Your City's Greatest Loss (Architecturally) [Archive]

Taller Better

12-06-2006, 08:20 PM

God, there has been so many of them in most cities in Canada that it sickens me to think...

@ Rgalston- at least there was a physical reason they demolished the old weddingcake Wpg City Hall- it was completely structurally unsound. The builders saved money by mixing chopped straw into the concrete and the old
building was ready to collapse.
The Lenin's Tomb replacement sucks the big one.

Taller Better

12-06-2006, 08:20 PM

edit. double post by gremlins

CorporateWhore

12-06-2006, 08:21 PM

winnipeg, that is just unitarded.
hang your head in shame.

WHISTLERINMUSKOKA

12-06-2006, 08:42 PM

Old Toronto Star building, to what we had and now what we have. Shame!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/1930_Toronto_KingSt_looking_East_to_BaySt.jpg

Greco Roman

12-06-2006, 08:43 PM

winnipeg, that is just unitarded.
hang your head in shame.

?????????????

If it was for legitimate reasons, then so be it. We still have the old St. Boniface city hall digs. IMO, they are pretty impressive, too.

CorporateWhore

12-06-2006, 08:45 PM

If it was for legitimate reasons, then so be it.

I can't think of one legitimate reason to destroy a building of that quality.

Greco Roman

12-06-2006, 08:47 PM

I can't think of one legitimate reason to destroy a building of that quality.

Well, maybe, but at least all is not lost. There are plenty of unique structues in Winnipeg, more than any other city in Western Canada; hence the nickname "Chicago of the North".

Boris2k7

12-06-2006, 09:16 PM

I'll just copy and paste this from my post in the other thread.

Calgary: Southam Building (1913-1972)

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9112/na14694gm1.jpghttp://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5149/na146946ak4.jpg
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9479/na236519yo7.jpghttp://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8408/na25753lg0.jpg
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8050/na257519dj1.jpghttp://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8671/na262239uy6.jpg
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/9682/na27233wt7.jpghttp://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7425/na5093949xf7.jpghttp://img154.imageshack.us/img154/6009/nd8298rf9.jpg

What is terrible is that they demolished it for a little piece of shit 70's lowrise building. Alas, it was just the most vivid example of the raping that downtown Calgary's heritage underwent in the 70's and 80's.

drew

12-06-2006, 09:20 PM

^ was that building ever considered the tallest in Calgary?

skrish

12-06-2006, 09:24 PM

Was that the building with the weird gargoyle type guys? The ones that a currently between Mac Hall and Science A at the U.

SteelTown

12-06-2006, 09:29 PM

Here's more pictures of the Birks Building

http://www.raisethehammer.org/images/birks_building_01.jpg

http://www.raisethehammer.org/images/birks_building_02.jpg

Oscar Wilde called it "the most beautiful building in all of North America,"

Here's the Birks clock that the city managed to save
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/downtown%20hamilton/52.jpg

jeffwhit

12-06-2006, 09:34 PM

I'll just copy and paste this from my post in the other thread.

Calgary: Southam Building (1913-1972)

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9112/na14694gm1.jpghttp://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5149/na146946ak4.jpg

What is terrible is that they demolished it for a little piece of shit 70's lowrise building. Alas, it was just the most vivid example of the raping that downtown Calgary's heritage underwent in the 70's and 80's.

What intersection was that on Boris?

Boris2k7

12-06-2006, 09:54 PM

Drew: I think it would have been the tallest building in Calgary from 1913 when it was built to 1914 when the Fairmont Palliser was completed (which then held the title until the Calgary Tower in 1969).

skrish: Most of the gargoyles were saved and were incorporated into the facade of the Alberta Hotel. I believe the ones here at the UofC are just replicas. A few of them probably were scrapped unfortunately.

Jeff: It was on the corner of 7th Avenue and 1st Street S.W., right across from The Bay. (can't quite tell which corner, either the N.E. or the N.W.)

Taller Better

12-06-2006, 09:56 PM

I love the old Birks building in Montreal- thank god it still stands. And the one in Winnipeg too, which was originally a YWCA. I despise the 80's monstrosity here on Bloor Street.

keninhalifax

12-06-2006, 10:06 PM

Time for this again, eh?

Ottawa's Central Post Office (seen in background) was built in the 1870s and demolished in the 1930s to make way for Jacques Gréber's immensely silly Confederation Square plan:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a141061.jpg

Next door was the Russell House, Ottawa's premier hotel until the Chateau was built in 1912. It was the sight of many a backroom political deal until it was destroyed by fire in 1928:
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a008434.jpg

alps

12-06-2006, 10:30 PM

There were a bunch of old low-rise buildings across from the TD Centre in Halifax that were demolished a little over a decade ago. They're not the biggest loss we've had architecturally, but the awful thing is that since then, the empty lot has been used as parking.

someone123

12-06-2006, 11:31 PM

Hundreds of Victorian and older buildings have been torn down in Halifax. Some examples:

Houses:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHP059936-DEV01514.jpg

These buildings along Hollis are mostly gone:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHP0439157-DEV01514.jpg

The Custom House was torn down in 1955 for a parking lot:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHPK44484-DEV01514.jpg

Here's something interesting.. this is the city's extravagant 1860s poor house, built at Robie and South Street. It burned down in the 1880s and was replaced by something much more modest:
http://alumni.medicine.dal.ca/Tour/wpoor.jpg

alps

12-07-2006, 12:17 AM

^^ Interesting!

