Front Street was the shoreline of downtown Toronto in the early 1800s
Skydome, Eldon Garnet’s august, poignant monument to 17,000 Chinese workers who helped drive the Canadian Pacific railway through the Rockies in the early 1880s, exploited then cast off to abject poverty and almost lost to memory, majestic memorial of gorge-spanning wooden trestle, under construction by two Chinese men, great poignance and sympathy for the oppressed, devoid of sentimentality, and plain respect for the contribution of the nameless Chinese men to one of the 19th century’s great industrial projects
CN Tower, 301 Front West, 360 Revolving Restaurant, 2½ stars in Toronto Life's 2002 Restaurant Guide, meats are the strong point, good wine list.
Palavrion, 270 Front West, in CBC broadcast centre, Joanne Kates dec/94, most astonishingly beautiful restaurant to open in Toronto in decade, spent $6.2 million, 380 seats, owned by Movenpick, same menu as Marché, self-serve, same painters who did Matisse restaurant, food has numbing blandness
CBC Broadcast Centre, designed by Philip Johnson, colours done by Donald Kaufman, America’s master colourist, his comments: red used because colour eye most easily sees as an edge, colour most often used in neon signs, eye can't focus on warm and cool colours at the same time so when see red, blue recedes, green is the one colour that can be used in a vivid, bright saturated version without appearing decorative, it can be neutral because it is ubiquitous in nature, and the one colour that can be both warm and cool at the same time, it can be used to maximum intensity because it is integral with the material because it is the colour of nature, like a leaf it is seen to be in, not on, the material - likes to use opposites like green and red, yellow and plum, when you have opposites the eye bounces around, and back to the centre, interested in how colours keep the eye moving, we see colour by means of contrast, a full spectrum of colours give a rich atmosphere, you should go in each time to look at his green wall
Ooh La La, in CBC building with patio to east, provides healthy food for lunch etc., across from Simcoe Place
Glenn Gould Theatre, 250 Front West
Crowne Plaza Hotel, 225 Front West,
Simcoe Place, 200 Front Street West, finished summer/95, 30 story, $200 million, John Bentley Mays likes, this area was a playground for architects, tried to be clever, luxe and voluptuous in mid 80s, such as metro centre, Carlos Ott and William Neish of Norr, tried to be serene and reserved, back to basics, modern but not modish, doesn’t like slab podium it sits on, not squat or ugly, does not disrupt downward cascade of glass and aluminum, just a clunky way to join earth and tower and not needed, true interest is above podium, best place to see it is beside Anish Kapoor's metal range of water-cut metal slabs, cost $425,000, image of tower as might find in a pool of wind-riffled water, both aluminum, both hollow, this also has neon lights around it which I discovered on an evening walk
Lone Star, 200 Front West, voted best tex-mex in Now reader’s poll/97, second best in 1999
Remo’s, 156 Front Street West, where Elizabeth and I went jan/99 when we went to the design show but it was closed because of a power failure, lots of Italian families, I liked, had paglia e fieno, pasta with tomato sauce and few pieces of onion, family owned since 1980, great, how come it is never mentioned anywhere?
