Even More “Old” Streets of Toronto

This is the third article in a series explaining the origins and histories of “Old”-named streets in Toronto. Here is Part I and Part II. You will find an interactive map of the title image here.

Old Kingston Road

Year rerouted: 1922

Kingston Road once followed a “tortuous” route into the Highland Creek valley, also called the ‘West Hill Hollow’. After it passed through the village of West Hill at Morningside Avenue, it took “a sharp, twisting drop down the bank of the valley.” It then followed the floor of the valley in a straight line and crossed over the creek on “a small, concrete bridge.” Up the eastern side, the hill was straight, but with its heavy level of traffic in the summer and its steepness and low visibility, it made for a dangerous drive.

In early 1922, tenders called for a high-level bridge. Construction began with the expectation that the road would be ready the next year. Fortunately, the project was completed quickly and was ready in November 1922. The new route, located south of the old one, added 6,000 feet of new road.

Today, the old route – Old Kingston Road – passes several heritage structures and offers a neat, rural drive. It is a reminder of old Scarborough.

Old Forest Hill Road

Year “rerouted”: 1927

The present Forest Hill Road and Old Forest Hill Road have convoluted histories and geography, which involve the absorption, deletion, and renaming of other roads. The story of Old Forest Hill Road is unlike any of the other “Old” Streets as its changing from old to new (or new to old) did not seem to correct an inconvenience in geography.

In short, a 19th-century largely diagonal road ran through the Baldwin Estate north of St. Clair Avenue to Eglinton Avenue. In the early 20th century, a second road, which may or may not have been part of the old road, grew concurrently with it. While these were both Forest Hill Roads, in the 1920s, the ‘ancient’ road was formalized Old Forest Hill Road.

The Baldwin footpath of the 1800s was originally called the “Trespass Road” (albeit likely not officially). Later, John Wickson (or someone else of the time) named this Baldwin road as ‘Forest Hill’ as it led to his 1860 summer home (or possibly one of Wickson’s pasture) of the same name.

South of Killbarry Road, this road either followed the present Dunvegan Road or a street to the east which aligns to the present Forest Hill Road — or possibly followed both at different times. Whichever is the case, another Forest Hill Road developed south and east (and later north and east) of the older Forest Hill Road beginning in the first or second decade of the 1900s. This meant that, at one time, there were two unconnected Forest Hill Roads. To ease (or complicate) matters more, the older road was sometimes referred to as Forest Hill Road North.

In the 1920s, the matter was cleared as the street grid filled out, and the neighbourhood gained a formal identity. In 1923, the area was organized into the Village of Forest Hill, borrowing its name from the old Wickson home. Old Forest Hill Road began to gain more use, and by 1927, it was the official name for the old road.

North of Eglinton Avenue, Old Forest Hill Road later absorbed part of Whitmore Avenue east of the present Allen Road (the highway bisected the street and its eastern section joined with Old Forest Hill Road). Whitmore was previously Second Avenue. This area is known as Forest Hill North and has the oldest house in the region as a whole: the William Moore House.

Today, Old Forest Hill Road is a beautiful street with some of the most exclusive addresses in Toronto and Canada.

Note: A HUGE Thank You to Kiki M and her amazing resourcefulness and knowledge of Forest Hill . Follow her Toronto History offerings on Instagram and TikTok.

Old Gerrard Street

Year rerouted: 1930

Gerrard Street once ran an awkward course where it crossed Carlaw Avenue. The Canadian National Railway curled northeast through the intersection and made for an indirect east-west path. An eastbound traveler needed to jog southeast onto Carlaw under a 19th century rail subway and then northeast again on Gerrard before continuing straight east towards Pape Avenue.

In 1929, the plan was to straighten Gerrard under the CNR bridge. It would cost $312,000. The idea was as old as the beginning of the decade. In 1930, a second subway was built on Gerrard Street, which finally eliminated the need to jog through the intersection. In 1931, the original subway was also reconstructed to match the new one, giving us the imposing infrastructure we see today.

