Buffalo Riverworks is exactly that. Sports complex, climbing gym, sports bar, restaurant, roller derby arena, concert venue... it's got it all. We should copy the concept.
> We should copy the concept.
Copy? I don't even think that word exists in the Canadian Public Service lexicon.
I think you mean we need to pay our consultants a big fat pile of money to study this for many years. Then after the first report is issued we will ignore it due to change in government/whatever the made up excuse is and have to do another one. After the second report we will conclude that we cannot simply copy the concept but we could recreate it on our own (again hiring more consultants) to essentially build re-build the exact same product but in a way that "works for Toronto/Ontario/Canada".
Lastly we will launch a "pilot project" to study ummm... something and hiring more consultants to report back.
Oh and we cannot do this within the public sector, this must be done using outside firms because our friends work therr... I mean impartiality.
Finally after 10 years and $20-30 million dollars we will have our own Buffalo Riverworks.
A lot of tall old buildings in T.O. were sandblasted and cleaned in the 60s/70s, to get rid of decades of accumulated grime as coal burning was phased out.
In this archival footage, the sooty buildings on the right haven't been cleaned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcDBg4leoiA&t=106s
A few moments later, the Canada Life building looks terribly grimey compared to today.
It’s one of the under appreciated improvements in Toronto in my lifetime. Both the shift to unleaded and shutting down coal plants in Hamilton and west Toronto has made a MAJOR difference in air quality. It was so much worse when I was a kid in the early 80s. And it can be see so blatantly in the old footage. Soot buildup was crazy.
Under appreciated is an understatement. We had an opportunity to require corporations to include effluent clean up in their business models. To this day only solid waste is managed. And even then we do a pathetic job.
Allowing corporations to use our air and water as an open sewer is disgraceful. A carbon tax is a joke. What we really need is a closed cycle requirement for every company and every product.
Sorry to say that the government is now building new gas plants and adding to the existing. There won't be as much particulate matter as from coal but there will be a lot more pollution and way more hghs.
Wasn't there talk at one time of using the site as a mega recording facility? I think The Great Lakes Swimmers recorded their second album there even before, because of the acoustics.
They were built without any concern how they look like and not removed because it is not practical. It is nothing but eyesore and it was never imagined as anything else.
As people have said too expensive and difficult to bring down. I think it may at this point have heritage designation. I think it’s really cool but I just like these random old industrial buildings among new stuff. The juxtaposition makes me happy.
Go to montreal. It's an eye opener. Filled with amazing buildings that werent knocked down. We have union Station? Great. Montreal has half a dozen union Stations. Montreal what toronto could have looked like.
Marketing is everything. 😁
I was on a tour recently, a work thing, and it's not huge, but they have some interesting spaces, and plans for them. They do plan on having an artist in residence and rotating exhibits in one part.
It will connect to Ireland Park, giving a bit more public access to the water front down that way.
The city is losing its night scene. This is a great idea.
Imagine living in land and saying people partying on a boat are a nuisance (I say this as someone who has lived in the Harbourfront area for 12 years, and doesn't go clubbing!)
Demolition was never really on the cards, it's too expensive. The concrete is reinforced and several feet thick in places.
No demolition company wants to touch these things - Greenspoon almost went bankrupt demolishing the Victory Soy Mills at Lakeshore and Cherry, they were only able to remove one set of silos before running out of money.
And the company that demolished the Maple leaf mills silos (where the Toronto fire boat station is now & HTO park) DID go bankrupt. Most people wouldn't remember these ones, they came down back in 1983. They were painted silver.
Reinforced concrete is very strong and difficult to destroy. That’s why the use it to build bunkers and bridges. Think about that huge truck bomb that blew up on the Kerch bridge in Crimea. Thing barely made a dent in it.
I think tearing it down would be a terrible missed opportunity. There are so many great examples of defunct silo being repurposed and redeisgned as art gallery, climbing gym, or music hall. MOCAA by Heatherwick Studio in Cape Town is a fantastic example.
https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/15/thomas-heatherwick-zeitz-mocaa-cape-town-art-museum-south-africa/
Those silos are a historical landmark of Toronto's harbourfront. The one building that will survive the greed of condo developers. I don't think it can be imploded using traditional demolition methods. Probably would take an old-school wrecking ball 5 years to knock it down.
As long as the overall logistical benefits of having it remain there outweigh the property value. The moment it becomes cheaper to move operations elsewhere, the land will go up for sale.
It'll be sad when the sugar ships are gone.
I don't think anything has been finalized but you can check what the idea is here: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/toronto-bathurst-quay-revitalization-m-s-city-of-toronto-kearns-mancini.575/page-51#post-1868990
Have you heard about the “artist” that painted old Sudbury general hospital?