Armadillo Texas Grill, 146 Front Street West, tex-mex, voted runner up best tex-mex in Now reader’s poll/97, second best country & western bar in Now reader’s poll/96
The Fish House, 144 Front Street West, gone feb/03 when lease ran out, there with Elizabeth may/95, very touristy and didn’t much like, but they do know how to cook fish, had arctic char cooked on cedar planks, Elizabeth had swordfish, both great, says they have a location on Sheppard West
--------
Bottom of University Avenue, John Bentley Mays says every architect should study horror of this spot, could have been best, most beautiful in Toronto, end of university could have been our Champs Elysée, could have been urban sophistication for 17 million yearly passengers through union station, Toronto’s grandest classical building, instead is slovenly indifference, streets should end definitely, instead dives into loathsome tunnel
Citibank Place, on south side of front at bottom is by Parkin Partnership, notable for stupefying banality and already stained and shabby and as charmless as a public toilet fixture
Metropolitan Place is on York above University, the one I think they grow marijuana in
----------
The building on York Street to the north, somewhat Italianate, somewhat Richardsonian, is I think the private Toronto club
Prudential House, 55 York Street, architects Kaplay & Sprachman, 1929, one of buildings on art deco tour, guide Tim Morawetz said best art deco building in city
Royal York, 100 Front Street West, voted second best hotel for weekend getaway in Now reader’s poll/97, best in 2001, 1,408 rooms, in the 1920s front street was a grand boulevard, ruled over by this hotel and its main source of business, union station, there nov/89, had 7th floor south-west corner, feb/90, room 5294 looking courtroom, jan/91 room 6-116 looking north to where could see cows - february/91 after training in Sault - room 5-148 - could see art deco building to north, march/91 room 299 was on north east corner was regularly $275 for half price and had room divider with bed on one side and suite on other and windows on two sides, Toronto Life voted hotel library bar martini 11/10, tied for best in city
Benihana Japanese Steak House, 100 Front Street West, Joanne Kates may/99, tourist pseudo-Japanese, but has small sushi bar, but good sushi
Epic, Fairmont Royal York Hotel, 100 Front Street West, 2½ stars in Toronto Life's 2002 Restaurant Guide, inventive use of space, haute cuisine
In between Royal York and union station is a boulevard with trees and benches, but it is scraggly and not well kept.
The space between the Royal York and the Royal Bank Plaza is a nice raised patio area. It has various figures made out of what may be wood, which are called City People and were done by Catherine Widgery, 1989. Some of them are mounted to move with the wind, like weather vanes.
Royal Bank Plaza is the one with the gold windows.
Union Station, 65-75 Front Street West, built 1913-1920, opened 1927, John Lyle, fine example of Edwardian Beaux-Arts style, John Bentley Mays says built entirely for those leaving, entrance is through stern colonnade into great hall with fine tiled tunnel vault overhead and everywhere the luxuriously appointed ramp guarded by tall pillars topped by flourishing Corinthian capitals, but arriving you come up from below like from basement flat, to be greeted by crowd of giant buildings all staring down coldly, also described as neo-classical, both Greece and Rome, huge ticket lobby like roman baths which is appropriate since baths were social centres, centre of city during war and then immigration boom, Missouri zumbro stone and Tennessee marble floor, four storey arched windows
Bank of Nova Scotia, 61 Front Street West, formerly postal station, wing of union station, got in trouble for proposing concrete ramp for west edge of building, historical board felt would destroy aesthetics of the beaux-arts style
Takesushi, 22 Front Street West,
Hughies, 22 Front Street West,
BCE Place, corner of Bay and Front, Canada Trust Tower, series of receding star shaped sections with slightly 30s look, significant parts of historic streetscape retained, other facades along Wellington absorbed into new structure, positive results of post-modern complexity embracing old and new, large and small, second tower divided, eastern half will have ornate six storey galleria running between Bay and Yonge, outdoor garden on front street will be circular bog designed by American sculptor Scott Burton, Adele Freeman says best thing to hit Toronto in long time, galleria designed by Santiago Calatrava of Spain, street of steel, glass and granite to recall experience of walking down country lane, floor level with street, heritage square is next best thing to Italian piazza with fountain, transition between gallery and square is buff brick arch holding enormous pair of windows that open as moveable architecture and set at different angles, building designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of New York, most refined corporate architecture to come onto scene in more than a decade, this is the Barcelona look which is organic like Noguchi but has delicacy and lightness of touch not seen first time around - galleria looks like ribs and spinal cord of animal and seems alive, invites comparison to union station, a revival of beaux-arts civic ideals?, chosen by time magazine as one of 10 best designs of 1992.
