28 Playter Crescent

Location: Playter Crescent at Playter Blvd.

Date photo taken: 4 December 2017

Image 9 in the Remnants Series

This house, tucked behind its own stone wall and surrounded by mature trees, is in the heart of the neighbourhood north and east of Broadview and Danforth known as Playter Estates. Captain George Playter was a United Empire Loyalist who settled in York in 1793 on a large tract of land which stretched across the Don Valley. This house was built on part of that land in the early 1870s by John Lea Playter, a great grandson of Captain Playter. Originally a dairy farm with market garden, the city soon began to encroach on the property and the family subdivided the land in the early 1900s. This house remained in the Playter family until 2006. After the sale the house underwent massive renovation and while the look of the house has changed, if you look closely you can still see the hallmarks of the traditional Ontario farmhouse.

Carved Panel - Factory Worker

Location: Lower level, 2 Queen Street E.
Date photo taken: 16 February 2018
Image 7 in the Remnants Series

This panel is one of five that used to run vertically up the exterior of the Peoples Optical Building at 8 Queen St. E. When the building was demolished in 1995, the limestone bas-relief panels were saved and eventually relocated to their present location, in the hallway outside the lower subway entrance at the north east corner of Yonge and Queen. 

Livestock Medallion - Pig

Location: Direct Energy Centre, Canadian National Exhibition grounds
Date photo taken: 24 August 2013
Image 4 in the Remnants Series

This cast stone medallion is one of many roundels that once decorated the Livestock Pavilion at the CNE. Built in 1926 as an addition to the Coliseum (now known as Ricoh Coliseum, home of the Toronto Marlies) the Livestock Pavilion consisted of the Cattle Palace, the North Extension or Swine Pavilion, and the Fraser Pavilion. The building, also known as the Industry Building, was demolished to make way for the new Direct Energy Centre. I'm happy that the faces of the pigs, cattle and sheep that adorned that original building remain to remind us of the pride of place that livestock displays and competitions once held at this national exhibition.

Deeds Speak

Location: Inside front lobby, 60 Richmond St. E.
Date photo taken: 2 October 2013
Image 3 in the Remnant Series

While walking by the condo building at 60 Richmond St. E. I noticed a familiar figure hanging on the wall in the lobby and I just had to pop in to say hello. For years I had passed by this figure, affixed to the outside of a rather drab brick building in the same location, the corner of Berti and Richmond. Dubbed 'Our Lady of York' by Terry Murray, a wonderful Toronto chronicler of architectural sculpture, this was one of two pieces by Jacobine Jones commissioned for the York County Registry Office in 1941. After the office closed in the mid-1960s, the two pieces remained in place. In 2008 however the old registry building was torn down to allow for a new condo building and I was curious about the fate of these sculptures. It turns out, both pieces have remained on-site. One piece, a coat of arms, can still be seen outside, affixed to a parking garage fence. Next to it is a historical plaque which provides context and points you to the building lobby to see this second piece..
For more detail on these sculptures and their relocation, check out Terry Murray's blog.

Tip Top Tailors Advertisement

 

Location: West side of 260 Richmond St. W.

Date photo taken: 19 July 2011
Image 2 in the Remnant Series

The west-facing side of this elegant building on Richmond Street features a large, faded advertisement for Tip Top Tailors, "Suits and O’coats Made to Measure", which provides a clue to its original purpose. Originally five storeys, this building was built in 1914 as a warehouse for Tip Top Tailors. In 1924 an additional storey was added between the fourth and fifth floors, along with a matching six storey addition on the east side. In 2006 the City of Toronto recognized this building as being of cultural heritage value or interest in part because it provides “a representative example of an industrial building from the World War I period that displays a high degree of craftsmanship.” The advertisement is included in the designation.

Text of the By-Law designating the building can be read online.

Also check out this image from 1916 which shows the building at its original five storeys. The painted advertisement is also there but the wording is different.

Robert Simpson Co. Monogram

Location: The Bay building, near corner of Bay & Richmond
Date photo taken: 1 November 2012
Image 1 in the Remnant Series

The building that houses The Bay’s Queen Street store has always been a mecca for shoppers. It was built in stages by the Robert Simpson Company, which first opened its doors at the corner of Queen and Yonge streets in 1894. This monogrammed window grill, which bears the letters RSC, can be found on the art deco addition at Bay and Richmond which was completed in 1929 and included the grand Arcadian Court restaurant on the 8^th floor. These grills are unlikely to be updated to HBC any time soon as the heritage designation which the building enjoys forbids major changes to the exterior.