Imperial Oil Building

Last Thursday, Heritage Toronto organized a mural presentation and plaque unveiling at the Imperial Oil Building.

This Modernist-style edifice was built in 1957, and was the head office until 2005, when the company moved to Calgary, Alberta.

It was sold to Camrost Felcorp in 2010, and converted to condos.
Despite the construction work. much of the interior was left intact, including the two murals.
They were painted by Toronto-born artist R. York Wilson, and are each 32 feet by 21 feet. They depict the "Story of Oil", beginning with its formation in prehistory, and ending with its discovery and eventual use in industry.

This picture shows one of the clocks, with its gold mosaic tile background at the entrance way.

Another photo in the lobby, shows the original Royal Mail box.

There were several dignitaries present for the unveiling, including the CEO of the developer, Scotiabank (plaque sponsor), HT staff members, York Wilson reps and the local City Councillor, Josh Matlow.

Finally, here is the plaque commemorating the 19 story pink granite building at 111 St. Clair Avenue West, Toronto.

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.

A Week of Culture

Last week, Marcia and I attended three cultural events around the City.
The first one was at Daniels Spectrum on Dundas Street East. 
This new venue was rebuilt as part of the Regent Park development project.
Not only is it a community centre, but a work space, gallery and an exhibit space.

Earlier this month, I acquired free tickets for "Fractured Land" and "Keepers of the Water", which was part of the "Water Docs".
So, on Tuesday, we braved the rain, and enjoyed two documentaries. Afterwards, there was some free appetizers for the film goers.

On Wednesday, we had lunch at the New Yorker Deli, and then walked over to the Gardiner Museum. I had a MAP (Museum and Arts Pass) from the Toronto Library, so this visit was free. 
Since we arrived just before 2 o'clock, we were able to take advantage of the FREE guided tour.

The exhibit was called "Beneath the Surface".
According to our guide, there was a flood that exposed a host of artifacts on the banks of the Rio Grande Coclé in Panama around 1940.
Some of these artifacts were an display at the Museum.

Then on Thursday, we enjoyed a free documentary called "Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven", at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.

This film chronicled the travels by train, canoe and by foot of four people in Northern Ontario who searched for the exact spots where some of the Group of Seven painters (Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, J.E.H. MacDonald, R.H. Thomson, Arthur Lismer and A.J. Carson) had stopped to sketch the Canadian landscapes.
This is the poster from the film. 

The painting is titled "Solemn Land, Algoma" by J.E.H. MacDonald.
Well, I think we had our fill of "Culture" for this week.
The nice part was not needing to spend a lot of money for our outings.

 

The Aga Kham Museum

The Aga Khan Museum opened in September of 2014, and both Marcia and I decided we needed to visit this new place.
This is an aerial view of the cultural centre located in Don Mills.

Once again the Toronto Library gave us passes (MAP) to the Museum.
The building itself was designed by Fumihiko Maki, while the surrounding garden was designed by Vladimir Djurovic.

"The architect (F. Maki) used light as his inspiration by ensuring that light was ever-present in the building".
                    Quote is from the Aga Khan web site.

The landscape designer, on the other hand, based the garden on a traditional Persian and Mughal (a four part garden).
Beyond the edges of the formal garden is a park area with Silver Birch, Magnolia and Aspens, to name a few.
A lot of the shrubs and plants are favourites of our local birds and will attract butterflies, as well as honey bees.

 
 This will give you an idea of the Museum and the reflecting pond.

Inside, we were greeted by a chatty Muslim woman, who gave us some idea of the current exhibits that we could see.

This is a picture I took of a huge Persian rug in one of the exhibit rooms.

Here we have a beggar's bowl (Kashkul).
It is a beautifully engraved ceremonial object with dragon heads at each end.
It was used by wandering mystics, who had renounced all of their worldly possessions and subsisted only on alms.

I tried to get a picture of these two ceramic birds, but it did not turn out.
So I nabbed it from cyberspace.

All in all we were suitably impressed with not only the artifacts and the building, but also the surrounding landscape. We both agreed that we should visit again, since they do change the exhibits, much like other museums.

They also do tours (for a price), Check the web site for any more info.
 

The Market Gallery

Last weekend, my friend Marcia and I attended the opening reception for an exhibit at The Market Gallery called "Tunnel Vision: The Story of Toronto's Subway".

This particular venue has exhibits put on by the City, and they are free!

The exhibit was about the digging and planning of the TTC.
There were photographs, maps, plans and artifacts (including someone's collection of transfers).

Guest curators were Adam Zhelko and Robert Lubinski. 
Andy Byford and Steve Munro were also in attendance.
Mr. Byford spoke about the future projects for Toronto's transit system.
After the introductions and speeches, we were invited to the Miele Kitchen on the second floor for refreshments,

Here at the south end of this kitchen, is a view of the market below.
So I took the opportunity, and snapped a few photos of the bright lights and colourful banners of the stalls below.

Afterwards, we went down to the Esplanade and wandered through the "Farmers' Market", just south of the St. Lawrence market, prime.

This is a huge pile of Kale, on display, just inside the Farmers' Market.