I was walking along the railway right of way in mid-town Toronto when I spotted this mural with its subject matter familiar to us all. It has weathered a bit but I think it may have been painted in 2001 so it is actually doing fairly well. I couldn't figure out the artist at all. I haven't seen a roll of film in a while!
Taking part in Monday Murals. Click HERE to see more murals from around the world.
I spotted this church as I was driving in the north end of the city and pulled over for a shot. It is Greenborough Community Church which is an interdenominational congregation and that is about all the info I could find about it. I love its simple lines and that beautiful spire.
Taking part in Inspired Sunday. Click HERE to see more religious buildings from around the world.
Earlier in the week I showed you the Boer War Monument and its fountain which can be found on University Ave. It is not the only monument in the boulevard running down the centre of University Ave. The one I'm showing today is a bronze sculpture of Adam Beck who was the founder of Ontario Hydro who developed Ontario's hydroelectric infrastructure. The piece was designed by artist Emanuel Hahn and was unveiled in 1934. The words Queenston-Chippawa on the base of the sculpture refer to the location of the Adam Beck generating station on the Niagara River.
Wouldn't you love to have that room in the large turret as your own place to escape from the world and all its problems. I've often shown you turrets from the Annex neighbourhood where the homes are much older and not quite so grand. This house is in the Forest Hill neighbourhhood, just a bit of a walk north of the Annex, where there is more space and thus a bigger turret. I love it!
A couple of blocks west on Queen St W from yesterday's buildings you will find this Second Empire building which was in relatively the same condition as they are. This one has become part of a new structure designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects where just the facade has been retained and restored and a side and back addition have been done. So even though this is a Heritage Conservation District that doesn't mean that changes can't happen. For those of you who know Toronto this was the former location of Silver Snail comics who had been there for many many years! And of course there is another condo tower going up in the background.
These two Second Empire buildings are found on Queen St West and have heritage protection and are actually in the Queen Street Heritage Conservation District which applies to several blocks of buildings. They both look like they could use a bit of TLC (tender loving care) soon. You can see behind them the threat of condo development that is happening all over Toronto. Kops is an independent record store while the Condom Shack needs no explanation. I'll show one of their neighbours in this very high rent area tomorrow.
Taking part in Signs, Signs. Click HERE to see more signs from around the world.
I've shown you the Boer War Memorial that is found on University Ave at Queen St before in 2013 (HERE). It is a wonderful piece done by artist Walter Allward but it has been several years since the fountain in front of it has worked. I think the fact that the PanAm Games were coming here this summer got all of the right people working on solving some of the fountain problems around town finally.