When the intersection was reconfigured, the old diagonal stretch of Gerrard remained. On old maps, the old jog largely went unlabelled, and in city directories, there was no distinction between the two Gerrards as the street numbering did not have to change when the subway was built. Although it never formally became “Old Gerrard Street,” there were some references to it in name.

In 2002, its northern opening where the two Gerrards crossed was closed to through traffic. Today, the former jog creates navigational issues for motorists who turn too early onto Gerrard and end up in a residential neighbourhood instead of the “main” Gerrard Street.

Old Burnhamthorpe Road

Year rerouted: 1970

The old Concession II was the root of the present Burhamthorpe Road. According to the Etobicoke Historical Society:

“In 1846, it [Concession II] became the Etobicoke and Mono Sixth Line Plank Road, a toll road that began at Dundas Street where Burnhamthorpe Crescent is today, and ran west on Burnhamthorpe Road, then north on Mercer Road (now Elmcrest Road) and west on Base Line East (now Eglinton Avenue West.)”

Etobicoke Historical Society

Burhamthorpe ran northeast from the Etobicoke-Mississauga townline and then dropped southeast before continuing straight east to the Village of Islington at Dundas Street. The route possibly followed old property lines and roads.

By 1970, Burhamthorpe Road was realigned via a new road which offered more direct route between Etobicoke Creek and Renforth Road. The older section was renamed Old Burnhamthorpe Road.

Today, Old Burhamthorpe Road blends into the surrounding post-war neighborhood. The 1820 Mercer House stands at 72 Old Burhamthorpe as a reminder of the route’s former history.

A Quick History & Evolution of Scarboro’ Beach Park

Title Image: 1919 Scarboro Beach, Toronto, Ont., from an aeroplane. Credit: Toronto Public Library

From the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, almost half a dozen waterfront amusement parks entertained Torontonians, offering a lost layer of the city’s social life and geography. One of those fun resorts was Scarboro Beach Park, formerly located in the east end of Toronto, on the south side of Queen Street east of Woodbine Avenue. While the story of the park itself is interesting, the evolution of the property it sat on is a story in itself, consisting of at least three major redevelopments.

It started with 40 acres located on Lake Ontario in Lot 3 east of the Don River. In the 1860s and 70s, the property consisted of two equal plots to William Whitten and W. R. Graham. Thomas O’Connor came to own both plots, having an address of 2301 Queen Street East and operating the House of Providence Farm on the large plot.

Upon his death in 1895, the property passed to the Sisters of St. Joseph, of which O’Connor was a benefactor. In 1906, Harry and Mabel Dorsey purchased the waterfront property, earmarking it for a very different purchase.

The Dorseys formed the Toronto Park Company in late 1906. In March of the following year, the company ran a naming contest. The Toronto Park Co. was creating a ‘superb pleasure park’ and offered $100 to the individual who could offer the best name. G. Turner won the contest, in which thousands entered. The winning name was “Scarboro’ Beach.”

The name was an interesting choice. The property did indeed include a beach, but while the new park was located less than a kilometre from the town line, it was not actually in Scarborough itself. The Scarboro’ Historical and Old Boys’ Association raised its objection to the name to The Globe in April 1907, citing:

“In the first place, it forms no part of the beach in front of the township of that name, while near enough to be misleading as to location; also the derviation of the word Scarboro’ from scaur, a hill or cliff, as in Tennyson’s ‘Echo’:

‘Oh, sweet and far from hill and scaur,
Like horns from Elfland faintly blowing’-

and ‘borough’ a town, suggests no connection between the topography of the place and the name. Again it is misleading, as possible patrons might be led to suppose that the bold bluffs which form such an interesting feature of our lakefront, and from which our township derives its name, would be one of the attractions.”

The Globe, April 13, 1907

The park opened in June of that year. Lights, music, people, and ‘entertainment in abundance’ marked the event. There was also a vaudeville performance, daring bicycle riders riding in the inside of a lattice-work globe, and an exhibition on head balancing by a troupe.