What's on the site of the old poor house today? (I assume either the IWK/Grace Maternity hospital or Gorsebrook school). Also, where was the Custom House?

jeremy_haak

12-07-2006, 12:41 AM

Ottawa has several, besides the ones already mentioned: Daly Building, and the Capital Theatre.

someone123

12-07-2006, 12:47 AM

What's on the site of the old poor house today? (I assume either the IWK/Grace Maternity hospital or Gorsebrook school). Also, where was the Custom House?

I am not sure which side it was on. It could have been either site.

The Custom House was below the Post Office (AGNS) on George Street/Bedford Row/Cheapside, next to the Dominion Building.

waterloowarrior

12-07-2006, 12:58 AM

old centre block
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/c/c001185.jpg

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/c/c000946.jpg
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a023307.jpg

this happened
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/c/c010170.jpg

so we got a new one. similar, but with a much nicer tower.. fit for a capital!

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/ap/a/a027625.jpg

I guess it's not that much of a loss because we got something better because of it. It's a good thing that it didn't burn down in the 1970s :D

flar

12-07-2006, 01:14 AM

The Bank of Hamilton used to be at King and James in Hamilton.
http://www.hamiltonpostcards.com/images/bankofhamiltonLayer1.jpg

This building now occupies the site:
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/downtown%20hamilton/43.jpg

Coldrsx

12-07-2006, 01:30 AM

Edmonton - our biggest loss, our level of acceptance and approval.

graupner

12-07-2006, 05:04 AM

In Montreal, several, countless buildings....

Architects Building, demolished in the 50s:

http://www.erudit.org/livre/lachapellej/2001/l1d3_img01n.jpg

The old Art Deco Laurentian Hotel, abandoned and demolished in the 80s:
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/4599/123712du6.jpg

The Windsor Hotel, closed down, abandoned and 80% demolished in the 60s to make way for the CIBC building:
http://www.1000storemall.com/0815/Image03.jpg

The Old Montreal Canadien Hockey Forum:
http://www.stm.info/en-bref/tramways/images/S61112/S611123_25.jpg

Entire neighborhoods were demolished in the name of "progress". Montreal peaked its population 1950 at around 2.2millions people for the inner city. It reached an all-time low in 1996, at around 1.6 million. since then, it's been growing and it is back to around 1.9 million.

This is now a vacant wasteland in East Side Montreal:

http://www.stm.info/en-bref/tramways/images/S173/S1735_14.jpg

This is now an Highway:
http://www.stm.info/en-bref/tramways/images/diapos/S61112D3.jpg

graupner

12-07-2006, 05:05 AM

Double post

Martin Mtl

12-07-2006, 03:34 PM

The Old Windsor Hotel, where the CIBC building now stands, was destroyed bt a fire in december 1957. The newest part, still standing, survived the fire. Far to be abandonned, the Windsor Hotel was still glorious and very much in business when it burned down to the ground. So sad.

For me, one of the biggest lost in Montreal is the old office post on Place d'Armes (it's the building with the clock, next to the Bank of Montreal building here)
http://www.daisyfield.com/postcards/hires/CANQCMontrealPostOffBankofMontreal1909.jpg
http://www.archiv.umontreal.ca/Galeries/P0058/P0058FG/images/P0058FG00336.jpg

elsonic

12-07-2006, 05:27 PM

what I posted in anoter section :

Montréal

Hotel Winsdor (both churches are gone too)
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/01452022.jpg

Bonaventure Train Station
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/74080000.JPG

Main Post Office
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V842.JPG

Drummond House
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2458.JPG

McIntyre House
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/00092005.jpg

Strathcona’s House
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V4267.JPG

+ 1 million mansions, mostly where stands our downtown area today
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2576_A.JPG

Only The Lonely..

12-07-2006, 05:30 PM

Winnipeg has a sick fetish for downtown surface parking, unlike so many other cities that actually built something new over the original building.

The Empire Hotel
(today it's a surface parking lot)
http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~cschulz1/empireFinal.JPG

The Royal Alexandra Hotel
(today it's just an open field for the bums to hang out in)
http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~cschulz1/royalAlex.jpg
http://wbi.lib.umanitoba.ca/WBImages/medium/RAHM-63.jpghttp://wbi.lib.umanitoba.ca/WBImages/medium/RAHM-61.jpg
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/alexandra/images/tablesetting.jpg

The McIntyre Block
(Yup you guessed it, surface parking)
http://wbi.lib.umanitoba.ca/WBImages/medium/MBCG-53.jpg
http://photos1.flickr.com/3800801_3a3a5ccf18.jpg
http://photos3.flickr.com/3800803_9971e9cf46.jpg

The Winnipeg Trubune Building
(It became surprisingly..another surface parking lot)
http://wbi.lib.umanitoba.ca/WBImages/medium/wpc88a.jpg

Is the Ryan Block next to become a surface parking lot? Some developers would like to see it that way.
http://www.virtual.heritagewinnipeg.com/jpgs/window/nowThen/033-now.jpg

Only The Lonely..

