Toronto Time Machine

Photo Credit: Toronto Blue Jays This month, a Toronto landmark marks its 35th anniversary as a hub for sports and entertainment for the entire country. The Rogers Centre or (more affectionately known) originally as the Skydome continues to exist as an achievement in engineering for its retractable roof. While the building has become a comfortable sight and there have been newer sport venues providing more than what the Skydome could provide in 1989, there is a lot of charm in a space that has hosted concerts, shows, NFL games and, of course, the Toronto Blue Jays including during the successful 1992 and 1993 World Series runs.  The Skydome’s commemoration identified the complex as a multi-use facility like no other built at this time. In addition to the before-mentioned efforts for the current tenants of the Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays , other team’s of the Canadian city that played inside the retractable roof sporting complex included the Toronto Argonauts from 1989 to 20...

For better or worse, the Canadian National Exhibition has evolved with time since it was held in 1879. Early in the event’s history, the CNE provided both a venue to escape and embrace the complexities of late 19th century industrialization for the British commonwealth’s major presence in North America. Serving as a source to observe technological improvements of a quickly opening world, amusement for all ages as well as an overall Canadian showcase, the annual event was a cultural gateway. Today, the CNE has lost some of its luster due to various year-long entertainment options over the decades but continues to be a fun, unofficial standoff to summer with memorable rides and surreal culinary delights.  As the exhibition continued into the 20th century, the grounds underwent various transformations with a number of permanent structures constructed including the still-standing Horticulture Building in 1907 and the iconic Princes’ Gate in 1927. With the conclusion of the second world...

CLRV 4005 and another CLRV streetcar at King and Yonge during August 2014 (Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/Toronto Time Machine) On December 29th of 2019, the final example of one of Toronto’s moving icons since the 1980s was retired from active service. Streetcars assembled under the CLRV (Canadian Light Rail Vehicle) design ended its 40-year career with six examples running on its final day. The CLRV and its longer sister the ALRV (Articulated Light Rail Vehicle) was introduced as a modernization of Toronto’s streetcar network that has not only been preserved through the vehicles but thrived entering the 21st century. When the Toronto Streetcar Almost Died and Path to Rebirth  Prior to the development of the CLRV, streetcars were starting to become less vital for the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) as subway links replaced the two very congested route. Toronto’s first subway originally running on Yonge Street was opened on 1954 while the Bloor-Danforth entered operations in 1966. At ...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy Toronto's largest indoor shopping mall is surely bustling like usual this weekend. Now known officially as CF Toronto Eaton Centre (the 'CF' initials are in accordance with Cadillac Fairview's recent branding initiative across many of their retail properties), the retail complex's service that hosts more people in 2015 than any other mall in North America with pedestrian travel that exceeds that of the Toronto's Pearson International Airport as well as major tourist draws such as the Las Vegas Strip and even Disneyland parks in the United States. A complex currently consisting of 227 stores including a new Nordstrom high-end luxury department store, Canadian Tire, Best Buy, Indigo bookstore and a bridge to the nearly 1.3 million square feet Hudson's Bay location, the CF Toronto Eaton Centre serves just under 49 million pedestrians as well as provides a source of retail or service employment for thousands. Just the wee...

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy Today marks a point of a genesis for the City of Toronto we currently recognize. Built at a cost of $27,035,000 in the 1960s (other sources report 31 million), Toronto’s municipal government’s nerve centre was officially opened on September 13 th , 1965. A ceremony presided with the then-Mayor Philip Givens, the city celebrated the official opening of the building we know today as New City Hall. Shaped through 91,000 cubic yards of concrete and roughly 8,733 square meters of glass, Toronto’s New City Hall is identified for two multistory towers (a 27-floor east tower and a 20-floor west tower) as well as a 155-foot diameter Council Chamber. Now a 50-year-old structure, New City Hall continues to amaze the world as a stunning icon to what Toronto is and what it could be. New City Hall was one of many builds in Toronto that took a long time to come to fruition. During the early part of the 20 th century, the local government outgrew so-called Old C...

Despite using Union Station often in recent years, Frankly, the city of Toronto scared me even as I became an adult. It seemed like such an easy city to get lost in and I am a person who is most comfortable with knowing my surroundings in detail. From years ago, I remembered being in the downtown area and seeing the Sam the Record Man sign lit but I never gathered the time nor courage of seeing the flagship Yonge Street store. That opportunity of seeing the past of Toronto escaped me. Thanks to openness of digital photography and my deepened desire to explore the Canadian city, I was drawn to the Harbourfront area almost by chance last month (April 2015), another disappearing landmark did not escape my sight. On the ship known as the MS Jadran, the former dining hotspot that was Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant sat awaiting its eventual, inevitable fate. In April, I had undertaken a short photographic excursion around Toronto. At the Harbourfront area and Queen Quay, o...