The building preserved inside is the bank of midland district, 13-15 Wellington West, built in the 1840s, designed by William Thomas, architect of St. Lawrence Hall and St. Michael’s cathedral, Greek revival, limestone facade, six cut-stone piers, now not architecture but indoor sculpture
Acqua, BCE Place, 10 Front Street West, Toronto Life’s 2002 Restaurant Guide gives 3 stars, not busy Saturday evenings, maritime focus
Faema, BCE Place, Toronto Life says best cappuccino in Toronto nov/94
Dominion Public Building, 1 Front Street West, 1926-31, starting point for grand beaux-arts scheme planned for Front Street and University Avenue in late 20s, this is Toronto’s customs house, sweeping arc of ionic columned front in keeping with curve of street, 60’ high Long Room, part of more ambitious scheme to make entire area in manner of Baron Haussman’s Paris, according to lecture on art deco, this would be an example of stripped classical art deco
Hotel Victoria, 56 Yonge Street, refurbished, Toronto Life says the place to have an affair, cheap at only $50, 56 Yonge restaurant, whimsical paintings and flowery banquettes enliven large bland room given over to a two-course table d’hote of bracing simplicity, there may/91, room 405
49 Yonge, northeast corner of Yonge and Wellington, old banking hall build in 1871, empty for 6 years after collapse of Greymac Trust, marble, brass and mahogany
Irish Embassy, 49 Yonge, Toronto Life's $25 Gourmet 2003, corner of Wellington, Jacob Richler may/02, has grandeur, old bank building, ceiling high and arched, beautifully painted and set with mouldings, windows tall and grand, floor white stone, aims to be poshest pub in town, kitchen tries hard, some entrees very good indeed, Irish stew lovely, pleasing chicken curry
Movenpick Marche, BCE Place, 42 Yonge, Toronto Life's $25 Gourmet 2003, 2 stars in Toronto Life's 2002 Restaurant Guide, dolled-up cafeteria,
Masquerade Caffe Bar, BCE Place, Amy Pataki may/02 says likes colour, lights and armchairs, and good Italian food, antipasto, fine pastas
1886 Bank of Montreal, 30 Yonge Street, 1885-86, rococo gem now restored and turned into hockey hall of fame, built by frank darling, 1885 was year Riel rebellion defeated and CPR reached west coast, Corinthian pilasters at door, rich detailed octagonal interior and blizzard of visual allegories, most intimidating bank in Toronto when Leacock was teaching here and maybe model for “my banking career”, has caryatid which is a freestanding sculpted figure used as a column to support a roof or pediment, started with Greeks in 421 B.C. at erectheum on acropolis, often used in mid-19th century Greek revival, male caryatid is called atlantes, females are canephorae and sometimes have baskets on head, one on this building is called a term because it begins as a pedestal and merges into a human, animal or mythical figure, in this case a brooding atlas, was commissioned by best store carvers in city, William Holbrook (1842-1925) and William C. Mollington, carries 3 storey stone chimney serving manager's private apartment above
Penelope Restaurant, 33 Yonge, Grecian mode is visually effective and mercifully restrained, pan-fried kefalotiri cheese lit aflame, pan-fried calamaries, garlic riddled mezilanosalada, feta topped baked shrimp in tomato/wine sauce, plump quails and rack of lamb
O’Keefe Centre, 1 Front Street East, 1956-60, designed by Peter Dickenson, La Boheme june/89, Coppelia feb/91, Desrosier dance theatre with Holly Cole, David Sereda mar/96 with Elizabeth and mother, cantilevered canopy described as tour de force
