Yesterday, we posted about the closing of Sam The Record Man on Yonge and openly wondered what should be done with the distinctive signage. Some suggested the homeless Canadian Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame, originally planned for Metropolis monstrosity just one block south of Sam’s at Yonge and Dundas, would be an ideal tenant. Others feel that Ryerson University will gobble it up so that the school can finally face onto Yonge after years of turning its back to the hustle and bustle that surrounds the campus.
Those of you who want to see the signage saved may want to join the Facebook group “Save Sam’s Sign!”. There is a form letter and specific emails of politicians that you can use to make your voice heard. As of 5:30 on Wednesday, the group has over 7,500 members.
UPDATE: for those of you that do not have a Facebook account, you can sign an online petition.
photo by Carrie Musgrave
14 comments
And those who aren’t Facebook members can go to hell.
There is an online petition being set-up as we speak. I will add it to the post when the link comes in.
Just a note: it’s the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, not just “rock and roll”. That still fits, though, since Sam’s had a pretty wide selection.
It would be nice to see more of the building saved than just the signs. Preserving a facade is better than nothing, but it’s sort of the lowest rung of preservation (much like recycling is the weakest of the three R’s). Adaptive reuse keeps more for future generations to see, and the advantage of a tenant like CMHF is that not that much adaptation would be needed.
The only reason I can see for keeping those signs is to remind me to cross walk down Gould and up Church until I get farther north. Other than that, they’re a massive eye sore.
If the Sams Signs are an eye sore we might as well tear down Toronto. This city is not Paris, it is more magnificent, and Sams is fine.
Scary to think of all the things going on in this city that warrant serious attention, and this gets 7500 people signing a petition.
Would those 7500 people donate their own time and money to get it saved or is a signature on a website as much effort as they’re willing to expend?
I’m really happy to see some action regarding this issue.
i can’t believe sam’s is really going this time. i blogged about this six years ago (where has the time gone?) the first time sam’s demise was threatened. sad.
All of Yonge Street is an eyesore. It’s a decaying, ugly, crappy street of discount shops, electronics stores, cheap fast-food joints and porn shops. And it’s in the center of our city!! Thank goodness this part of it at least will be improved.
Toronto needs to raise its standards for urban design and get rid of these cheap, ugly neighborhoods. It’s an embarrassment that City Hall has allowed Toronto’s main street to stay in this state of decay for so long. And it’s a shame that Torontonians aren’t well- versed enough in the urban design of truly great cities to demand higher standards for Toronto.
We need to become better educated and start demanding excellence for our city.
But don’t tie things too tightly; after all, there’s a valid argument that in said “truly great cities”, the “cheap, ugly” zones (yes, they exist there, too) are where the life and excitement is. Or at least, the cities at large wouldn’t be nearly so lively without them. They’d be, uh, sterile, somehow. (Lesson umpteen in Jane Jacobethia. Maybe taking it a step further, insofar as Bensonhurst can in some respects pass as more of an urban revelation than overtouristed/overcommodified Greenwich Village these days.)
OTOH though I’m not opposed to the save-Sams-sign campaign, it *is* distressing to consider that this, as opposed to Walnut Hall-type cases, is is the kind of issue that motivates Facebookers into heritage activism. Like, maybe we’ve gone too far 180-degree from the hack POV that pre-Confederation was “heritage” and spinning neon discs was ugly junk. (Hey, I’m not pointing fingers; we’re *all* to blame, here.)
I just discovered this now, didn’t know it was on-line (and it’s a wonder if nobody else on the Save-Sam’s-Sign front has dug it up yet)–Ihor Holubizky’s seminal 1999 Lola piece on the Brothers Markle, creators of the Sam’s sign and other Toronto sign landmarks
http://www.ccca.ca/c/writing/h/holubizky/hol008t.html
They’re still kicking.
http://www.brothersmarkle.com
Adam, you say that in cities “the “cheap, ugly†zones are where the life and excitement is. Or at least, the cities at large wouldn’t be nearly so lively without them. They’d be, uh, sterile, somehow.”
Please do tell us how porn shops, strip clubs, dollar stores, army surplus stores and fast food joints contribute to the “life and excitement” of a city. Is your idea of “life and excitement” an evening of hanging out at the local strip club, buying a burger and some combat boots, and stocking up on toilet paper at the bargain store? If so, Yonge Street is your kinda place and boy do you live an exciting life!
What contributes to life an excitement in cities are places that engage people socially, intellectually, spiritually and emotionally. Porn shops, bargain stores and fast food stores don’t do that.
Woh, LB. Different people have different tastes and you are going to have to accept that. Yonge is not Old Street in London, no doubt, but just because porn shops and strip clubs exist there doesn’t mean they these places do not “engage people socially, intellectually, spiritually and emotionally.”
Let’s not make this into a class debate, which is almost already is. There are a mes of great places on King West that include a strip club, t-shirt makers, and chic dining.
I don’t think I’d want to live in a city that you ran, LB. Feels a little totalitarian.