Results tagged “construction”

On April 5, 1893, The Empire's headline, "Legislators in Fairyland," reflected the jubilant atmosphere that greeted the opening of the province's handsome new Parliament Building in Queen's Park. As throngs crowded in to explore the building's corridors and gaze at its ornamental carvings, few likely noticed initials carved into a stone above the columns on the right side of the main entrance. Belonging to Christopher Finlay Fraser, the initials were "fitting tribute," according to the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, to a man whose role over a twenty-five year political career remained similarly invisible to the public. As the long-time Commissioner of Public Works, Fraser had overseen the erection of the Parliament Building from conception to completion over the course of twelve years. While the monumental project never succumbed to the financial scandals seen in the construction of legislative buildings in Quebec or Manitoba, Fraser's project was not without its controversies.

Attention drivers intending to head out of the city for a relaxing weekend drive: if a bill before the Ontario legislature is passed, you may have to keep your brand new Model T off country roads on Saturdays and Sundays. According to The Star, "the two days selected were picked on as Saturday is market day, when the country roads are very busy with farmers' conveyances, and Sunday was chosen as the 'day of rest.'" Fear not drivers, as the proposed law does not apply to urban areas and "the bill is so drastic that it is hardly probable it will pass the House."

According to the Canadian Press, Home Depot (whose slogan, we know, is not "help is close to home") is "paying an unspecified amount in cash" to back out of their lease to part of RioCan's controversial development at Queen West and Portland. RioCan has stated that it's "reviewing the possibility of repositioning the retail portion of the development to reflect a new retail footprint," which is just a fancy way of saying that they're gonna find someone or several someones else to pay for and use the space; RioCan's CEO told the CP that "We are optimistic that we will re-lease this part of the retail component and do not expect construction of the project to be delayed." The condos that are part of the project are already under construction now, and are, again according to the CP, sixty percent sold.

The economic downturn has taken a toll on Toronto’s housing market. In comparison to 2007, November housing sales in the GTA were down 50 percent, and new high-rise condo sales, once the bedrock of Toronto's housing market, declined 31.6 percent this year. The average sale price for a house in November fell by $43,500, while the average condo price fell by over 10 percent. So what awaits the market in 2009? Unfortunately, more doom and gloom.

        

We’ll have a more in-depth look later this week at the new and improved Art Gallery of Ontario, which reopens Friday, with three days of free admission, after architect Frank Gehry’s $254-million facelift. But a quick peek during an AGO members’ preview reveals a lot of last-minute construction work going on, and a couple of art installations still in the process of being installed. Visitors today weren’t able to cross the soaring Walker Court or explore its serpentine walkway, or stroll along the Galleria Italia—the stunning glass-walled promenade that runs the full length of the AGO’s Dundas-Street side and was having some teething troubles last week with cracking panes.

                                  

Mr. Stickman has the toughest job in Toronto: keeping you safe. In a day's work, he gets smushed, crushed, beheaded, befingered, mangled, strangled, thrown, blown, ground, and crowned. And unlike the relatively delicate spokesmodels who calmly remind you to mind the gap or not to trespass, Mr. Stickman is willing to give the extra effort and actually demonstrate the consequences of not following the rules. Wherever danger lurks, Mr. Stickman plies his educational trade. He endures every manner of indignity, accident, and disfigurement that you can imagine, all in the hope that you will learn from his painful and sometimes deadly misadventures. What follows is a small sampling of his daily work around Toronto.

Residents near the Broadview subway station are used to inconvenience in the name of progress. The station reconstruction project that added elevators, a second streetcar platform, more room for buses, and extra subway exits dragged on for five long years before finally wrapping up in the closing weeks of 2007. For most of that time, the parkette on the north side of the station had been surrounded by construction hoarding and used by crews as a staging and equipment storage area. Residents were promised a rejuvenated and completely restored parkette in exchange for their patience and understanding.

Dear Distillery District,

Ontario will spend more than $2 billion this year to improve provincial roads and highways, widening the QEW and 401 and repairing over 450 kilometres of highway, as well as building and repairing over 100 bridges. In related transit news, the government is spending $5 million on a commission that will study exactly how much cooler cars are than nerdy bicycles, and how many more chicks a guy driving a car gets as opposed to some cycling dork.

Today's ad features your stereotypical 1950s architectural professional: trenchcoat, tie, hat (preferably a fedora), and a fistful of building plans. The building this dapper construction supervisor is depicted next to would quickly become one of St. Clair Avenue's architectural landmarks.

Will people ever appreciate the fine architecture or heritage value of such widely-detested buildings as Robarts Library or the Sheraton Centre? If history is any guide, they will—but only if the buildings manage to survive our collective hatred (or apathy) for another 40 years or so.

For reasons that were surely thoroughly considered, York Mills was not a stop on the recent Type & Tile Tour of the Yonge-University-Spadina line. Nevertheless, due largely to escalator maintenance that has been ongoing for over a year, it is still quite the treasure trove of wacky signage. Here are some recent highlights:

Urbanist is a photo series that will look at developments, architecture, trends and activities happening in various cities––including our own––to inspire the urbane urbanist at home to make Toronto a better place. Sometimes what makes a city great are small, less obvious things that make you smile, or better yet, engage your environment in a more active way. Around Ottawa, you can find swap boxes like the one shown above on telephone poles or construction...