Prelude at O’Keefe Centre
Boston Club, 4 Front East
Biff’s Bar, 4 Front East, Joanne Kates nov/02 wonders if has lost its touch, credible but not exciting, Scott Pennock has moved there, 3½ stars in Toronto Life’s 2002 Restaurant Guide, bistro by same team that created Canoe and Jump, classic bistro dishes, Globe says has marble tabletops, subtle lighting and deep-tray walls to create discreet ambiance,
Church Street
Hot House Cafe, 35 Church, best all you can eat restaurant in Now’s Best of Toronto 2004, best Sunday brunch in eye's reader’s choice awards 2002, best brunch in Now’s best of Toronto 2001, innovative pastas and spirited appetizers, there with Alison February 2007, she bought us this for a Christmas present, see here, and for Mother's Day 2007, see here
Pat and Mario’s, 35 Church, there with Elizabeth and Alison may/91
Downright, 17 Church, down duvets and comforters, deal directly with mills and pass on savings to customers
Anesty’s, 16 Church, skylights and greenery mellow converted warehouse, pan fries of savoury meatballs and lightly breaded squid, seafood well represented but lamb centre stage from shank artichoke stew to souvlaki, there october/89, before Orford String Quartet where just had soup, appetizers quickly, november/90, start with tzatziki, then moussaka, Apelia at $4 a glass, heavy food but attractive on winter days
Le Papillon, 16 Church Street, second best French restaurant in Now’s Best of Toronto 2004, 2½ stars in Toronto Life's 2002 Restaurant Guide, French or Quebecois main courses, best are two dozen savoury and sweet Breton crepes,
Key West, was Underground Railway, all day breakfasts, sax player june/90
Kobe, 9 Church, Joanne Kates oct/02, one of few places can get Kobe steak, wonderful, steak very expensive, also other good Japanese food
More Front
St. Lawrence Centre, 27 Front Street East, Jane Mallett Theatre and Bluma Appel theatre, brutalism, saw Beggar’s Opera, Orford Quartet nov/90, if we are women feb/94
Shopsy’s, 33 Front Street East, Amy Pataki oct/02 says Izzy Shopsowitz sold business in 1996, she didn’t like corned beef, says it is at 33 Yonge but I think that must be wrong, best deli in eye's reader’s choice awards 2002, Joanne Kates april/00 didn’t like, worst latkes she has ever had, nothing had much flavour, there feb/91 with Alison and Elizabeth after Coppelia, may/91, for breakfast, july/92 with Elizabeth
Out There, 35 Front Street East, was Mountain Equipment Co-Op
Frida, 39 Front Street East, third world things including scarves
41 Front Street East, was Aikenhead’s Hardware, founded 1830
Nicholas Hoare, 45 Front Street East, 4,500 square feet of hardwood split level floor space, working fireplace and sofa and chairs, Toronto Life says cosiest bookstore in Toronto nov/94
Europe Bound/Travel Cuts, 47 Front Street East, still there jan/03, have “Canada Strap” which you put around your luggage, good idea, featured in where to get stuff cheap, excellent selection of merchandise for traveller, sunglasses including Serengeti 30% off, sleeping bags, backpacks, hiking boots etc, also inexpensive holidays, has selection of maps for desert hiking like Joshua Tree Park
Down Under, 49 Front Street East, was Downtowne Browne’s where heard George Olliver july/89, Cameo Blues Band mar/91 with Elizabeth, was also Arbuckle’s, comedy store place
The Sultan’s Tent, 49 Front Street East, saw advertised 2004.
