It was beautiful yesterday when I went by the Summerhill LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) Store on Yonge St. Originally built in 1916 as a railway station, it was designed by Darling and Pearson in the Beaux Art style featuring a 140 ft tower, limestone cladding, marble interiors and soaring ceilings. Traffic declined in the 1930s and it was turned into a Brewers retail and a LCBO store. The interior was covered with wooden boardings, the clocks removed from the tower, and basically no maintenance done to the exterior until 2004 when the whole structure was beautifully restored. Even the original clockworks were found and restored after 9,000 lbs of pigeon droppings were removed from inside the base of the tower. It is now the largest Liquor store in Canada and is really quite lovely inside and out.
I really don't mean to be offensive, but it's always struck me as strange in Canada that there are these centralised points for buying alcohol. Perhaps it's better tho than being able to buy drink everywhere, which is the case here.
ReplyDelete9000 lbs of pigeon droppings...
Ah, the "Licbo" - now I know this one - once got a case of a very pleasing Montepulciano d'Abruzzo from there - good memories!
ReplyDeleteLinda : It isn't a Canada thing. It is provincial so in some provinces, like Quebec, you can buy beer and wine at the corner store - much more civilized. Luckily I have a beer store right across the road and a liquor store a couple of blocks down the street.
ReplyDeleteRob : I'm enjoying your new blog.