The property itself consisted of a middle road from Queen Street through which led to large entrance gates. Beyond them were rides and games and a boardwalk by the water. Close to Queen Street, the property had two open spaces: Athletic Grounds for sports like lacrosse and another, which seemed to host the farmhouse.

While the first season was successful, the following two seasons proved ‘burdensome’ for the Toronto Park Company. By late 1909, a receiver was appointed, and the company’s assets were sold. The buyer was the Toronto Railway Company. The move made sense: the transit company operated the streetcar line on Queen Street that took riders to the park.

The new owners continued to entertain guests for the next decade, making improvements to property. In 1921, the company ended its thirty year franchise. While its successor, the newly formed Toronto Transit Commission, took over its transit lines, non-transit assets — including Scarboro Beach Park – were liquidated. The park’s final season was in 1925. The park’s fate was in the air, with some talk of the city buying it, if only for the waterfront lots.

In the end, the Provident Investment Company purchased the land to turn into a subdivision. Park equipment and building materials of all kinds were put up for sale. Among the attractions and property put up for sale were: the Circle Aerial Swing, Carousel, Cascade, Scenic Railway, Chutes, Joyland Fun House, Whirl of Pleasure Fun House, Rifle Range, Penny Arcades, arcade games, a Laughing Gallery, and 500 wooden park benches.

The first advertisements were released to attract prospective buyers in 1926, with the emerging vision for the area came from local builders, the Price Brothers. The family enterprise consisted of Joseph Price, President, and his sons, E. Stanley Price, Secretary-Treasurer, and Leslie Price, Vice-President. The elder Price had been erecting houses in the East End since about 1902.

The layout of the new $3,000,000 subdivision included the southern extension of Wineva Avenue, Hammersmith Avenue, and Glen Manor Drive, and new streets Avion Avenue, Bonfield Avenue, Selwood Avenue, and Hubbard Boulevard (named for Frederick Hubbard, the manager of the park and son of prominent politician William Peyton Hubbard). There was also a Scarboro Beach Boulevard, which although present in earlier fire insurance maps of park may not have been a formal road as much as it was a path to the park. The streets were laid out by 1926 and drainage was put in the following year.

The subdivision was populated with a mix of housing styles indicative of 1920s Toronto — with one special focal point: duplexes and double duplexes (ie. fourplexes). The distinct facades (dubbed ‘unusual’ and ‘attractive’ by The Globe) were made in the Spanish and Colonial Styles. The houses’ designer was Harry Stevens, a longtime figure with the Prices.

In the July 2, 1928 edition of The Globe, the Prices and the new subdivision were profiled. Among the notes of the new neighbourhood were:

“The beach is as clean and free from debris as if it were 100 miles from Toronto.

Some of the fine old tress that belonged to Scarboro’ Beach still stand in majestic beauty along the waterfront.

It will take over 100 carloads of coal to heat the buildings this winter.

Every single house has automatic heat control. This gives the tenant the heat he desires, even if he wants it at 90 degrees.

All the rooms except the kitchen and bathroom and all the halls are hardwood.

About 1,000,000,000 (one billion) nails are being used to construct the various duplexes and the apartments.”

The Globe, July 2, 1928

Other stunning figures reported to go into the development included 10,000,000 bricks, sixty-two miles of lumber, 6,600 doors, and 3,300,000 shingles.

Today, a stroll through the area and its unique duplexes may pique a curious mind on why such distinct structures exist in this area. A deeper look, of course, reveals the layers of geographic evolution which led to this point. While the road organization on a street level seems to blend in with the surrounding Beach area on a street level, a look from the sky yields distinct rooflines and division of the original O’Connor and Scarboro Beach’ Park property.

Scarboro Beach Park, 1924 and 2024
Credit: Toronto Historic Maps

Sources Consulted

“At Scarboro’ Beach Park.” The Globe, 4 June 1907, p. 14.

Barc, Agatha. “The History of the Scarboro Beach Amusement Park in Toronto.” blogTO, blogTO, 21 Sept. 2020, http://www.blogto.com/city/2011/05/nostalgia_tripping_scarboro_beach_park/.

