot of drunk people fighting all the time, and that was part of the reason...that's wikipedia though, so could be made up. Doesn't sound like it was the farmers though...although I'm sure they'd take part occasionally.
 
Maybe to lessen the Wiki-skepticism, it'd be best to view this within the broader context of the early c20 prohibition movement, i.e. the Junction wasn't alone re such concerns, even if its blue-collar economic base made the community extra-sensitive.

Thus, it isn't so remarkable that the Junction went dry in the first place, as that it remained dry until 1997--largely due to the legendary grassroots crusading of Bill Temple et al. Indeed, in later years the "dry Junction" probably passed from being a genuine crusade against rowdiness into more of a lovable municipal quirk. (Okay, not so lovable to long-depressed Keele/Dundas retail...)
 
Maybe to lessen the Wiki-skepticism, it'd be best to view this within the broader context of the early c20 prohibition movement, i.e. the Junction wasn't alone re such concerns, even if its blue-collar economic base made the community extra-sensitive.

Thus, it isn't so remarkable that the Junction went dry in the first place, as that it remained dry until 1997--largely due to the legendary grassroots crusading of Bill Temple et al. Indeed, in later years the "dry Junction" probably passed from being a genuine crusade against rowdiness into more of a lovable municipal quirk. (Okay, not so lovable to long-depressed Keele/Dundas retail...)

1904 seems to be a little bit pre c20 prohibition movement, but thanks for your input - words from adma are always a consolation. Btw, was his name Temple or Templeton?
 

Back
Top