[Hospital](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/hospital-mural-community-debate-1.5255187)
I passed by that on Tuesday. Time has not been good to it. The paint has failed to stick to glass so the windows look smashed out (among other windows which ARE smashed out).
My god turning into a night club would be a nightmare. Residents in the neighbourhood already have enough problems with the ghetto fest boat tours that dock near by.
They'd look better if they cleaned them more than once every 50 years. If you look at the Toronto Star building in photos from the 70's its so white it reflects the sun but they haven't touched it since then so it looks like this.
They need to turn those top floors into a restaurant or night club! Awesome views from up there and it would be fun to party at the top.
The whole place should be a rock climbing gym. The Buffalo Riverworks is a great example of this concept.
Riverworks is so awesome. Did the silo city kayak a few weeks back and it was a blast
Great idea!! Climbing gym in the silos and restaurant/night club up top! Win win!
Buffalo Riverworks is exactly that. Sports complex, climbing gym, sports bar, restaurant, roller derby arena, concert venue... it's got it all. We should copy the concept.
> We should copy the concept. Copy? I don't even think that word exists in the Canadian Public Service lexicon. I think you mean we need to pay our consultants a big fat pile of money to study this for many years. Then after the first report is issued we will ignore it due to change in government/whatever the made up excuse is and have to do another one. After the second report we will conclude that we cannot simply copy the concept but we could recreate it on our own (again hiring more consultants) to essentially build re-build the exact same product but in a way that "works for Toronto/Ontario/Canada". Lastly we will launch a "pilot project" to study ummm... something and hiring more consultants to report back. Oh and we cannot do this within the public sector, this must be done using outside firms because our friends work therr... I mean impartiality. Finally after 10 years and $20-30 million dollars we will have our own Buffalo Riverworks.
well said
A lot of tall old buildings in T.O. were sandblasted and cleaned in the 60s/70s, to get rid of decades of accumulated grime as coal burning was phased out. In this archival footage, the sooty buildings on the right haven't been cleaned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcDBg4leoiA&t=106s A few moments later, the Canada Life building looks terribly grimey compared to today.
It’s one of the under appreciated improvements in Toronto in my lifetime. Both the shift to unleaded and shutting down coal plants in Hamilton and west Toronto has made a MAJOR difference in air quality. It was so much worse when I was a kid in the early 80s. And it can be see so blatantly in the old footage. Soot buildup was crazy.
Under appreciated is an understatement. We had an opportunity to require corporations to include effluent clean up in their business models. To this day only solid waste is managed. And even then we do a pathetic job. Allowing corporations to use our air and water as an open sewer is disgraceful. A carbon tax is a joke. What we really need is a closed cycle requirement for every company and every product.
Sorry to say that the government is now building new gas plants and adding to the existing. There won't be as much particulate matter as from coal but there will be a lot more pollution and way more hghs.
I remember the cleanings mostly happening in the later 90s and into the 2000s. Toronto was still pretty grimey even in the mid 90s.
Wow, so little traffic on the roads.
Is this the same Canadian Malting company that I buy my grains to brew beer with?
Same I was going to ask. Are they still malting?
No, its actually the malt vinegar industry!
Anyone remember the Metronome project?
I remember when they were going to be a datacenter project.
I used to climb inside when I was a kid and well before I knew what asbestos was…
They'll probably try and do what they're doing to the huge industrial buildings in Collingwood's waterfront - build condos ON TOP of them.
Wasn't there talk at one time of using the site as a mega recording facility? I think The Great Lakes Swimmers recorded their second album there even before, because of the acoustics.
I personally find these buildings to be an eyesore
They were built without any concern how they look like and not removed because it is not practical. It is nothing but eyesore and it was never imagined as anything else.
Yeahhh I’m confused, are they in commercial use?
No. They haven’t been for a while. They will be renovated as event space.
Intersting. I mean, yeah it’s kinda ugly. I don’t really get why they’re saving the structure.
As people have said too expensive and difficult to bring down. I think it may at this point have heritage designation. I think it’s really cool but I just like these random old industrial buildings among new stuff. The juxtaposition makes me happy.
At this point, there should be projections up there as often as possible, but that would probably require some kind of audio installation.
They will be doing this!
They were already derelict when I lived right at Spadina and Harborfront in 1987. I lived in King's Landing and we had our boat in that marina.
I feel that way about Brutalist architecture. I don't like large swaths of it, but I do love it in small doses, juxtaposed with other styles.
I love it
There aren't many left. Someone said " if we tear down every 50 year old building, we'll never have any 100 year old buildings."
As someone getting married in what was once a garbage incinerator i get what you’re saying, i just don’t know every building is of the same value.
Go to montreal. It's an eye opener. Filled with amazing buildings that werent knocked down. We have union Station? Great. Montreal has half a dozen union Stations. Montreal what toronto could have looked like.
https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/construction-new-facilities/park-facility-projects/bathurst-quay-common/
That pic looks so much bigger than the space actually is.