Bateman, Chris. “The Lost Amusement Parks of Toronto.” blogTO, blogTO, 5 July 2014, http://www.blogto.com/city/2014/07/the_lost_amusement_parks_of_toronto/.

“The Beach and East Toronto Historical Societytbeths.” The Beach and East Toronto Historical Society (TBETHS), tbeths.com/sb-park.asp. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

“Building and Supplies.” The Toronto Daily Star, 27 Nov. 1926, p. 38.

“City General News.” The Globe, 9 Oct. 1895, p. 10.

“City Tore Up The Rails.” The Globe, 18 May 1907, p. 5.

“Company Refuses to Sell Scarboro’ Beach Park.” The Globe, 17 Apr. 1920, p. 8.

“Council Wrangles Over Money Spent in Vain Education.” The Globe, 24 Mar. 1925, p. 12.

“Executors’ Notice to Creditors.” The Globe, 2 Nov. 1895, p. 17.

“For Sale Amusement Park Devices and Equipment.” The Globe, 3 Sept. 1925, p. 12.

“For Sale Scarboro’ Beach Amusement Park Devices and Equipment.” The Globe, 5 Sept. 1925, p. 27.

“Happy Children Spend A Full Day’s Pleasure.” The Globe, 15 July 1925, p. 9.

“Kew Beach Presbyterians Issue Call to Rev. G.M. Dunn.” The Globe, 9 Oct. 1925, p. 39.

“Notice to Prospective Buyers.” The Toronto Daily Star, 16 Mar. 1926, p. 30.

“Ontario.” CEC, cec.chebucto.org/ClosPark/ScarBech.html. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

“Park To Disappear at Scarboro’ Beach.” The Globe, 24 Oct. 1925, p. 15.

The Price Family – Beach Builders, tbeths.com/pdf/Price-Family-May-1-20.pdf. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

“Receiver Appointed For Scarboro’ Beach.” The Globe, 23 Dec. 1909, p. 7.

“Sale of Toronto Park Company Property.” The Globe, 30 Apr. 1910, p. 26.

“Scarboro’ Beach Opens Its Gates.” The Globe, 17 May 1920, p. 8.

“Scarboro’ Beach Park Subdivision.” The Globe, 18 Mar. 1927, p. 19.

“Scarboro’ Beach to Reopen in May.” The Globe, 18 Mar. 1911, p. 8.

“Scarboro’ Beach.” The Globe, 2 July 1928, pp. 10–12.

“Scarboro’ Beach.” The Globe, 30 Mar. 1907, p. 13.

“Scarboro’ Park Sold.” The Globe, 30 Nov. 1910, p. 8.

“Scarboro’s Clever Help.” The Globe, 11 June 1912, p. 8.

Shackleton, Al. “Deja Views: Scarboro Beach Amusement Park Memories.” Beach Metro Community News, 3 Oct. 2024, beachmetro.com/2020/11/22/deja-views-scarboro-beach-amusement-park-memories/

“The Street Railway Muddle.” The Globe, 21 July 1921, p. 4.

Taylor, Katherine. “The Last Ghost of Scarboro Beach Park.” One Gal’s Toronto, 5 Sept. 2021, onegalstoronto.wordpress.com/2021/09/04/the-last-ghost-of-scarboro-beach-park/

“Tenders Wanted.” The Toronto Daily Star, 11 Oct. 1926, p. 31.

“This ‘Want Ad’ Offers.” The Globe, 2 Mar. 1907, p. 8.

“Topics of the Markets.” The Globe, 2 Apr. 1925, p. 6.

“The Toronto Railway Company (In Liquidation).” The Globe, 16 Feb. 1925, p. 14.

“Toronto Railway Company Sells Remaining Property.” The Globe, 6 Apr. 1925, p. 6.

“Toronto’s New Play Ground.” The Globe, 27 May 1907, p. 5.

Warner, Paul. The Prices, 6 June 2020, pricefamily.ca/.

