Curiosities
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Book Review: Toronto Then and Now
Toronto Then and Now is an elegant, large-format coffee table book that highlights the past and present of some of Toronto’s most interesting...
By Dylan Reid -
LORINC: The next massive mural should be at Yonge & Bloor
It seems to me that the act of adornment – indeed, the compulsion to adorn – is a fundamentally human impulse that speaks to our deep craving for...
By John Lorinc -
The life and death of Peter Dickinson and The Inn on the Park
Peter Dickinson was dying when he designed the Inn on the Park. From a bed in Mount Sinai hospital, his body weakened from cancer, Dickinson listened to...
By Chris Bateman -
The Toronto Park Pavilion needs your love
It’s hard not to love the Park Pavilion. Designed in 1958 by British-born architect Alan Crossley and consulting engineer Laurence Cazaly, the space...
By Chris Bateman -
40 in the shade: Toronto’s worst heatwave
For an excruciating week in July, 1936, Toronto, the province, and much of Canada burned. An unprecedented and deadly continent-wide heatwave...
By Chris Bateman -
How Toronto built the CN Tower
The CN Tower is one of the most important buildings ever constructed in Canada. Like it or loathe it, the absurd, 553-metre concrete tower, which opened...
By Chris Bateman -
How City Hall ended up on St. Clair Avenue
In the late 1940s, Toronto City Hall was bursting at the seams. Now known as Old City Hall, the building on the northeast corner of Queen and Bay streets...
By Chris Bateman -
Lost and found in the PATH: the case for new wayfinding
This summer, a pilot project will be launched to test a new wayfinding system in the PATH — Toronto’s subterranean navigation-slash-commercial network of...
By Kieran Delamont -
Who will save Toronto’s old streetcars?
Toronto’s outgoing fleet of streetcars could be the first not to get a second life in another city. Perhaps due to advanced decrepitude, the current...
By Chris Bateman -
Does Toronto hate marathons?
Toronto loves its sports teams; just head down to the square in front of the Air Canada Centre, or Nathan Phillips Square around playoff time for proof of...
By Kieran Delamont -
The Don Mills Safety Village taught kids to drive
1962 was a rough year for kids. In the 12 months between January and December, 20 young people under the age of 14 were killed on Toronto’s streets...
By Chris Bateman -
When Haileybury burned, Toronto sent streetcars
The town of Haileybury sits on the shore of Lake Timiskaming, a serpentine body of water on the northern reaches of the Ottawa River that marks the border...
By Chris Bateman