Old York

Next Saturday, April 25, in celebration of Toronto's 175th Anniversary, Heritage Toronto, in conjunction with Spacing Magazine, will kick-off their 2009 Walk season with a special self-guided tour.

The walk, known as "Beating The Bounds", will take participants around the boundaries that shaped Toronto in 1834.

For those of you unfamiliar with Toronto's history; 1834 was the year that the Town of York (population 9,252) was incorporated as the City of Toronto.



You can pick up a map between 1:00 and 2:30 PM at the start point and walk the route at your own pace.
Alternately, you can drop by the Heritage Toronto office after April 25 to pick up the map and do this tour at your own convenience. Their office is on the 3rd floor of the St. Lawrence Hall (157 King St. E.).

The starting point is at 157 King Street East, on the west side of the St. Lawrence Hall,



The finish point is Parliament Square Park, 1 block south of Front Street East, near the Distillery District.

This area was the site of the first parliament buildings, when the capital of Upper Canada moved from Niagara to York in 1793.

The buildings were set on fire during the occupation of York by American troops in 1813.

And for trivia buffs, it just so happens that in August of the following year, British troops set the White House ablaze in retaliation for the damage done to our buildings.

It will take approximately 4 to 4 1/2 hours to complete the 9.5 km walk/tour.

For a complete online schedule of the 2009 Heritage Toronto Walks, click here.

Sam The Record Man

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It has been a Toronto landmark since 1961, when Sam and his brother Sydney first opened their own store at 347 Yonge Street.

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The double disc neon signs were always to be seen when filming took place in the downtown core.

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On October 4, the iconic neon signs were lit for the last time as part of Toronto's Nuit Blanche festivities.

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As you can see from my picture, part of the extension to Sam’s has been demolished; thus revealing the original store .....

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You can see the large red "S" and the small black letters "MA" and the little red "import".

So long "SAM THE RECORD MAN", it was great to browse through all the stuff in your store.

The Stewart Building

Architect E.J. Lennox built this reddish-coloured sandstone structure in 1894.

It was home to the Toronto Athletic Club - an all male bastion- and had Toronto's first indoor swimming pool.


The Stewart Building, reflected in the windows of the Ontario Power Generation office building.

According to the information found on the web, the Toronto Athletic Club used this building until 1931; but there seems to be a conflict here.

Below is a picture from the Toronto Archives that shows it being used as a barracks during the First World War.



As well, there are pictures (again courtesy of the Toronto Archives) to show that the swimming pool in the basement was being used for Chemistry classes when the building was known as the Old Technical School; again circa 1908.


Thus far, I have not been able to find any written information about this school.
Most of the documents pertaining to 149 College are labelled "unavailable" in the Archives.

So it would seem that the men's club/spa vacated the building in just over ten years.
I am curious to know why & where did they go?

In 1931 the building became home to the Toronto Police Department, who used it as their headquarters until 1957, when they moved to Jarvis Street.
It was at this time that 52 Division moved in, and I have it on good authority that they used the empty pool to store stolen bicycles.

Also around this time a detainee reportedly committed suicide by jumping out a window. His ghost has managed to frighten a few OCAD students over the years.

The building was officially opened as the second campus for the Ontario College of Art & Design, by Lieutenant-Governor Pauline McGibbon in 1979.
For many years the old swimming pool was used as a world famous holography studio.

It is now home to the Rotman School of Management, part of the University of Toronto.

Nico

This Nico.....



This is Adam holding his new-born daughter.



And this is Michelle, holding an excited Lucy and sleepy Nico.


Aaawww!