12-07-2006, 05:40 PM

Other well known former Winnipeg buidings include:

A boarded up Eatons Building
http://canada.archiseek.com/manitoba/winnipeg/downtown/portage_avenue/images/eatons_prior_lge.jpg

Which later became this..(new arena)
http://www.thesportsroadtrip.com/win2047.jpg

The St.Boniface Basilica
http://www.venite.ca/images/cathedral-1908-5.jpg
http://www.winnipegfiremuseum.ca/fotos/k_elder/stboniface.jpg
http://www.venite.ca/images/cathedral-1968-3L.jpg
http://www.venite.ca/images/cathedral-1968-11L.jpg
http://www.venite.ca/images/cathedral-1968-9L.jpg
http://www.wsd1.org/imagesforsharing/images/Winnipeg%20Pix/St%20Boniface%20Basilica.2JPG.JPG

The old Leland Hotel destroyed by arson

http://www.winnipegfiremuseum.ca/fotos/leland01.jpg
http://www.winnipegfiremuseum.ca/fotos/sunleland4.jpg
http://www.winnipegfiremuseum.ca/fotos/leland02.jpg

elsonic

12-07-2006, 07:07 PM

other Montréal losses

Royal Insurance Company Building (now Pointe-à-Callière Museum)

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/I20720.JPG

Montreal Hunt Club

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/II142815.JPG

Queen's Hotel
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2701-A.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2703.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2702.JPG

Balmoral Hotel

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1884.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1890.JPG

some indoor views of the Windsor Hotel :(

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V744.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V761.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15374.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2519.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V785.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2223.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V738.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15806.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2224.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15807.JPG

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V15809.jpg

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1588.JPG

Kevin_foster

12-07-2006, 07:23 PM

^ Wow!!! Loosing the Windsor Hotel... thats a blow. What a beautiful building

One must ask, what the @#$# planners were thinking???? Somehow the Canadian Urban Renewal program really really really crapped on Canadian Culture, History and future :/

The europeans managed to keep most of their historic buildings. Sucks Canada didn't. :/

malek

12-07-2006, 07:27 PM

euh Europe went thru 2 wars and they destroyed themselves pretty good i must say hehehe...

elsonic: balmoral hotel?? was it sitting on the same ilot balmoral we know? or its somewhere else? because if so, thats one of the worst decision ever.

Kevin_foster

12-07-2006, 07:37 PM

^ seems the war though wasnt as bad as urban renewal :P

Lyle

12-07-2006, 07:45 PM

elsonic

12-07-2006, 07:47 PM

no, Malek, it sits on Notre-Dame St. West : http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/collection/artifacts/VIEW-1884&section=196

I discovered the Balmoral Hotel while searching pictures for the Windsor - wich burnt down in 1953. but the annex still remains. it was not some drunk planners's decision.

WHISTLERINMUSKOKA

12-07-2006, 08:16 PM

Most of our stuff not torn down in the 60's and 70's was lost in the Great fire of 1904.

The fire devastated a large part of Toronto’s commercial and industrial centre. Over 125 businesses were burnt out, most of them manufacturers and importers of fabrics and clothing, paper goods, books, drugs, chemicals, hardware, and machinery. Many of the factories and warehouses that burned were less than twenty years old, and had been built as architectural showcases for their owners’ prosperity, modern commercial methods, and business acumen.

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/fire/pics/fire_map_5.gif

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/fire/pics/6700_burned_out_1020.jpg

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/fire/pics/16404_fire_1020.jpg

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/fire/pics/slides/image_08.jpg

Only The Lonely..

12-07-2006, 08:17 PM

:previous: Incredible..

Martin Mtl

12-07-2006, 08:23 PM

The Windsor Hotel burned down in 1957, not 1953.

flar

12-07-2006, 08:41 PM

Two more from Hamilton:

Hamilton Provident and Loan Company, demolished 1961
http://aas.ath.cx/hughson.jpg

Hamilton Asylum for the Insane, demolished 1975
http://aas.ath.cx/asylum.jpg

Taller Better

12-07-2006, 09:31 PM

The situation is the saddest in Montreal, for they had the best buildings to lose... can you imagine if many of those beauties were still with us?
I remember a few of those Winnipeg buildings from my youth that are now
gone. :(

elsonic

12-07-2006, 09:48 PM

should I? again?

Alliance Fire Assurance Co. building, Place D'Armes, Montreal, QC, 1902-03
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/MP-1985.31.70.jpg

Albert Building, south side of Victoria Square, Montreal, about 1875
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/87019001.JPG

Dominion Square and Y.M.C.A. building, Montreal, QC, about 1880
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2549.JPG

St. James Club, Dorchester Street, Montreal, QC, about 1895
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1536-A.JPG

Department store, St. Catherine Street at University, Montreal, QC, about 1885
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/MP-1998.8.28.jpg

Y.M.C.A. building at Victoria Square, Montreal, QC, about 1885
http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/massic/high/1-185a-a.jpg

Synagogue, McGill College Avenue, Montreal, QC, 1901
http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V10763.JPG

raggedy13

12-07-2006, 09:55 PM

http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/images/1989/georgiamed.jpg

May 28, 1989: The handsome old Georgia Medical-Dental building, which went up on the northwest corner of Vancouver's Georgia and Hornby Streets in 1929, was demolished by a controlled explosion (viewed by a huge throng in the surrounding streets), following an intense but unsuccessful public campaign to save it. Old-timers joke that the three nurses carved into the outer corners of the building were the Rrhea Sisters: Dia, Gono and Pyo.