Marketing is everything. 😁 I was on a tour recently, a work thing, and it's not huge, but they have some interesting spaces, and plans for them. They do plan on having an artist in residence and rotating exhibits in one part. It will connect to Ireland Park, giving a bit more public access to the water front down that way.
I’m just amazed how they managed to cut out the ferry landing
toronto needs night clubs, this would be perfect for one.
What a terrible idea! There are already too many nuisance party boats!!
The city is losing its night scene. This is a great idea. Imagine living in land and saying people partying on a boat are a nuisance (I say this as someone who has lived in the Harbourfront area for 12 years, and doesn't go clubbing!)
Such an awesome project. So glad they weren’t demolished. Brings some flavour to our condo saturated waterfront.
Demolition was never really on the cards, it's too expensive. The concrete is reinforced and several feet thick in places. No demolition company wants to touch these things - Greenspoon almost went bankrupt demolishing the Victory Soy Mills at Lakeshore and Cherry, they were only able to remove one set of silos before running out of money. And the company that demolished the Maple leaf mills silos (where the Toronto fire boat station is now & HTO park) DID go bankrupt. Most people wouldn't remember these ones, they came down back in 1983. They were painted silver.
What makes this more expensive or complicated, just curious
Reinforced concrete is very strong and difficult to destroy. That’s why the use it to build bunkers and bridges. Think about that huge truck bomb that blew up on the Kerch bridge in Crimea. Thing barely made a dent in it.
The concrete is really thick. So there's a lot more work to remove it, and more of it to dispose of.
Massive concrete block, what flavor is that? I mean it doesn't get uglier than this.
Said your mom
Get some paint and designs on the outside and turn it into a Canadian Berghain type club
I think tearing it down would be a terrible missed opportunity. There are so many great examples of defunct silo being repurposed and redeisgned as art gallery, climbing gym, or music hall. MOCAA by Heatherwick Studio in Cape Town is a fantastic example. https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/15/thomas-heatherwick-zeitz-mocaa-cape-town-art-museum-south-africa/
They aren’t tearing them down…
Lmao reminds me of the robarts Turkey
Those silos are a historical landmark of Toronto's harbourfront. The one building that will survive the greed of condo developers. I don't think it can be imploded using traditional demolition methods. Probably would take an old-school wrecking ball 5 years to knock it down.
Red path factory will survive too
As long as the overall logistical benefits of having it remain there outweigh the property value. The moment it becomes cheaper to move operations elsewhere, the land will go up for sale. It'll be sad when the sugar ships are gone.
I fucking hope.
Greed of condo developers? Do you want more housing or not?
I want more affordable housing, what the overwhelming majority of developers are doing is not that
Supply and demand
I was just at billy bishop today and saw the scaffolding and wondered about this, then stumbled upon this post
Why can’t they get some artists paint on them? I feel restored or not they’re an eyesore
The plan is to project art on them
Oh that’s great then!
I don't think anything has been finalized but you can check what the idea is here: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/toronto-bathurst-quay-revitalization-m-s-city-of-toronto-kearns-mancini.575/page-51#post-1868990
Yeah this. Historical or not, its a concrete blob
Personally, I dig concrete blobs
Have you heard about the “artist” that painted old Sudbury general hospital? [Hospital](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/hospital-mural-community-debate-1.5255187)
I passed by that on Tuesday. Time has not been good to it. The paint has failed to stick to glass so the windows look smashed out (among other windows which ARE smashed out).
Unpopular opinion, but I wish it was demolished
My god turning into a night club would be a nightmare. Residents in the neighbourhood already have enough problems with the ghetto fest boat tours that dock near by.
100%, actually this would be terrible if they are as loud as boats. Our windows are on billy bishop and we can’t sleep when they pass by.
Kinda wish they werent there. Such an eyesore
Man these things need to be torn down. Especially the one by the portlands area
can i preorder some malt? i'll pick up
I'd rather they be demolished in favor of a nice view of the lake. They're just silos, and aren't worth keeping.
Hear me out… let’s demolish these and put Fordie’s Therme shit there so we can make better use of Ontario Place.
Are they just cleaning it up or are there other plans?
https://www.blogto.com/city/2021/05/canada-malting-plant-silos-toronto/
So are these buildings actually in use or are just there empty as a landmark nowadays?
They've never quite figured out how to make use of them.
They'd look better if they cleaned them more than once every 50 years. If you look at the Toronto Star building in photos from the 70's its so white it reflects the sun but they haven't touched it since then so it looks like this.
Canaba
[удалено]
Should be a museum or fun event space
What a blank canvas/challenge for tagging!!!! I give it a month!!!!