“Why Is It Called ‘Scarboro’ Park?” The Globe, 12 Apr. 1907, p. 3.

Williams, Lorraine O’Donnell. Memories of the Beach: Reflections on a Toronto Childhood. Dundurn, 2012.

“You’ll Like These Homes and Location.” The Toronto Daily Star, 30 Sept. 1926, p. 20.

A Toronto intersection named for the same British royal

What’s the most colonial representation of colonial Toronto in Toronto? It might be a street marker built into the corner of a George Brown College buiding at Frederick Street and Adelaide Street East.

But the marker itself doesn’t read Frederick and Adelaide; rather, it reads Frederick and Duke. Frederick is still Frederick, but Duke doesn’t exist anyore.

The laughable part of this intersection is it was at one point named entirely for the same guy: Prince Frederick, The Duke of York of Great Britain.

At the time Duke and Frederick were named, the settlement containing them was also named for Duke Frederick: The Town of York. The Duke never visited the town named for him or likely had any direct role in its formation or growth. The British locales contained in his title also got a street name further west of the town – York Street. The Duke was also the son of King George, the reigning monarch at the time of the town’s founding, who had at least two other street names – King and George – named directly and indirectly for him.

And even more, nearly every street in early York was named by another Brit in charge of this colony: John Graves Simcoe, who didn’t like the indigenous name for the region — Tkaronto. Instead, when setting up his new town and the first few streets in it, he felt it more worthy honouring a man from his home country who scored a victory in his own continent as well as after other members of the British nobility and royalty.

The Town of York would revert to its indigenous name, albeit with an English spelling – Toronto. Duke Street would merge with and take on the name of the nearby rerouted Adelaide Street, named for another royal who likely didn’t have any contributions to the city either.

As a layered bonus, this wasn’t even the first time Duke Street was involved in a name change. The original Duke Street was today’s King Street. The original King Street was Palace Street, today’s Front Street. The Duke Street before this northern re-shifting was Duchess Street, named for the Duke’s royal counterpart. Duchess would move up a street too. It also merged with and took on the name of nearby Richmond Street. The streets of the original blocks of Toronto clearly had a colonial theme.

But today, the marker at Frederick and Adelaide Street still reads Frederick and Duke, still honouring the same guy.

Two Amazing Rooftop Views of Toronto’s The Ward

In the early 1900s, St. John’s Ward or familiarly just ‘The Ward’ was a dense, immigrant enclave in the central core of the City of Toronto. The neighbourhood was roughly bound by Queen Street, College Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue, and housed some of the city’s first Black, Jewish, Chinese, Irish, and Italian colonies. Two early 20th-century rooftop photos provide interesting overhead views of the physical makeup of the district.

The first rooftop view was taken in 1920 by iconic Toronto photographer William James from the top of the Alexandra Palace Apartments, formerly located at 184 University Avenue opposite the terminus of Gerrard Street West on the edge of The Ward.

The southeasterly scene below and far beyond the Alexandra Palace Apartments is fascinating. In the foreground is a great visualization of University Avenue’s history as two separate streets. Among the recognizable landmarks are Old City Hall and the T. Eaton Co. factory complex in the background (more on this further down), the Hester How School at centre-left, the Presto-O-Lite factory and the Toronto House of Industry at centre, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, First Baptist Church, and Maclean Publishing Co factories at centre-right. Interspersed is a dense grid of low-rise housing and other structures which ultimately came to define The Ward.

There was another photograph also taken by James from the Alexandra Apartments, this one dated to “circa 1920”. Although generally quite similar, noticeable differences exist between this and the 1920 photo, most visibly that the latter is a much broader view of the same general area of The Ward.

While the date of the zoomed-in image is approximate, it almost certainly precedes 1920. The main differences between this and the 1920 photo is the lack of the Prest-O-Lite Factory (built 1917) and the northernmost Eaton’s factories (also built 1917). The most important detail, however, is the Eaton’s Annex building, which appears under construction. The store opened in 1913, which likely dates the image to 1912 or 1913.