What a shame, but at least we got a respectable building to replace it. One that paid homage to the Medical-Dental building by keeping an art deco theme as well as replicating the original nurse statues in the corners. Many people like the building that replaced it (although it obviously would've been ideal to have kept the former building intact as well). The newer building I'm referring to, of course, is Cathedral Place...

http://www.pierluigisurace.it/imagerie/images/aatw/DOT_BC_Vancouver_Cathedral_Place.jpg

http://www.bcnursinghistory.ca/images/mon_cathedral.jpg

http://925westgeorgia.com/images/pic_lobby_lg.jpg

keninhalifax

12-07-2006, 11:31 PM

Waterloowarrior:

Russell House > Pre-1916 Centre Block

;)

Boris2k7

12-07-2006, 11:52 PM

It's funny how many of Calgary's current historical structures were even built on top of older buildings. We seem to be good at demolishing stuff.

For example:

The first Bank of Montreal Building was finished in 1889 on the corner of 8th Avenue and 1st Street S.W. It was demolished in 1930 and the second Bank of Montreal replaced it in 1931. That building still stands today.

Original BMO building (finished 1889)
http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/8265/bmo1889mx4.jpg

Shot looking up 1st Street S.W., showing (from left to right) the Southam Building, 1st BMO building, and the Alberta Hotel. Of those three only the Alberta hotel survives to today (Murrieta's Restaurant). EDIT: Oh, there is also a church which is still there, as well as the Lougheed Building behind the Southam building, which is currently undergoing renovations.
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/4479/nc2693zp5.jpg

Second BMO building (finished 1931)
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7830/bmo2cq9.jpg
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/3952/bmo3bo7.jpg

A shot looking North. You can see the second BMO building, the Bay, and the Southam Building (which was demolished as shown earlier).
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/9260/pa35273wm6.jpg
BTW, with these shots we can confirm that the Southam Building was kitty-corner to the Bay, where there is that rather ugly building beside the beautiful new 1st Street S.W. C-Train Station.

What the BMO Building looked like in 2005 (A&B is no longer in that space)
http://img451.imageshack.us/img451/1827/dscn0073weeo0.jpg

^ Uhhh, yeah. See that big brown thing to the left? That's where the Southam Building once stood. What a tragedy! :(

West_aust

12-08-2006, 12:13 AM

We lost this http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2549.JPG

to get this
http://canada.archiseek.com/quebec/montreal/images/sunlife2_lge.jpg
not a bad tradeoff imo

Boris2k7

12-08-2006, 12:18 AM

Here's another one (there are a shitload of lost buildings):

The James Short School was finished in 1905 and demolished in 1969 at the corner of 1st Street and 5th Avenue S.W.

Only the cupola was saved which now sits across the street from Petro Canada Centre, beside James Short Park (which is itself beside the Transcanada Pipelines Building and on top of the James Short Parkade).

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/4671/jsbf1.jpg
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9270/js5rs8.jpg
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/7443/js2wx4.jpg
http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/2293/js3cr8.jpg
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/180/js4zy0.jpg
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/9148/cplp06ho6.jpg

You can see James Short Park with the cupola in this 360 degree pano (it's "virtual"):
http://virtualguidebooks.com/Alberta/AlbertaPrairies/DowntownCalgary/JamesShortPark_FS.html

Boris2k7

12-08-2006, 12:42 AM

And a third post for reflection:

February 7, 1974
Caption: "I'm new in the building... can you tell me where the bathroom is?"
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/825/m878735vz3.jpg

March 15, 1974
Caption: "Okay, you men...put your backs to it...they're gaining us!"
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/2963/m80005tf1.jpg

January, 1979
[Demolition in Calgary to make room for growth.]
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/8290/m8000348xv8.jpg

February 27, 1980
Caption: "My view on the preservation of the Burns Building? It's undecided ... Why do you ask?"
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/4041/m8000560fv4.jpg

December 28, 1981
[Wrecking ball kept busy in West.]
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/6544/m8000958ru2.jpg

April 27, 2002
Demonstration to save St. Mary's Girls School from demolition, Calgary, Alberta. (it was demolished)
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/9817/pa35734me3.jpg

etc.

EDIT: LOL, look. Someone from this forum is in the lefthand side of that last pic... ;) :laugh:

The Jabroni

12-08-2006, 01:57 AM

What a shame that we lost the St Boniface Basilica, all because of one person's carelessness when they were smoking.

murman

12-08-2006, 02:06 AM

What a shame that we lost the St Boniface Basilica, all because of one person's carelessness when they were smoking.

