City
A Little Preservation Goes A Long Way
CBC reported a story today that Toronto city council is talking about preserving a kilometre and a half stretch of Queen West by designating it a heritage site. The Victorian and Edwardian buildings, many of which are used as retail space on the ground level, run between Bathurst and University and add distinct charm to the city.
Has anyone been shopping at Bay and Bloor lately? There's nothing enticing about the mix of glass storefronts and brutalist architecture in what's supposed to be Toronto's platinum shopping mecca.
The idea to keep some continuity along Queen West doesn't please everyone however. Understandably, shopkeepers along the street don't want to jump through extra hoops any time they chose to change their facade. They also argue that only about half of the buildings are in fact historicly significant.
I'll argue that it's definitely worth the battle. I love the colourful buildings down at St. Lawrence Market. Ocean Drive's art deco would've been demolished if it weren't for one woman who saw it's value. Tribeca in New York and Paddington in Sydney are among my favorite shopping neighborhoods anywhere - both of which are rigorously preserved. If you ask me a little preservation goes a long way.
(image: Memento)
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I hope there are moves to preserve them before they're left to decay or torn down for cheaper, uglier, more generic buildings.
They weren't historic buildings, but they were at the very least buildings with a bit of character, they were brick and will no doubt be replaced with soul-less glass, steel and concrete.
One of the buildings was the old 'Chicago's Diner' just west of Queen and John. A perfect example of the kind of building which adds character to a neighbourhood, and now it's gone, completely demolished in what was described on the sign as a 'renovation'.
I know it's harder to maintain and renovate a building like this than it is to flatten it and start again with a 'snap together' box, but Toronto has very little in the way of heritage and character buildings compared to other cities I've lived in - New York, Sydney, San Francisco, etc.
I always think of Toronto as a very modern city in terms of architecture, there's no historic districts here that are comparable with areas of those other cities (unless you include the hermetically sealed Distillery District). If the city wants to retain buildings that add character and individuality to neighbourhoods then they'd better start legislating. The developers in this city are utterly ruthless.