High Level Pumping Station

I find that the annual "Doors Open" event gives everyone a chance to visit places that otherwise would be closed to the public.
Case in Point is the High Level Pumping Station on Poplar Plains Road.

The original pump house was built in 1875 to deliver water, from the Castle Frank Brook to the local businesses and residences.
Initially, there was a reservoir on the property to cool the steam pumps.
When the City converted from steam to electric, the basin was filled in.
It is now a park and playground, and is accessible to the neighbourhood.

So, Marcia and I took a self-guided tour of the facility on a bright Saturday morning.
Herewith are some pictures of the interior.

Below, is the 1906 Steam Pump Room.
The picture shows the vertical triple-expansion steam engine that was built by John Inglis. (It should be noted here that the City named one of their Island Ferries after this gentleman).

Here, we have the 1915 Steam Pump Room with the surviving Bellis & Morcom steam engine, which drove the 20 million gallon centrifugal pump - the biggest unit ever at this pumping station.

This next picture is the 1911 Electric Pump Room.

I love the vitrified cream tile walls and the red quarry floor tiles.

The building(s) were designed in the Edwardian Classical style by the City Architect's Office.
The designs can be seen in the elaborate door and window surrounds(in stone), the cornices and entablatures (in tin), as well as the generous round-arched window.

The Dineen Building

It's May 2013, and once again I attended a Doors Open event, here in Toronto.

Since I am coaching a slo-pitch softball team most Saturdays, there was only time for a Sunday visit. Therefore, I chose the Dineen Building on the north west corner of Yonge and Temperance Streets.

 

Photo Courtesy the City of Toronto Archives

I actually posted this photo before, under the label "Toronto Then and Now".
(I'm thinking of changing to label to "Intersections of Note", instead).
In this photo (above) you can see some of the building (on the right-hand side).

The picture below, shows how it looked before it was purchased and restored.

 

It was pretty dingy looking, with an optical company on the ground floor, and rented office spaces above.

Built in 1897, it originally housed the offices, workshops and showrooms of the Dineen Hat and Fur Company, and was placed on the City of Toronto's Inventory of Heritage Properties, in 1973.

It is valued as a rare, surviving example of late 19th century Renaissance Revival architecture.

In 2012, after many years of neglect, this old building underwent a complete retrofit and modernization of both the exterior and interior spaces.

All systems and infrastructure were removed and re-engineered with special attention to its historical nature.

While all this was happening (under wraps) the workers were uncovering a few artifacts that were hiding behind the drywall. 

They found hand-painted directories in the lobby and a wall safe on the 5th floor.

 We were guided around the office spaces by volunteers who actually work in the building, now.

It certainly looks a lot better, from the outside than before:

 The attention to detail both inside and out can be easily seen when you look up at the roofline.

North Toronto CPR Station

On the agenda today is the North Toronto CPR Station, aka the Summerhill L.C.B.O.

There were only three tours today, and I arrived just before noon to find a crowd gathering near the tipping fountain at the south entrance.
There is only one photo of the station's interior at the City of Toronto Archives.
This black and white photo print was taken around 1915-16.

If you compare it to the picture taken below, you will see where the ticket windows are still in evidence along the west wall of the liquor store.

Behind this wall is the "testing kitchen", where we were treated to some free wine samples. The drawers used by the ticket sellers are still intact, and can be seen here:

Our tour guide was the manager of the store; and he explained some of the history behind the railroad station and a story about the ghost that appears in the basement.
This is one of the benches that was preserved form the station when it was being renovated.

Directly east of this bench is the "table wine" section of the store. Here was the Men's and Women's Waiting Room/Lavatory. Behind a locked door the manager showed us an original spittoon that was part of the men's room.

This is the largest L.CB.O. store in Canada, and has managed to keep a lot of the history of the old train station intact; including a conductor's uniform.

R.C. Harris Treatment Plant

Last weekend I attended a bowling tournament, but still was able to visit the R.C. Harris Plant on Queen Street, as part of Doors Open Toronto 2011.

This is the first time in several years that the public has been allowed to see inside..security issues since 9/11.


This spectacular public building was the brainchild of Rowland Caldwell Harris, Toronto's City Commissioner from 1912 to 1945.


They are doing a lot of construction work on the premises, between the gaggle of visitors and the mess of the workers, it was not easy to get good outside pictures.


Inside the Pumping Station, we were able to touch the black and gold marble walls and the intricate railings.



The pumps were running constantly, and signs advised people not to linger inside any longer than thirty minutes.



Everywhere you looked, there were examples of Art Deco.




Even down to the water fountain...mmm good.


Outside, overlooking the lake.

The Flatiron Building

My friend, Marcia and I attended Doors Open last weekend, and first on the list was the Flatiron Building at Front and Wellington.

There was a chap there from Heritage Toronto who regaled us of the history while we waited for the tour to begin.

In 1891, George Gooderham, the then sole proprietor of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery commissioned David Roberts Jr., the son of the architect who designed and built his nearby distillery to design a grand office building. George's personal office was located on the fifth floor directly beneath the green Cupola...that you see in the picture here.

The picture, below shows the Otis Elevator in the foyer.
It was the first manually operated elevator in the city.





There once was a safe on every floor and traces of a tunnel in the basement, confirm that Mr Gooderham moved his money across the street using an undergraound passageway.

A lot of the money came from selling his Canadian spirits to American businessmen (aka gangsters).
Apparently, it was not unusual to find George dealing with the likes of Al Capone in his office atop the Flatiron building.




Outside, the fire escapes were added on for safety reasons, since there is only one set of stairs for the five stories and two exits.




Here, we see the mural on the back of the building, painted by Derek Besant.
It uses the trompe-l'oeil effect (literally, “trick the eye”), that creates an optical illusion, which convinces the viewer of its realism.

The mural is a mirror image of the windows and facade of the F.G. Perkins Block across Front Street at #41.

Don Valley Brick Works

My friend Marcia and I met here last Saturday afternoon  as part of "Doors Open".

The land has been leased by the City of Toronto to Evergreen for the princely sum of one dollar a year.

We were introduced to the plans by Evergreen to rejuvenate the buildings and surrounding land, so that it would eventually become a self-sustaining community.The first building, shown here is the Presentation Centre, with a 3D model of the site, as well as a video.
  We saw plenty of birds in the area, and some fish in the ponds, as well as a few painted turtles.


There were tours and storytelling, as well as a Farmers' Market.

We continued to walk around the site, and I took some more pictures.


We finally climbed up a very steep hill at the north end of the site, and found ourselves in Chorley Park, where an Ontario Government building once stood.

There is actually some interesting history behind this park; and you can find the background on the Toronto Heritage web site.

As well, there is a picture on Flickr of the original underpass for the carriage way.
This is the view from atop the hill.
From here we boarded the # 82 bus, that took us on a cook's tour through the streets of Rosedale.

M.M. referred to it as the "Nanny Bus"; and sure enough, as we meandered through the neighbourhood, the bus stopped to pick up quite a few nannies who had been working all day.

Lower Bay Street Station

"Doors Open Toronto"
is scheduled for Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27, 2007

The great thing about this event is, it's Free!

This will be the 8th year of this trek into the buildings and homes of Toronto.

The program guide will be available in the Toronto Star in May 2007.

Especially significant will be the ability to see the Lower Bay Street Station that has been closed off by TTC since the demise of the "interlining" in 1966.

For those of you who are not familiar with TTC history, I will expound.

Every second Bloor-Danforth subway car would enter the lower Bay Station and turn north or south at the wye.

This allowed passengers to go downtown without having to transfer north-south to east-west.


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