vic.gedris.org - Tower Automotive

Balloon and Two Towers

vic — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:55:46 +0000

February 12, 2011. A balloon, the former Tower Automotive building, and the CN Tower, looking east from the West Toronto Railpath.

This balloon graffiti has been showing up all over our 'hood, especially along the Railpath, and apparently all over the city. This plot of land has undergone many changes over the last couple of years, and it will be interesting to see what it gets re-developed into.

Sterling Rd. Winter

vic — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:00:00 +0000

February 2, 2011. Looking north on Sterling Rd., past the Nestle chocolate factory and to the vacant Tower Automotive building.

Also, check out this view of Sterling Rd. from around 1914.

Tower Automotive: The chimney's final sunset

vic — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

September 22, 2010. 6:47PM. This was the final sunset that the Tower Automotive chimney would see. It was half-demolished, and the job was finished the following day.

This is the view from the northernmost end of the Tower Automotive property on Perth Ave, right next to the Church of the Firstborn (this area is currently being used as some kind of wood-chipping lot). The homes on this southernmost stretch of Perth Ave. now have a very different streetscape surrounding them.

The rest of my photos from the September 22 chimney demolition are here.

Tower Automotive: Chimney Demolition

vic — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

September 22, 2010. This was the day that the demolition of the Tower Automotive chimney on Sterling Rd. finally began.

I dropped by the site for a final look on my way to work, and saw them move some of the equipment in. I couldn't stick around for very long though, so I didn't get to see very much of the demo. I went by again on my way home from work and the chimney was only half-gone, and still being slowly chipped away by the demolition machines. Small crowds of people were stopped on the Railpath and Perth Ave. to watch as this thing slowly come down.

Some people were disappointed that it wasn't taken down in one big blast of dynamite. That would have been cool to watch, but it's way too close to peoples' homes.

They actually halted the demolition at around 6:30pm, shortly after I took this photo, and then finished the job the following day.

Symington and Bloor, final night for Tower chimney

vic — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

September 21, 2010. Looking south on Symington Ave. towards Bloor St. This was the final evening before the demolition of the Tower Automotive chimney on Sterling Rd. began. I've always liked that the view down my street terminated with this scene. A block east on Campbell Ave., the view still terminates with the remaining Tower Automotive skyscraper.

It's also too bad that the Portuguese chicken place at Bloor and Symington has been closed since before we moved here. I have to hike up to Dupont St. or Lansdowne Ave. for my fix.

Tower Automotive: Lonely chimney, about to die

vic — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon, September 12, 2010.

By this time, the chimney was the only structure left standing on the Tower Automotive property, aside from the tower itself.

A couple of weeks before, I took this photo from inside the boiler house that surrounded the chimney.

More photos from September 12th are here.

Perth Ave. and Tower Automotive

vic — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:00:00 +0000

September 3, 2010: Another photo documenting the changes in the Junction Triangle as Tower Automotive gets demolished. This is the view south/east down Perth Ave. By this time, most of the facade along Perth/Sterling had been demolished, but parts of the boiler house and the entire chimney were still standing.

Just the other day, one of the local neighbourhood moms was telling me about how much one of the kids loved the blue door on this building. I was always more of a fan of the old bricks and windows along here, but the kid has a point. It added some colour to break up the bricks. :)

Now it's just a field of rubble. More pics from September 3 are here.

Tower Automotive and a rainy Railpath

vic — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:00:00 +0000

September 2, 2010: A rainy day on the West Toronto Railpath. I dropped by here again after work to take some more photos of the Tower Automotive demolition, and there was a short burst of heavy rain while I was taking my pics. I whipped my umbrella out and kept taking a few more photos, and enjoyed the new shine and reflections that the rain provided.

More photos from September 2 are here.

If I were to take a photo from this same spot today, barely a month later, it would look completely different with that building and chimney gone. The Railpath and the rain are still there today.

Tower Automotive: Boiler House

vic — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:50:35 +0000

The end of August and into September was not a kind month to the vacant Tower Automotive property on Sterling Rd. In the span of a month, all of the buildings on the property have been demolished, besides the iconic 11-story industrial tower. The amazing old facades along Perth Ave. and Sterling Rd. were knocked down first, followed by the boiler house, and eventually the old chimney stack.

I took this photo inside the boiler house on August 28th 2010, just after demolition had started. A few days later, it was gone.

I will post a few more photos from this demolition over the next few days. I sure took alot of pics here, but I want to remember how it looked, and be able to compare it to whatever gets developed here over the next few years.

Railpath in Black and White

vic — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Last weekend's Junction Triangle Jane's Walk, on the West Toronto Railpath south of Bloor St.

This photo had poor colour, some fuzzy focus, and some haloing issues due to the lens filter and sunlight. I tried making it black and white, and thought it looked much better that way.

Speaking of the Railpath: Check out this "Then and Now" photo set I posted over on the Junction Triangle website.