The Alexandra Palace Apartments (also simply called the ‘Alexandra Apartments’, ‘The Alexandra Palace’, or ‘The Palace’) was a 7-storey, luxury apartment building constructed in 1904 during Toronto’s first apartment building boom, meaning it was one of the first of its kind in the city. The architect was the prolific George W. Gouinlock, who also designed the Temple Building. Famous residents included tycoon E.P. Taylor and Ontario Hydro founder Sir Adam Beck (the old Ontario Hydro Headquarters was directly north of the apartment). It is said that residents moved into the Palace to retire.

In the 1920s, the Palace went from apartment house to apartment hotel with a dining room already in its offerings. In the 1940s, the building was slated to become a nurses’ residence for Sick Children’s Hospital. By the 1950s, the building ceased to be a residence and was heavily remodelled to be a modern office building, losing much of its original exterior features. In 1968, the Alexandra Apartments building was demolished.

Postcard of The Alexandra, Queen’s Park Avenue, Toronto, Canada’s Finest Apartment House, 1910. Source: Toronto Public Library.

Postcard views of the Alexandra Palace, 1910s. Credit: Chuckman’s Photos.

The second rooftop photograph comes from the top of an Eaton’s factory tower once located adjacent to the Church of the Holy Trinity. Like the Alexandra Apartments picture, it was taken by William James. It is dated “circa 1910.”

The view is looking northwesterly over The Ward and has several common landmarks with the 1920 Alexandra Apartments image, such as Toronto House of Industry, the Hester How School, and the Grace Church. In the foreground along Bay Street (at the time called Terauley Street) and Dundas Street (Agnes Street) are the Terauley Street Synagogue, the Lyric Yiddish Theatre, and Police Station #2 (which appears to have officers in its yard). As with The Palace image, there are also the tightly packed streets of tiny residences, many undoubtedly housing men and women who were employed by Eaton’s. Finally, the distinctive rooflines of Queen’s Park and Toronto General Hospital loom far in the distance (with the Alexandra Apartments somewhere nearby).

The Eaton’s factory itself where James captured the image was a 12-storey structure located adjacent to the Church of The Holy Trinity. It was built around 1910 in a period when the Eaton’s footprint in the area expanded from a single store at 190 Yonge Street in 1883 to encompass at least half the block between Yonge, Bay, Queen and Dundas Streets by 1920. The factory was demolished in the 1970s when other Eaton’s factories and warehouses were razed in part to make way for the Eaton Centre (The Eaton’s Annex store referenced earlier was destroyed by fire in 1977).

The Eaton’s image is dated “circa 1910”, which is likely accurate as it is very comparable to the “circa 1920, but likely 1912-3” Alexandra Apartments photo. The Prest-O-Lite factory does not appear in the image, thus 1910-1917 is a fair timeframe.

Today, if the two William James rooftop photos were recreated, they would be taken from Mount Sanai Hospital and the Bell Trinity Square office building, respectively. Ironically, the Alexandra Apartments and the Eaton’s factory were both constructed and demolished in similar periods: the 1900s to 1910s and 1960s to 1970s. The dwellings, houses of worship, and businesses of The Ward also largely disappeared by the 1950s as lands were expropriated for various projects. The district continued to change since then until the present-day, making these century-old views a far cry to today’s world.

Scenes From St. Lawrence Neighbourhood

I begin at St. Lawrence Hall, the famed 1850s building that impressively mans the corner of King and Jarvis. It’s become a habit to stop and look up at things I pass, including the archways above doors. Much of the story, allure, and yes, even seduction lies in them. As a civic building, it appropriate contains Toronto’s former coat of arms, which deciphered alludes to the city’s colonial and aboriginal foundations. Above that is the stern visage of an Olympian-like caricature. Glory, mystique, and fear. That’s how I feel.

Shallow puddles provide distorted reflections of the towers above. It’s a drizzly one in Toronto, but that’s OK. Hopefully the falling rain will help eliminate the black half snow, half ice banks for good. I turn onto Market Lane heading to Front Street. With the exception of a portion of the Hall, the buildings lining the way are relatively new. But I’m reminded from a past heritage walk that the lane itself isn’t. A sign of that is the watering station – explained to me as a gas station of yore for horse-drawn travellers. There’s a fountain for people and one for non-human beings below it.

