Toronto Behind the Boarding: Bunge Canada
The demolition signs around part of Toronto's Junction foretell the imminent doom of the Bunge industrial complex. The company produced a variety of edible food oils, and the complex itself housed both the administrative as well as the production side of its business. A fire prior to its closure ensured that the aesthetic environment of the abandoned premises would include much of the complex's content: the tools of both blue and white collar workers. These items - some of which are severely fire-damaged - suggest the chaos of the building's final days. Besides offering some incredible views of the city (and some really nifty machines), the building gave the impression that the workers were merely on a long, auspicious break.
Instead of trying to capture all of this in words, let me to show you Bunge as I saw it:
Following are the features which initially drew me to the building - all manner of pipes, catwalks, and twisted metal:
My next stop was the abandoned laboratories - full of goodies in disarray:
Beyond this was a series of administrative offices that rivaled even my own desk-area for messiness:
At this point, I headed up to the highest roof to see what view the complex had to offer:
Cursing myself for not visiting the nearby Harvey's beforehand, I was becoming quite hungry; unfortunately, the only food around was less than appetizing...
Now I came to the most interesting point - the burned-out sections, contents remaining. With keyboards, mice, monitors and coffee mugs still at the ready, it was quite a bizarre scene. By the end of this section, I had managed to cover myself almost entirely in soot.
I was forced to do a double-take with this first shot - it is the melted and re-formed cover to office overhead lighting; for better context, take a look here.
The penultimate stop was by far the most interesting, yet my final visit before a hasty exit to the old locker/change rooms confirmed a feeling that had been growing throughout my entire visit. Although quite ordinary on the surface, the personal details left behind gave me a strange nostalgia - one for a place I never knew. This strange oxymoron in emotion strikes me often in spaces such as these.
Of course, I did not get to see everything, but I did not want to overstay my welcome either; the complex will soon be razed to make room for a big-box style shopping plaza.
Although this is somewhat sad, it seems inevitable, given the changes to the surrounding neighborhood over the past decade. But for the workers -- and, now, for you and me -- the mall will always stand in the shadow of Bunge.
Comments (36)
That steel desk at the top would go for a pretty penny on Queen street especially if the paint was stripped and it just had that metallic look to it, nice shot's.
Nice set! Your pictures definitely do it justice. That was a fun day. I remember laughing so hard when I turned around and you had soot ALL OVER your face, everywhere. I on the other hand, was in pristine condition, as I explore like a lady. ha ha.
xo
A.
Bubba - funny story: I was exploring an abandoned convent in North York (now demolished), and these police officers came in to see what we were upto - they were really nice, told us about a few other cool spots, and I told one about the STASH of vintage fans / radios / heaters / luggage / furni / etc. in the basement, and he took my number and said he'd gimme a call just before demolition, so I could recover some of it...alas, he never called.
Since then, I have given up on asking owners / etc. if I could salvage pieces if the place is going to be demo'd - of course, I wouldn't negotiate a price if the place was gonna sit, because it would ruin the aesthetic for any other 'visitors'...
jon athan@blogto.ca
I dunno, I could do without the arty black and white high contrast photos. But then I am interested in seeing the contents than an art project.
When I was a kid my family used to drive out to Etobicoke to visit my grandparents every now and then. My dad liked to take different routes each time. The one that went along St. Clair was my brother's and my favourite, but also my parents LEAST favourite, for the same reason: the stink of the stockyard. We called it the 'smelly-car way'.
Until the mid-1980's that whole area was one big livestock processing area, with railroad tracks criss-crossing the road.. During the week you could see cows and hogs being offloaded into pens on the south side west of Weston Rd.
The Bunge factory rendered fat for oils and other products which contributed significantly to the pong that pervaded the area until only recently [the facility caught fire suspiciously last year, preceding the facility's closure]. Townhouse owners in the area have railed against this and other plants nearby (see my photos of the New York Pork facility fire in 2007, blogged here) in one of the worst cases of NIMBYism I've ever seen. I wonder if the Bunge plant's owners got a fair price for the property, finally - developers had been trying to lowball them for years, hoping for favourable legislation to force the plant out. Council was powerless except to change the zoning for subsequent property owners. Bunge could stay - but of course the fire changed things a bit and here we are.
I'll miss the 'smelly-car way', but then again, my grandparents are long gone and I make copious use of most of the big box stores that replaced the stockyards, too. Bunge had to go, for better or worse.
I went into the facility with some friends a few weeks ago. Really should get to work on those photos!
Great photos. In the administrative pics, you can almost see the moment where all the documents - records these people worked tirelessly to process and update - stopped mattering completely.
Thanks guys - the remnants are a very rare thing in a Toronto abandonment (well, decommision...ment?...heh); I love the stories they create. One gets this in smaller abandoned houses etc, but never in a complex so large.
jonathan@blogtoca
very true jonathan the items, photographed evoke very nostalgic feelings. its like a faded memory, " where did i see those last ?"
the glove on the fence pic this is going to sound funny but reminds me of the old school rocky 1 and 2 movies. or just 80's kinda blue collar movies.
Bunge actually used to produce other products, nit just oil based ones. They also recycled the meats from the nearby remanding packers and made 'delicious' products such as pepperoni, nutriwhip and soft-serve ice cream. I've been going by there for years and I was suprised when I saw in June that there was no more work being carried out on the grounds. This plant was probabily one of the more interesting ones I have been in, many levels offering a view of everything possible. We enjoyed it so much we took several trips since the summer. I have to get around to putting the images up.
The stink from Bunge kept rent low. Maybe big box will have the same effect but I doubt it. The crime might help.
That stink wasn't from Bunge and this summer people will know that because the smell is always worse on hot days. I know because I worked at Bunge for 22 years. That smell is not from vegtable oil.
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