Flatiron’s, 51 Front East, voted best outdoor mural and second best store for unique gifts in Now reader’s poll/96/99, mentioned by Toronto Life as best risqué birthday cards in city, was Arbitare
Helen’s Cafe, Chinese cafe where had breakfast
Toronto Life Café, 59 Front East
Trail Head, 61 Front Street East, where bought backpack mar/95, was Design 13
Europe Bound/Travel Cuts, 65 Front Street East, same as 49 Front
C’est What, 67 Front Street East, Toronto Life's $25 Gourmet 2003, voted runner-up best neighbourhood pub in Now reader’s poll/95, second best folk club/01, James Chatto says 25 draft taps, granite makes mild brown ale and coffee porter, food is random Mediterranean collation, often delicious, perfect pairing of food and beer, salads, design your own sandwiches, omelettes, squid, Sheppard’s pie, simple, fresh food, crowd mixed bohemian, cosy, low key folk, pop, jazz and country, mostly 20s crowd, cooking inspired, chicken satay, calamaries, herby chicken wonton, open till 4:00 Fridays and Saturdays, grilled chicken with satay sauce and tabouleh, Big Sugar feb/93, Terry, and Alec apr/96
Brack’s, 69 Front Street East, was Autour Du Monde
Della Scala Fine Art, 77 Front East, liked one printmaker, now gone
Berczy Square, scene of Toronto jazz festival beginning 1989, William Berczy (1744-1813) was artist who painted Joseph Brant and other British North American grandees 1794 to 1813, also designed bridges and built Yonge street in Toronto and various entrepreneurial activities, painted to make ends meet and to meet influential people, unofficial court painter to mercantile elite, park opened 1975, from here can look for interesting old buildings including the Tippet Richardson records building, also the building with the blue trim
Market Square, 80 Front Street East, new bookstore has good selection of cookbooks including Thai and Indian
The Mermaid, 80 Front Street East, Denmark, Copenhagenfish chowder is hot and thick, oysters Rockefeller, poached cod in mustard sauce, fish of 80s like red snapper appears in basic preparations, almandine style for tank fresh rainbow trout and doversole
Sarah’s Clothes, 80 Front Street East, owner designs patterns which are wood-block printed in India, all carving, weaving, dyeing and printing done there by hand, exclusive and not expensive duvet covers, quilts, bedspreads in floral and abstract patterns of watercolour turquoise, leaf green, salmon and peach, cottons might like although little too ornate, lots of blue
La Maison D’Azur, 80 Front East, red scarved waiters with genuine accents, jovial Provencal owners and vast menu of comforting French standards combined to simulate a farm of the midi, Peter Gzowski before La Boheme june/89
Mediterra, 80 Front Street East
Dominion Store, 80 Front Street East, second best supermarket and 24-hour market in Now’s best of Toronto 2001
Starbucks, 81 Front Street East, was K. A. Designs, antique brass beds, lace canopies, wonderful smells, duvets and such
Devonshire Design Company, 83 Front Street East, five trips to Europe yearly in search of linen, only the finest will do, search for pieces with most handwork, as well as sheets and duvet covers, also Victorian night dresses and night dress cases, dainty lace trimmed square pockets for pillowcases
East 85th, 85 Front Street East, Jane Bunnett feb/89 and read about it, Don Pullen, leaving stage for minute crying because sax music so beautiful, closed next week
Spring Rolls, 85 Front Street East, Toronto Life's $25 Gourmet 2003, 3½ stars in eye sept/02, lovely décor, lunch, mango rolls, Amy Pataki aug/02 says best pad Thai she tried in survey, open two months, has flavour balance, but week later wasn’t good at all, we were there with Cathy at some point.
Wine Store, vintages corner, 87 Front Street East
Old Fish Market, 12 Market, voted best seafood restaurant in Now reader’s poll/95
Mustachio, 91 Front Street East, Now aug/02 says lower part of market, delicious veal and eggplant sandwiches.
St. Lawrence Market, 93 Front Street East, operating since 1803. Toronto Life july/02 says that Sam Gassira of Focaccia says he shops at Chris’ Cheesemongers, Whitehouse Meats, and Seafront Fish Market. There is a web site. Also Caviar Direct offers the widest variety of smoked salmon in the city, from mild Scottish to smoky New York. In spring and summer has wild soho and sockeye.
