Canadian skylines of the past - Page 103

thomax · #**2041** Posted **Feb 18, 2016, 7:04 AM**

Hamilton - 1973 by Vintage Hamilton, on Facebook

- To the right of City Hall you can see the Alexandria Square office complex. It was designed by Stanley Roscoe, who also designed City Hall, which is why they look so similar. Alexandria Square was converted into condos and became the Chateau Royale.
- In the lower left, excavation had just begun for Hamilton's current third tallest building, The Olympia.
- Oakland Square is under construction right above the Olympia site.
- To the right of the Stelco Tower, 1 James South is under construction.
- Hamilton's current tallest building, Landmark Place, is under construction on the far right.

Full Size:

someone123 · #**2042** Posted **Feb 18, 2016, 6:56 PM**

Not a hugely impressive skyline shot but I thought these were interesting views of the same spot, spanning over 100 years. This is around Brunswick and Duke in Halifax. The small factory building was the Taylor Shoes, and was built in 1870. This shot is from circa 1970, just after the first of the Scotia Square office towers were built:

It is a kind of transitional shot. Today this view is all modern buildings.

(This picture is already a little out of date itself because the Metro Centre is now the Scotiabank Centre and the apartment building has been renovated.)

Back in the heyday of Taylor Shoes the factory was producing 4,500 pairs of shoes per week and exporting them throughout Atlantic Canada (and to St-Pierre). Workers in the factory earned $2-4 per week. Here is the view from that period:

Another 1970's view. Partially widened street, concrete towers on one side, ageing utility poles on the other. This shot is definitely in the 70's and not 60's because the trolleybus system was in place until 1970.

Here's the source blog post, which provides a lot more photos and background: http://halifaxbloggers.ca/noticedinn...2/loft-dreams/

SignalHillHiker · #**2043** Posted **Feb 18, 2016, 7:05 PM**

Love that before shot. Interesting how different the architecture was from here. Love those Scottish dormer Windows.

someone123 · #**2044** Posted **Feb 18, 2016, 7:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Love that before shot. Interesting how different the architecture was from here. Love those Scottish dormer Windows.

One striking thing in the old photo is how many steep pitched roofs and dormers there are, and how many 4 storey wooden buildings used to exist in the city. Many were tenements for the urban poor (the people who would work in a shoe factory for $2 a week) and few of them have survived. Of the ones that have survived, most have been converted to flat roofs or stripped of their dormers.

A few survivors:

(photo is mine)

The grey buildings on the right of this shot (Hollis Street) really stood out as being "holdovers" from another era. This picture was in 2008 and they were mostly torn down a couple years later (except for the standalone house, which turned out to be from 1764 and was moved to another site).

Here's the old site in all its glory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLuczvRIq8k

I would not call it beautiful, and it probably was a firetrap, but it was interesting. Back in the 1960's and 70's these buildings were all over the place in Halifax. The huge tangles of overhead wires are slowly disappearing from the city too. Probably for the best, but they had character.

Rico Rommheim · #**2045** Posted **Feb 19, 2016, 7:51 AM**

Various photos of St-James street, which shared the title for Canada's main business artery until the 1960's, when the business district moved up north on Dorchester street. St-James street was home to canada's first highrise, the NY Life (1887) and the tallest in 1928 (The RBC tower). This was the street where most of Canada's biggest financial institutions had their home offices, and your could say much of early Canada was financed from this street.

Today the street, known as St-Jacques is quite and peaceful. The big bank buildings have been turned into high-end boutique hotels.

Pinion · #**2046** Posted **Feb 21, 2016, 4:49 PM**

Central Lonsdale, North Van, 1963

Same area from a slightly different angle in 2015. The one big building (Lions Gate Hospital) is on the right.

SteelTown · #**2047** Posted **Feb 21, 2016, 7:22 PM**

Hamilton's old City Hall

Thespec
http://thespec-stories.com/2016/02/1...tator-history/

City Hall being demolished

Thespec
http://thespec-stories.com/2016/02/1...tator-history/

Wrecking of City Hall and urban renewal
http://thespec-stories.com/2016/02/1...tator-history/
Nov. 1961

After years of long debate, the City sent a wrecking crew into downtown Hamilton and tore out more than a century of history to make way for a modernist future. Among the casualties was Hamilton’s former City Hall that was built in 1888. It was knocked down in November, 1961. In 1970 Jackson Square was built.

The loss of the magnificent stone City Hall building with a large clock tower on James Street North remains controversial to this day. Also contentious was the expropriation of businesses and homes to make way for Jackson Square and Copps Coliseum. The incident helped establish the view by some that the city does not respect its heritage and is too quick to replace historical buildings with inferior buildings drafted according to the architectural whims of the day.

trueviking · #**2048** Posted **Feb 22, 2016, 5:24 AM**

Winnipeg: early 70's and today.

Coldrsx · #**2049** Posted **Feb 22, 2016, 6:09 PM**

^^that was torn down? Good lord we have made so many mistakes.

kool maudit · #**2050** Posted **Feb 23, 2016, 10:06 AM**

If Hamilton had preserved its c. 1945 form in amber it would be a sort of Quebec City for the industrial era.

TorontoDrew · #**2051** Posted **Feb 23, 2016, 3:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueviking

Winnipeg: early 70's and today.

Not much change over 40 years time considering Winnipeg's size.

MolsonExport · #**2052** Posted **Feb 23, 2016, 6:17 PM**

Montreal changed little over that period until quite recently, but it is making up for lost time. Winnipeg is probably similar in this regard. Most of the towers that went up in Montreal from 1993-2013 were infill, rarely the sort that changes the skyline. Not much wootwootmanship from the air, but the effect on the ground was very positive. Now Montreal is getting both.

hipster duck · #**2053** Posted **Feb 23, 2016, 6:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The incident helped establish the view by some that the city does not respect its heritage and is too quick to replace historical buildings with inferior buildings drafted according to the architectural whims of the day.

The Victorians were even quicker to replace historical buildings with buildings drafted according to the architectural whims of the day. One casualty of the Victorian era is all the destruction of Georgian architecture.

Of course, the difference between them and the postwar modernists was that the Victorians understood things like the use of appropriate scale, materials and detailing, especially for pedestrian interaction.

beatlesque · #**2054** Posted **Feb 23, 2016, 6:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Not much change over 40 years time considering Winnipeg's size.

True, although the changes from the other side of WPG's downtown are more significant, though not really in terms of height. From there you can see the redevelopment of the Forks, the CMHR, the pedestrian bridge (more clearly) etc. This rendering by TRiToNDREyJA in the WPG forum, which includes the possible new residential tower (unfortunately dubious about the developer), as well as the True North Square development shows how things could change if these things happen.

- http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=211970&page=4