A few months ago, Torontoist wrote about the practice of façadism in the downtown core. Façadism—which refers to the practice of retaining the front face, or "skin," of an old building and affixing it to a newer, usually larger structure—has become increasingly popular in recent years as the city continues to grow up and out at its breakneck pace. Façadism began to be seen in Ontario after the 1975 Heritage Act, which gave municipalities...

Last week, Maple Leaf Gardens quietly turned 76. When the Gardens was sold to Loblaw in 2004, it appeared that the grocery store chain would fast-track the historic building into a supermarket. Now the projected summer 2007 construction date has come and gone, and nothing has changed since Torontoist covered the Gardens' 75th anniversary. We worried that the Gardens would be neglected while Loblaw dealt with its financial woes and ailing restructuring of existing...

A massive fire at a townhouse complex on Jarvis Street near Mutual resulted in the death of an unidentified victim on Saturday night. Construction on the townhouses had been abandoned for ten months and the building was being inhabited by squatters, says a resident at the adjacent Radio City condo tower.

Transformation AGO will soon be entering the final stages of its expansion project, estimated to finish sometime in mid-2008. But before the AGO closes its doors in order to begin reinstalling over 5,000 pieces of art into 110 galleries, they will be offering free admission to the public for its closing weekend this October 6 and 7.

While going to York University may seem like a giant hassle (Torontoist recommends you pack a snack for the trip), this year’s Ioan Davies Memorial Lecture is shaping up to be worth the drive or TTC ride to York.

“That’s something you won’t find at Loblaws,” said Frank Yip, as he gestured toward the delectable-looking barbecued meats hanging behind glass at the deli. He’s right; though a staple in Chinatown, it’s a tantalizing display that might be unfamiliar to Toronto citizens used to a more typical grocery shopping experience. It’s also the perfect welcome to T&T Supermarket—the new best friend of Portlands-area foodies.

Blame Indiana Jones, but when Torontoist was younger, we wanted to be an archaeologist when we grew up. Although our math grades weren't up to snuff, the yearning to dig for ancient treasure has never gone away. So most mornings, you'll find us peering through a chain link fence at the corner of Adelelaide and Simcoe, watching real archaeologists sifting through rubble and delicately dusting off old marbles and broken plates with little brushes. It's not quite the Ark of the Covenant, but these little relics help us 21st century types piece together a picture of early 19th century Toronto life.

The CBC is reporting that the provincial government announced an ambitious new project today to revamp Kipling Station and turn it into a major transit hub for Etobicoke and Mississauga. The announcement came from Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield and Environment Minister Laurel Broten early this afternoon.

We publish a lot of articles here on Torontoist, and sometimes it's hard to keep up with all of them. Populist is a weekly recap intended for the casual Torontoist reader, featuring some of the coolest, most interesting, most commented, and most recommended posts from the past week on Torontoist. Populist will appear every Sunday night.

From mid-September through year-end, all City Community Centres will be closed on Mondays. Skating rinks won't open until January. Fewer potholes will be repaired. Snow won't be cleared unless there is at least 15 cm of it (the current minimum is 8 cm). New materials from Public Health will only be available in English.

Cyclists rejoice! One of Toronto's long-lost cycling routes is resurfacing this weekend when the Lower Don path south of Queen Street will reopen after sixteen months of construction. Those attending the official ceremonies on Saturday morning should expect dignitaries, celebrities, balloons, a marching band, and...oh, wait a second. It turns out that for the reopening of a major bike and pedestrian path, all we get is some burly guy in an orange safety vest and a hard hat pushing aside a portable barrier. But even that is vastly preferable to continued closure.

In the summer heat, Toronto’s downtown can seem like a sun-baked, arid domain of asphalt and glass. Scattered throughout the concrete desert, however, are a few oases of green. The Downtown Discovery Walk links the squares, parks and parkettes that can be found in the city’s busy core. And don't worry too much about the heat; there are plenty of places to duck into for shade, refreshments, and air-conditioned comfort along this route.

Occasionally Torontoist gets bitten by the camping bug. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the extra vacation days or access to a vehicle required for a Kawartha Lakes getaway. Then, of course, there’s the environmental irony of loading the minivan full of camping gear and burning dozens of litres of gas in order to enjoy nature.

Sunburned, gaunt and greviously underslept, the average Torontonian party-goer is in rough shape this week after the World Electronic Music Festival, or WEMF 2007 this past weekend. To nobody's surprise, WEMF isn't dead, international trance DJ Ryan "OS/2" Kruger isn't retiring and the image of thousands of ravers from the city camping in an Ontario field for three days is seemingly burned into Toronto's collective tube. It is estimated that over 5,500 people, mostly from the GTA and upstate New York, attended the three-day festival at the Niagara Regional Exhibition in Welland, ON.

For those of us who grew up watching Buffalo television, the city seems like a nearby suburb or one of those neighbourhoods that you heard about but never visited. The phrase “Three alarm fire in Tonawanda” was as familiar as Bad Boy’s “Noooo-body.” Yet, cross border shopping aside, it's surprising how few Torontonians have really been to Buffalo. We went last week and we recommend the day trip. Here's a short list of things to do in the City of Trees.

Don't drink more than one pop a day, or you're at greater health risk! Serious pop drinkers have a 45 percent greater chance of developing metabolic syndrome; a bunch of health factors that increases your chance of heart attack, stroke and diabetes. (It doesn't even matter if it's diet!) The health experts then looked at you pointedly and said "well, maybe you should be drinking juice or green tea or something healthy. Yes, you.