I thought that smoking in church was just a Quebec thing...

rgalston

12-08-2006, 04:39 AM

More Winnipeg losses:

Merchant's Bank (at right) near Portage and Main, at Main and Lombard. At the time of its construction in 1900, the Merchant's Bank was the first steel-frame office building in Western Canada, and for a brief time Western Canada's tallest (until it was eclipsed by the Union Bank tower down the street). It made way for the Richardson building and "plaza" in 1966
http://static.flickr.com/118/311492241_f15b3a481d_o.jpg

The entire block of south Main between Graham and Portage--including the eight-storey Great West Permanent building--made way for the Trizec development in the late 1970's
http://static.flickr.com/122/311492253_0bf1baab6f_o.jpg

The Toronto Dominion bank, the Child's building, and the Nanton building at the NW corner of Portage and Main, leveled for the Toronto Dominion Centre. The Child's was from 1910 to the 1950's, Winnipeg's tallest. This photo shows this row of buildings as they were in autumn 1988, days for before demolition began
http://static.flickr.com/118/316776230_f0def03442.jpg

The greatest shame in these building's demise, is that they ALL had to make way for ONE single office tower, each with just as hostile a relationship to the street as they did to other buildings... a testament to the megalomania (and misanthropy) of Modernism and it's proceeding fads. Why couldn't the TD Centre been built snugly alongside the Child's, replacing only the Nanton block? Or the Richardson building alongside the Merchant's Bank?

m0nkyman

12-08-2006, 05:44 AM

There's a whole thread on this over in Vibrant Victoria.
http://www.vibrantvictoria.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=333

drew

12-08-2006, 06:24 AM

What a shame that we lost the St Boniface Basilica, all because of one person's carelessness when they were smoking.

I thought it was an unattended welders torch?

drew

12-08-2006, 06:26 AM

Why couldn't the TD Centre been built snugly alongside the Child's, replacing only the Nanton block? Or the Richardson building alongside the Merchant's Bank?

$$$....

jeffwhit

12-08-2006, 10:24 AM

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/9817/pa35734me3.jpg

etc.

EDIT: LOL, look. Someone from this forum is in the lefthand side of that last pic... ;) :laugh:

Great eye Boris! ;)
that's awesome.

circle33

12-08-2006, 04:04 PM

Only having been here 4 years i can't speak much for Saskatoon's past but one tireless Saskatonian is currently striving to save one of our most treasured gems...

http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/idl/sasp/20061207/78511-27765.jpg

Victoria Neufeldt, president of the Saskatoon Heritage Society, with the old Northern Paints building at Broadway Avenue and Ninth Street East in the background

Only The Lonely..

12-08-2006, 04:17 PM

circle33

12-08-2006, 04:51 PM

/\ Very little to all but the most zealous of preservationists. I'm just being a smart ass.

Apparently it one of the three remaining original Safeways, a historic treasure worth preserving to some. The full story is in the Saskatoon construction thread if you're interested.

Only The Lonely..

12-08-2006, 05:17 PM

Didn't realize it was a joke..

I know Saskatoon is a relatively young city, but surely you have better pieces of architecture worth preserving than that.

I'll check out the Toon town thread. Thanks Circle.

Taller Better

12-08-2006, 05:19 PM

Years ago in Montreal I bought a wonderful "Then and Now" coffee-table type book of incredible photographs from the 1800's, and exactly the same shot/angle taken nowadays. It makes you weep to see how many amazing structures have fallen to the wreckers ball, and replaced with boring buildings. Completely weep. I gave it away as a gift and the guy actually lost the book. GRRRRRR.....:hell: I have the same type of big coffee table book of "Then and Now" photos of Toronto, and it is sad to see the loss of some buildings, but Toronto never had the wealth of old buildings that Montreal had, to begin with, so the loss is less noticeable.

Maybe it is just me, but I think most big cities looked amazing 100 years ago.

habsfan

12-08-2006, 05:33 PM

Maybe it is just me, but I think most big cities looked amazing 100 years ago.

You not the only one to think that!

SSLL

12-09-2006, 02:15 AM

What a shame these are, especially the Winnipeg City Hall!

aastra

12-09-2006, 05:31 AM

Victoria's most notable losses:

Willows Exhibition Building (destroyed by fire, replaced with a park)
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_75/c_09021.gif

Campbell Building
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j283/thegreatscaper/d_05734.gif

Replaced with a mundane, rather featureless office block
http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2205/fortdouglasur5.jpg

Brunswick Hotel et al
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_77/d_05414.gif

Replaced with a mundane, featureless slab
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5210/yatesdouglasgz1.jpg

BC Permanent Loan Tower
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j283/thegreatscaper/e_06624.gif

Demolished and replaced with a mundane office block
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8458/victoriabcplsitelo5.jpg
(every property in this pic was ultimately ruined, one way or another)

Old Post Office
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_68/a_02798.gif
http://www.rootsweb.com/~canbc/postcards/vic_po.jpg

Butchered and transformed into a colourless, mundane, featureless slab (at the right):
http://www.tourismvictoria.com/uploads/images/members/uploadedimages/A0003571.jpg

Adelphi Building and surrounding buildings
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_78/d_09654.gif

Replaced with a mundane, featureless slab
http://www.maltwood.uvic.ca/Architecture/ma/design_story/images_story/town/1948-1951/m48mpo.jpg

Kittycorner to the Adelphi
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_84/h_03013.gif

Replaced with mundane, featureless slab
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8044/bankstarbucksmw6.jpg

Driard Hotel
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_71/b_00434.gif

Replaced with a partial replica
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/4864/baycentrexf0.jpg

Old Victoria Brewery
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6232/victoriabrewerybigmd2.jpg

Replaced with a strip mall

Only The Lonely..

