Top 10 Lost Toronto Buildings

[junctionist]

One thing I hate is that Adelaide is a one-way street eastbound from Bathurst. Traffic engineers sabotaged the vista of St. Mary's Church at Bathurst--one of the city's finest. No one travelling on the street will see it. The area seemed to decline, and no new development on Adelaide near Bathurst has the grandeur that a person would want along that grand but neglected stretch of roadway.

 

[thecharioteer]

One thing I hate is that Adelaide is a one-way street eastbound from Bathurst. Traffic engineers sabotaged the vista of St. Mary's Church at Bathurst--one of the city's finest. No one travelling on the street will see it. The area seemed to decline, and no new development on Adelaide near Bathurst has the grandeur that a person would want along that grand but neglected stretch of roadway.

True, but changes are coming on the SE corner with the 111 Bathurst project, and on the NE corner with the potential reno of the Factory Lab Theatre:

1956 (when it was two-way):

Proposed 111 Bathurst:

 

[Hamiltonian]

I remember seeing a terminating vista from ryerson university, can't remember where lol

 

[AndreaPalladio]

One thing I hate is that Adelaide is a one-way street eastbound from Bathurst. Traffic engineers sabotaged the vista of St. Mary's Church at Bathurst--one of the city's finest. No one travelling on the street will see it. The area seemed to decline, and no new development on Adelaide near Bathurst has the grandeur that a person would want along that grand but neglected stretch of roadway.

The vista is still there, and it's great. I see it all the time. You just have to get out of your car and walk West along Adelaide.

 

[thecharioteer]

The vista is still there, and it's great. I see it all the time. You just have to get out of your car and walk West along Adelaide.

In the same way that the St. Lawrence Market forms a terminus to Wellington, which can only be experienced as a pedestrian.

1954 (when Wellington was two-way):

This was even more of a terminus pre-St. Lawrence Market when the 1844 City Hall clock tower existed:

 

[adma]

A new addition: the Fifth Church of Christ Scientist on Chatsworth Drive in North Toronto is now, bewilderingly, in mid-demolition

 

[One Nut Kruk]

A new addition: the Fifth Church of Christ Scientist on Chatsworth Drive in North Toronto is now, bewilderingly, in mid-demolition

Fuck sakes. I just contacted the owner about a heritage nomination a few weeks ago. The building was just recently sold. This city is utterly hopeless when it comes to preservation. Sometimes I just want to give up on it. We desperately need a mayor that will make heritage a top priority in this city. Where is the vision in Toronto?

 

[Red October]

Buildings don't have to be symmetrical to make for striking vistas. However, they should have an interesting profile; buildings that have a boxy, rectangular profile like the Vu condo on Adelaide East generally don't make for interesting vistas.

Oh I agree the University Avenue vista is still incredible, it just bugged the obsessive-compulsive side of me when I first noticed.

 

[Red October]

We desperately need a mayor that will make heritage a top priority in this city.

Thems downtown gravy you're talkin!

 

[One Nut Kruk]

Thems downtown gravy you're talkin!

Yeah, I know... but that building is in the suburbs. The suburbs in general have plenty of buildings that are worthy of preservation -- so that "downtown gravy" perception could easily be changed if it were to be addressed, at all. How can we get more funding and focus put towards our heritage system? The status quo needs to change, asap; it is a huge failure. Another problem is that most property owners are completely ignorant and disinterested in such matters. I've contacted roughly 50 building owners in the last few months re heritage nominations, and I've probably received 5 replies; none of which supported my efforts. What is frustrating is that the majority or these owners have little to no understanding of architecture, yet they hold all the cards. It doesn't matter how much one tries to convince them that their respective properties are important and deserving of protection. They have no obligation to agree, and technically they're not doing anything wrong. The heritage community almost needs to be coercive. What other incentives can be offered to make heritage more appealing to property owners?

Btw, adma, I know that you really like the Yorkminster Citadel at Yonge & the 401. I contacted the church, a little over a month ago, and they are adamantly against a heritage designation. As long as these types of attitudes exist, we're screwed.

 

[thecharioteer]

Oh I agree the University Avenue vista is still incredible, it just bugged the obsessive-compulsive side of me when I first noticed.

Ah, symmetry....

TGH, 1910:

John Howard's proposal for King's College (Queen's Park), 1835:



Howard's 1832 proposal for a Guildhall on King Street East between Toronto and Church Streets, integrating the old Jail and Courthouse:





As we know, the Gothic Revival/Romantic Movement, with its focus on the picturesque, looked at things differently:

University College 1860:

1907, Wellesley gates:

Victoria College 1900:

 

[One Nut Kruk]

Is there any plan to clean the stone on such buildings as University College and Trinity College? They're in disgusting condition.

 

[aboveandbeyond]

They should have been preserved,It's the saddest thing that we have only images to look after and may some one had made an effort for restoration,But bygones are bygones and it will still be in our heart somewhere.

 

[junctionist]

What's unfortunate is that when we demolish heritage buildings, ordinary people don't even realize we had such impressive buildings. That's why it's important to preserve heritage: so that ordinary people going about their daily lives are reminded of our interesting past whether or not they make the effort to learn about it. They may never pick up a book on the city's history, but they'll see signs of that history first hand and know it exists. That's important.

 

[AlbertC]

The former Otto Higel building at the NW corner of Bathurst & King West:

Camera Shy : Downtown Bathurst Street - Spacing Toronto

As a documentary photographer of architecture, I take a strictly non-hierarchical approach to recording Toronto’s urban fabric. I see my work as belonging to an important tradition dating from the earliest days of the medium, one that pays attention to the connective tissue filling the spaces...

spacing.ca