North Market:
Richter’s coleslaw is bracingly elutriative, pungently aromatic, russets, northern spys, empires
Woolwich dairy, chèvre made every Friday, also gaisli which is unripened goat cheese won second in world, also crème fraiche
South Market:
Olympic Food & Cheese mart particularly for hard cheeses - this is where I buy the Greek feta
Mike’s Fish Market for fresh swordfish and shrimp (mentioned in Toronto magazine), Atlantic salmon which is better than pacific, swordfish, shrimp, caviars, salmon (some herb-marinated and smoked at north 44)
Rube’s Rice on lower level has black rice, elephant rice and 32 other kinds of rice, including lundberg rice from California and nutty wehani rice (note wehani rice is Joanne Kates favourite), black japonica, California black and mahogany, jasmine-scented thai, I bought red thailand, also has legumes like dried beans and lentils, in aug/96 bought black japonica and jasmine scented white - others might like would be purple rice, and wehani brown rice
Scheffler’s Delicatessen sells smoked pork chops that are outrageously good, air-dried beef, exceptional hams in westphalian or lean black forest style, rum salami and Hungarian scabai (smoked pepperoni), avocado oil and 100 mustards
Alex Farm Products have 300 different types of cheeses, they are right at the end of the building, includes French l’edel de cleron, triple cream chaource with champagne, Spanish sheep’s milk cheese, 6½ year old jensen cheddar
St. Urbain Bagel, best bagel in eye's reader’s choice awards 2002, voted best bagel in Now reader’s poll/96, chosen by Toronto Life's great takeout ‘92 for bagels, memories of Montréal conjured by sweet, sturdy boiled bagels, sweet and savoury knishes, lox, kosher spreads and low-fat, sugarless muffins
Gus meats, fish, & poultry, where we bought shrimp mar/95, not quite fresh, Toronto Life says one of best places to buy fish, lightly smoked salmon, crustacea, kippers, marinated kebabs, guinea fowl
Golden Griddle, corner of Front and Church, voted best breakfast in voted best breakfast in eye 2004, voted runner-up best brunch all locations in Now reader’s poll/95, there feb/91 after Sault training and really liked, felt like part of neighbourhood, open all night
Pink Poppie, 100 Front Street East, bath and beauty stuff
High Tech, 106 Front Street East, Michael Graves mug and other stuff for allesi, table of that marble like finish, travel alarms
Romagna Mia, 106 Front Street East, Amy Pataki apr/03 says best risotto she found, it was black truffle and pheasant ragout risotto, plate of heaven all risotto lovers should try, 3 stars in Toronto Life's 2002 Restaurant Guide, large wood-burning oven that produces pizzas, Toronto Life jan/02 says rustic, good Italian wine, best is risottos, big bold flavours, one of Joanne Kates’ 10 best for 2001, Joanne Kates May/01, home made pasta, stick to pasta
Crooks, 106 Front Street East, blues bar, lunch and dinner, partly owned by Dan Ackroyd
Hogtown Restaurant, 120 Front Street East, nnn, huge portions of simple fare honestly prepared and inexpensively priced, something American for every palate, epicure says good chicken wings
Satay Garden, 146 Front Street East, quintet of rooms cheerfully decorated with potted plants, large photos of Thailand and paper umbrellas, satays justify the name with combination plate bringing six succulent skewers, rich peanut sauce, authentic flavour sensation in Thai red curry noodles with chicken, eggplant and green pepper curry
Young People’s Theatre, 165 Front Street East
The Jazz Bar, formerly CATS, 169 Front Street East, opened jan/89 by Phil Sheridan, recipes from people like Guido Basso
Rabba, 171 Front Street East, open 24 hours
City Gas Bar, 176 Front Street East, open all night
Samuel Harris, 182 Front Street East, Toronto Life's where to get stuff cheap ‘94, bolts of unusual upholstery, mostly for auto manufacturing, real Corinthian leather
Max Tanenbaum Courtyard Gardens, 227 Front Street East, featured in Toronto Life july/99, near consumer’s gas, hard to find and technically Canadian opera property but usually open
Canadian Opera Company, 239 Front Street East, originally 1834 Consumers Gas factory
Canary Restaurant, 409 Front Street East, Toronto Life says best greasy spoon for ambience in Toronto
Distillery District
Balzac’s, 55 Mill Street, as of jan/03, one of the first tenants of the still under construction Distillery district.