12-09-2006, 05:59 AM

Wow, those Victoria shots really give you something to think about. I'd think its almost preferable to have surface parking instead. Than again i'm a Winnipegger.

vid

12-10-2006, 09:55 PM

If Saskatoon is lucky, their old Safeway will become an amazing locally owned pizzeria. Ours did. :P

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/8753/116179650dehouophbg5.jpg

It was replaced in the 30s with a larger Art Deco building which is actually not that bad looking, but this was better. We call it's replacement the 'Old Post Office' because it isn't a post office anymore either.

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/3220/2765219570043708820gannnx3.jpg

First Baptist Church (1907) we didn't lost the building, but we lost the windows. They were bricked over in the 1970s 'Lets make everything ugly' craze.

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/3434/cityhallfwnk8.jpg

Fort William City Hall, destroyed in 1967. It's replacement has a plastic façade and is currently too small for the city hall it contains. A sad loss. The church behind it still exists, thankfully.

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/9574/lakehead011am9.gif

The Mariaggi was destroyed in 1988 for the new Province of Ontario Building which is a stunning building itself, but the loss was still tragic. :(

circle33

12-11-2006, 12:44 AM

If Saskatoon is lucky, their old Safeway will become an amazing locally owned pizzeria. Ours did. :P

Unfortunately amazing, pizzeria and Saskatoon are not found in the same sentence in nature.

vid

12-11-2006, 12:48 AM

That's too bad. :(

You guys could use a Stan's, or a Sven and Olé's .....

Every city could use a Sven and Olé's.

trueviking

12-11-2006, 05:33 AM

I thought it was an unattended welders torch?

it was a worker smoking in the attic.

the loss of the mckintyre block makes me sick to my stomach...main street winnipeg used to be an amazing place....city hall, the public market...bankers row....now its the worst street in the city.

Only The Lonely..

12-11-2006, 02:39 PM

They certainly knew how to build cities back then. I think its funny that it's taken us at least half a century to realize that.

In Winnipeg's case it's hard to say what may have happened if some of these places were still standing. My parents and grandparents tell me that a lot of the old railway hotels (The Empire, The Royal Alexandra, etc) became pretty run down towards the end of their lives.

The exchange itself district was a functioning industrial neighbourhood until the 70's.

I suppose not too many people felt bad about tearing these places down.

someone123

12-11-2006, 09:17 PM

Here's another building that I wish was still around. The pictures are from 1871:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHP0411597-DEV01514.jpg
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/imagesns/binaries/DHP0411595-DEV01514.jpg

Kevin_foster

12-11-2006, 09:37 PM

Wow Victoria sure lost alot of nice buildings to modern concrete slabs!

It's too bad :(

shappy

12-11-2006, 09:58 PM

Some of the structures within Allan Gardens in Toronto were a sad loss. The park had a beautiful building that housed the Horticultural Society and a very nice victorian fountain. The building burned down and the fountain was taken away (I think because too many slummy kids bathed in it!) It was a really great victorian park. I remember seeing photos on the internet but I can't seem to find them anymore. If someone has them, please post.

Kitchissippi

12-12-2006, 07:09 PM

One senseless loss for Ottawa: The Capitol Theatre (http://beatles.ncf.ca/apscruff.html). On its site now sits one of the ugliest office buildings in the city, 222 Queen Street

http://beatles.ncf.ca/caption_100.jpg

http://beatles.ncf.ca/caption_200.jpg

http://beatles.ncf.ca/caption_300.jpg

keninhalifax

12-12-2006, 08:22 PM

Ahh, I forgot all about the Capitol Theatre. Queen and Sparks Streets were the places to be at one point!

jeffwhit

12-12-2006, 10:01 PM

Does anyone have a better picture of the old Capital Theatre in Saskatoon?

http://www.publib.saskatoon.sk.ca/images/LHWebphotos/PH893010b.jpg

It doesn't look as substantial as it must have been; the theatre seated 1200.

That block was replaced with an uglier multiplex and a parkade.

swilley

12-13-2006, 04:27 AM

Taken from saskatoon100.ca

Capitol Theatre, 1929:
The elegant and palatial Capitol Theatre opened on May 11, 1929, at 127 – 2 nd Avenue South. The first ever “talking picture” shown in Saskatoon played there. It also served as an auditorium and concert hall. It seated 1,200 people, and the interior was done in a Spanish villa motif, with images of twinkling stars and drifting clouds projected on the roof. The Capitol Theatre was demolished amid controversy in 1979. Its demise helped to kick start the city's active architectural heritage movement. (Enter above mentioned save an old paint store kook)

http://www.saskatoon100.ca/images/ourpast_LH4180_LRG.jpg

http://spldatabase.saskatoonlibrary.ca/dbtw-wpd/images/lhr/web/b/1000/b%201241.jpg

http://spldatabase.saskatoonlibrary.ca/dbtw-wpd/images/lhr/web/b/1000/b%201249.jpg

http://spldatabase.saskatoonlibrary.ca/dbtw-wpd/images/lhr/web/b/2000/b%202552.jpg

Only The Lonely..