Across Front, the lane continues on as Market Street, recently made to be exclusive to pedestrian traffic. Beside that of course is St. Lawrence Market, itself a former city hall. Beyond the great assortment of tasty foods, it is also a house of culture. The Market Gallery on the upper floors stands where the old council chamber was located. Without a dedicated Toronto museum, the Market Gallery is a favourite place to indulge in the city’s past. Right now the space houses a Toronto Black History exhibition which I admittedly have not seen yet. The previous one, however, on Art Deco in Toronto was masterful.

The south side of Front is lined with a row of heritage buildings, all now food franchises. “New ideas meet old buildings”, to put a spin on Jane Jacobs. The street leads up to the most photographed landmark in the city, the Flat Iron Building. I have to think of an old photo of the intersection featuring the Coffin Block, the building’s predecessor. It’s a reminder how layered the city is – that even some of the oldest structures in the city were not the first on their respective sites. The quirkiness of the Front-Church-Wellington intersection which allows such a quirky building disspells the dominant fantasy that Toronto is a perfect grid.

The ‘nose’ of the Gooderham Building is the entrance to a Firkin pub chain, but the entrance to the structure itself is on the south side. Like the St. Lawrence Hall it is marked with a great arch and decorative ornaments. I wonder if it’s all original, but it nonetheless looks really well done.

Passing Pravda, next I come to Leader Lane. Although the naming of lanes is a curiosity, I don’t follow the lane (get it?). It’s a shame because through further research it is part of a relatively hidden network of narrow streets.

Outside the Vagabondo restaurant (great name) I see a sculpture featuring a bowl-like platform and a spherical thing. Although I have not idea what UV Ceti is or represents, the ball look like a celestial body of some sort. Turns out I was on the right track. A UV Ceti variable, also known as a flare star, is a dwarf star whose temperature and brightness drastically in a span of minutes. Pretty cool, eh? A thank you to Mr. Andrew Posa for his creation!

Over my time of studying streetscapes I’ve developed a theory: the greatest structures in terms of grandeur are, in order, churches, government buildings (city halls, parliaments etc), banks, and post offices. Considered under its original incarnation, the Irish Embassy Pub falls into the third category. With its arched windows and doorways and mansard roof, the design is spectacular. There is even ornamental faces – this time of lions! Looking up though, it’s apparent the wears of history and the elements have left their marks.

I cross Yonge and then Wellington to head southbound towards Front. Along the way I pass beautifully restored and coloured historic facades. My destination and terminus on this walk is a new building, Brookfield Place. The centre has been on my list of places to visit, so this was a treat. I enter into Sam Pollock Square, named for arguably the smartest man in hockey (at least, according to Don Cherry in an interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette). The famed roofed is the main attraction with arches and criss-crossing wires.

I move into The Allen Lambert Galleria and am greeted by a photo exhibition: George Steinmetz’s Desert Air. It’s a fabulous little showing of unique natural landscapes running until April 17. No pictures from me, but it’s worth a look. Beside them is a restored heritage facade to a bank building. The appeal here is obvious – old with the new.

The main attraction, though, is the atrium. The tall atrium. Someone once described to me as a forest – a tall, symmetrical, sterile forest. I personally would not have seen it if not pointed to me, but I see where the comparison comes in. Steel trucks row by row, branches high above with little peeks of the sky between them. Just as I began the walk, I end by sticking around a while to just look up. Yes, definitely a habit.

Satisfied, I am tempted to take a tour through the Hockey Hall of Fame – it would be my first in 15 years. Alas, I nix the idea, reasoning it would be better under more social circumstances. I do hit the store briefly for some browsing. No whim purchases though – everything is nearly above what I’m willing to shell out. After that, I exit and walk up Yonge Street for lunch and coffee, courtesy of Dineen Coffee.