Elizabeth Munro Design, 55 Mill Street, rose formations could come from Martha Stewart, unique, lush arrangements stuffed with ivy, magnolias, citrus leaves, roses and hydrangeas, Monday to Friday 9-5.
Perigee, 55 Mills Street, Joanne Kates nov/03 really likes, only serious restaurant in district, bold and brave, second floor space everything should be
Corkin Gallery, 55 Mill Street
Esplanade
Novotel Hotel, 45 The Esplanade, Cafe les Arcades, marbletop tables, white fretwork, copious salads, there november/89 after meeting with worker advisors re chronic pain 86n review
Old Spaghetti Factory, 54 The Esplanade
Scotland Yard, 56 The Esplanade, neighbourhood pub
The Organ Grinder, 58 The Esplanade
Esplanade Bier Market, 58 The Esplanade, best beer selection in Now’s Best of Toronto 2004, best beer selection in eye's reader's choice awards 2002, 2½ stars in Toronto Life's 2002 Restaurant Guide, Belgian beer hall, live music on weekends, expensive marble topped bar serving 150 beers, menu ventures beyond beer hall, hearty selection of seafood, meat and vegetarian, Rodney’s provides the mussels, exceptional frites.
Brandy’s, 70 The Esplanade, outdoor café?
Condominiums, where Laura lives
Jerkilicious, 222 The Esplanade, in middle of St. Lawrence development, sounds okay.
Tool Box, 508 Eastern, Now feb/99, great brunches, comfort food, and slightly kinky black bull but appears to be for gay crowd only, voted second best leather bar in Now reader’s poll/96/97
Gale’s Snackbar, 539 Eastern, Now jan/03 says scary, not licensed but everyone loaded, in a row house down the street from motorcycle gang headquarters, near mythic among greasy spoon aficionados, fried egg on a Kaiser, nnn, frozen in time, few stools and booths, as well as prices, have not been overhauled since 40s, warm little gem, good hot turkey sandwiches with thin savoury gravy, fries and garnish, respectable clubhouse, loaded hamburger, chopped egg
----------
Gooderham and Worts distillery, south of Trinity Street, Mill Street, 19th century industrial complex, architectural gem, ataratiri is massive housing complex beside it which will house 12,000 people, Dickensian character, built between 1832 and 1928, 45 buildings. Began as a windmill on outskirts of York. Last bottle of rum shipped out in 1991. Plan by Roger du Toit architects to turn into mixed-use development to preserve but add new buildings including office and condominium towers rising 18 storeys. Trinity street described as wonderful little main street. Similar to Boston’s Feneuil Hall Marketplace, will be retail dominated with sculpture garden, plant conservatory, housing design showrooms, live/work studios for visiting artists.
This was shelved spring/92. A pie shaped wedge broadening eastward from the intersection of Front and Parliament streets to abut the Don River, on the river's flood plain. Rubble strewn vacant lots and demolition sites, long straight deserted streets. One outpost of human civilization is lovely red brick building at corner of front and cherry. Earliest part of building was built in 1859 as public school, then later additions transformed to expensive hotel called eastern star, now small businesses and canary restaurant.
----------
Port Industrial District, John Bentley Mays’ thinking spot, bounded by the Gardiner, the lake, and Leslie Street to the east, avenues, tanker slips, oddly poetic hulk and machinery of Richard L. Hearn generating plant, one strip is surprisingly wild, thick with poplar, sycamore and willow, and busy with marsh and shore birds at nightfall, especially good at nightfall, find a concrete slab beside the east gap or one of the footpaths through the dense foliage near the shore