12-13-2006, 01:50 PM

Looks beautiful Saskatoon..too bad about your loss.

SteelTown

12-13-2006, 02:00 PM

Here's Hamilton's Capitol Theatre that's gone

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/English/exhibits/theatres/pics/rg_56_11_0_87_1_620.jpg

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/English/exhibits/theatres/pics/rg_56_11_0_87_4_620.jpg

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/English/exhibits/theatres/pics/rg_56_11_0_87_5_620.jpg

http://htdmedia.decafdesign.com/images/h_mag/parkinglot-capitol.jpg

zerokarma

12-13-2006, 08:34 PM

I also vote for the Old Toronto Star Building.

elsonic

12-14-2006, 07:46 PM

let's keep crying

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/78207004.JPG
Liverpool, London & Globe building, Place d'Armes, Montreal, about 1910

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/84047037.JPG
Tamworth Place, Beaver Hall Hill Square, Montreal, QC, about 1870

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/02105000.JPG
Crane Building, Beaver Hall Hill, Montreal, QC, about 1925

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V1481.JPG
St. Andrew's Church, Beaver Hall Hill, Montreal, about 1885

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/00039006.JPG
Saint Patrick's Hall, west side of Victoria Square, Montreal, QC, about 1865, copied ca.1920

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/I-34439.1.jpg
Masonic Hall, Montreal, QC, 1868

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/00227000.JPG
Montreal House at Custom House Square, Montreal, QC, about 1880

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/80279000.JPG
St. James Hotel, Victoria Square, Montreal, QC, 1870-74

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V3022-A.JPG
Laval University, St. Denis Street, Montreal, QC, 1903

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V3164.JPG
Y.W.C.A. building, Dorchester Street, Montreal, QC, about 1898

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/V2543.JPG
Art Association building, Phillips' Square, Montreal, QC, about 1893

kool maudit

12-14-2006, 09:31 PM

http://wozniak.wsg.mcgill.ca/largeimages/02105000.JPG

this one is still there; it's just south of phillips sq.

elsonic

12-14-2006, 09:47 PM

I don't recognize it. I'll go take a walk.

DizzyEdge

01-08-2007, 04:10 AM

jeffwhit

01-08-2007, 07:52 AM

Wow, this is a sad thread. It's one thing to lose a great building to something like a fire, but to lose it in favour of a hideously ugly replacement, or parking is tragic on many more levels.

BrannyMuffin

01-08-2007, 08:45 AM

Capitol Theatre in Regina..
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p277/BrannyMuffin/cora_rpl_a_973.jpghttp://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p277/BrannyMuffin/Capitol_Theatre_1929.jpg

Old City Hall...
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p277/BrannyMuffin/slideshowphoto22.jpg

There are some more here... http://www.reginalibrary.ca/commform/ReginaArchives/archives.htm

Keep in mind, though, that some of the buildings on that site are still standing (and still used). They don't have a ton of information, though, so it's hard to know which buildings are still around and which aren't.

DizzyEdge

01-08-2007, 06:25 PM

Here's some Calgary examples, there are two columns, left is the building demolished, and on the right in a few cases I've put what replaced it.

http://www.calgaryheritage.org/demolished-web.html

alps

01-08-2007, 08:17 PM

Hey Saskatoon, Regina, and Hamilton; Halifax also has a Capitol Theatre that was demolished, to accommodate the Maritime Centre in the early 1970s. Apparently it was pretty impressive.

vid

01-08-2007, 11:22 PM

I think every city had a Capitol Theatre...

Lee_Haber8

01-09-2007, 12:18 AM

This has got to be the most depressing thread. Lets make sure that no other gems are completely demolished and that any new buildings are of architectural worth. Winnipeg IMO is the worse culprit

DizzyEdge

01-09-2007, 02:27 AM

This has got to be the most depressing thread. Lets make sure that no other gems are completely demolished and that any new buildings are of architectural worth. Winnipeg IMO is the worse culprit

If only people would follow the simple rule of replace anything you want, but make sure the replacement is more architecturally spectacular than what was there prior.. sure that's a pretty subjective thing to ask, but I'm pretty sure 'parking lot' would lose out to just about any standing structure.

vid

01-10-2007, 02:38 AM

Winnipeg IMO is the worse culprit

But they still have one of the largest collections of early 20th century structures. That doesn't necessarily make up for the loss of many great buildings, but it does add a lot of value to their architectural landscape.

someone123

01-10-2007, 03:59 AM

The Capitol Theatre in Halifax was built for Famous Players on the site of the old Academy of Music. Its interior had an ornate stone castle design complete with drawbridge but exterior pictures are hard to come by. I've never found a really good one online.

It's too bad it's not still around because it fit in very nicely with the streetscape and could have been reused today. There were other buildings torn down for the Maritime Centre as well. I think one was the previous MT&T building and another looks like it was an apartment building. I am talking about the two buildings on the left in this picture (this is a picture of Hollis in the 1940s):
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/halifax/images/100.jpg

There's a really ugly hotel on that corner today.

flar

03-28-2009, 03:26 AM

Some more old stuff that was torn down in Hamilton:

(from "The Grand Old Buildings of Hamilton" by Brian Henley 1994)

Central Terminal
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/terminal.jpg

Central Collegiate
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/centralcollegiate.jpg

Wentworth County Courthouse
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/courthouse.jpg

Loews Theatre
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/loewstheatre.jpg

Post Office
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/postoffice.jpg

Royal Hotel
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/royalhotel.jpg

Ryerson School
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/ryerson.jpg

Birks Building
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/birks.jpg

Waldorf Hotel
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/waldorfhotel.jpg

Royal Hamilton Yacht Club
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/yachtclub.jpg

YMCA
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k28/segaert/oldehamilton/ymca.jpg

Rico Rommheim

03-28-2009, 04:00 AM

Those hamilton one's are heartbreaking. Hamilton really got it bad, perhaps worst than Montreal and Toronto. :(

Synagogue Chevra Cadosha, Montreal 1914
http://imtl.org/image/big/Synagogue_Chevra%20Cadosha_rue_saint-Urbain_%20Montreal_1914.jpg

Synagogue Autrichienne et Hongroise, Montreal
http://imtl.org/image/big/Synagogue_autrichienne_et_hongroise_avenue_Milton_Montreal_QC_1901_1910_notman.jpg

Synagogue Sherith, Montreal 1901
http://imtl.org/image/big/Synagogue_Sherith_Israel_Stanley_Montreal_1901_1910_notman.jpg

Temple E manu el, Montreal
http://imtl.org/image/big/stanley_8-86-d.jpg

Congregational College, Montreal 1900
http://imtl.org/image/big/Congregational_College_notman_1900_mc%20tavish_mcgill_university.jpg

YMCA du Square Dominion, Montreal 1880
http://imtl.org/image/big/YMCA_1880_notman.JPG

Bureau de Poste, 1876
http://imtl.org/image/big/Bureau_de_poste_Montreal_QC_vers_1878_notman.jpg

École Normal Superieur Jacques-Cartier, 1879
http://imtl.org/image/big/ecole_normal_superieur_jacques_cartier_1898_w_H_care.jpg

Ancienne Église Saint-Louis de France
http://imtl.org/image/big/St_Louis_de_France_church_Roy_Street_1910.jpg

Architect Building
http://imtl.org/image/big/architect_building_archive_cn_.jpg

touraccuracy

03-28-2009, 05:33 AM

thread from the dead!

the toronto star building looks like it was a tragic loss, even though i despise the paper.

vid

03-28-2009, 06:17 AM

Some of our lost school buildings:

All photos belong to Lakehead Public Schools and were found here (http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/corporate/default.aspx?cat=360).

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/288_LG.jpg
Cornwall School. This is an empty lot that is used in the summer as a community veggie garden project, and a portion of the back of the lot is townhouses.

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/290_LG.jpg
Fort William Central School. It was replaced by Patterson Park, and a parking lot and neighbourhood police station in downtown Fort William.

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/289_LG.jpg
Francis Street Public School. After being vacant for about 20 years, this lot is now occupied by the George Jeffrey Children's Centre (http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidioman/tags/jeffrey/)

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/369_LG.jpg
Franklin Street Elementary School. This is now a vacant lot on the west side of downtown Fort William.

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/316_LG.jpg
Ogden School. Located at Ogden and McKenzie, just a few blocks from where I live. It was replaced in 1971 by a modern building.

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/279_LG.jpg
Pine Street School. Pine and Red River in Port Arthur. The lot is now occupied by a two storey seniors home.

http://www.lakeheadschools.ca/content/images/266_LG.jpg
Prospect Avenue School. Demolished in 2004 for a French Catholic high school.

KrisYYC

07-25-2009, 06:58 PM

Sorry to bring back an old thread. I stumbled upon this doing a google image search for historical pictures of Calgary.

There's one thing many of these once proud buildings have in common: They were demolished in the 70's and 80's for shitty designs.

Can some of the older users who were alive in the 70's explain to me what was going on back then? Was Canada a communist dicatatorship? What was with the pathetic architecture? Everything just a plain rectangle.

What happened?

Spring2008

07-25-2009, 07:34 PM

Can some of the older users who were alive in the 70's explain to me what was going on back then? Was Canada a communist dicatatorship? What was with the pathetic architecture? Everything just a plain rectangle.

What happened?

Well I wasn't around for the 70's but I have to agree in full about the brutal architecture that came out of here in the 70's/80's. When I was really young I always seemed to justify it by reasoning that newer is always better; the reason those old buildings are so ugly is because they're decades old.........Then I went to Europe............

Architype

07-25-2009, 11:46 PM

Can some of the older users who were alive in the 70's explain to me what was going on back then? Was Canada a communist dicatatorship? What was with the pathetic architecture? Everything just a plain rectangle.

What happened?
The modern heritage conservation movements were just beginning to take root in the 70's, and were still viewed as a slightly oddball thing. Until the 70's most everything around was rather old-fashioned looking; in short people were tired of it, and embraced anything new, but there was not much experience with how new styles would actually function in the urban context, not the way we understand it today. After all, in the 70's modern architecture in most cities had only been around for about 10 to 20 years at the most.