Passing By 04.03.07 (Cecil Pt 2)

Part 1 of this two-part Passing By can be found here.  In the first installment we moved east from the west end of Cecil Street in downtown Toronto, a shot street which, to my eye, offers numerous examples of some of the more charming aspects of living in the urban core.  For all the sights offered by the western end of Cecil, from the squat castle of the Community Centre to the parking lot murals, as we head towards the eastern end of the street we start encountering some features which give Cecil its unique character.

First up, some of the houses which reflect a late Victorian style (I think - if anyone is better able to identify the architectural style, please let me know).  The trim surrounding the second-floor balcony, when nicely maintained as in the first example, is one of the elements common to older houses populating the surrounding streets.

I also like the gating which you can see in this example:

On either side of Ross Street, which runs north from Cecil, there are twinned buildings like the one below - I still can't figure out whether these are original buildings which have been restored, or relatively new buildings in the style of older ones.

Now we start getting to the good stuff.

One of the big presences on the block is the squat three-story brown building which houses the United Steelworkers of America.  The building is named after Larry Sefton, who was a prominent member of the Canadian Labour Congress.

This part of downtown has a relatively long history of organized labour involvement.  Tucked back from the Steelworkers building is this gathering place - the Toronto Labor Lyceum (note, oddly, the American spelling of "Labour"):

I actually rather like the utilitarian lines of the Lyceum - the front is composed of six equal boxes, providing a nicely elegant contrast to the somewhat rococo elegance of some of the trim on the nearby houses.  The building is also noteworthy for the fact that the access ramp at the lower left was so well-incorporated into the design that it actually enhances it, by adding a visual accent which still maintains the geometric lines of the structure.

Jack Layton and Olivia Chow live around the corner from here (Olivia is the MP for Trinity-Spadina, the riding in which Cecil lies), and this neighbourhood and this building fly their colours:

At the far left (ha!) of the first picture of the Lyceum, above, you may have noted a small white sign affixed to the building.  The sign points members to Steelworkers Dental Office, guided by the smiling visage of Alex the Tooth.  I swear I am not making this up.

Seeing as we're downtown, and outside a labour/left stronghold, it seems apposite to point out what the people (or at least the postering subset thereof) are saying:

Some of these buildings house mysterious gatherings.  This building, for instance:

In the lower right-hand corner, you will see space for signs built into the brickwork beside the stairs.  Here is the sign:

For the longest time I was baffled by the reference - "The Church in Toronto".  I wasn't really sure where the emphasis should go: was it "The Church", but it had an office in Toronto? Or was the nature of the church in question that it was in and of Toronto? Was this some sort of Arcadian sect which knew the secret? Or something more mundane? Figure it out for yourself.

As we saw in Part 1, Cecil continues to witness the reappropriation of buildings for new uses, reflecting the needs of the community inhabiting it.  What is now home to Chinese-Canadian social clubs:

was previously home to buildings servicing Caribbean-Canadian immigrants:

As we continue east, we're getting closer to the end of Cecil, and the building stock changes markedly.  The houses are newer, not possessing the character of homes farther west.

Where Cecil crosses Beverly Street, we find an outpost for yet another immigrant group:

The modern building features one element not often seen downtown: open-air parking (well, there's a ceiling) which is located under the building, barely visible in those shots.

I have no idea what to make of this, present at the corner of the plot of land on which the Polish Combatants Association building:

A silver stone.  Why is it there? Why is it silver? Is there some legend of a silver stone in the Polish mythos? Anyone?  One possible, if decidedly less interesting, guess is that the stone was getting covered by grafitti, so they decided to cover it up, and they just repaint it every once in a while; but I've never seen it tagged, so if they are responding to grafitti, they're doing it awfully quickly.

Anyways.

Crossing Beverly, we encounter one of the true mysteries of Cecil Street: a massive abandoned building (the blonde in the picture is no mystery, she's just equipped with bad timing).

This is a big building - lying completely unused in downtown Toronto.  The value of this land must be laughable - I've seen houses in the immediate area listed for more than $700,000.  Just south of Cecil on Baldwin, a similar plot of land is being developed into townhouses.  An intransigent owner waiting for a higher price in a hot market? Environmental concerns? Haunted?

No idea what this is supposed to represent, or what it is he's holding - a breadstick? Or something more, uh, primal?

This one is interesting as well; I like the little guy with the crown:

As we get to the end of Cecil, there are a handful more houses, along with a large co-op.  Behind the abandoned building, we can see an access alley with garages, which allows houses on the street (in this case, Henry Street) to be built without driveways, permitting a more intimate relationship between the homes and the street.

Finally, we reach the eastern capstone of the street: Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church.

Note the image of Christ and the three-barred cross which sit at the top of the nave, looking rather sternly down over Cecil.  Take from that what you will, I suppose - because with that we've come to the end of this edition of Passing By.

Comments

[Wednesday Keller]

I believe the abandoned building, according to my mom, used to host a church-type group (possibly the Zen Buddhists who now have a very shiny renovated building south side of College just west of Spadina).

As for why it hasn't been redeveloped, well, that's a different question. An interesting one, actually.

Any real estate agents reading the blog?

[James Bow]

This is a big building - lying completely unused in downtown Toronto. The value of this land must be laughable - I've seen houses in the immediate area listed for more than $700,000. Just south of Cecil on Baldwin, a similar plot of land is being developed into townhouses. An intransigent owner waiting for a higher price in a hot market? Environmental concerns? Haunted?

In my lifetime, this building used to be a Hungarian community centre. It hosted the Budapest pavilion of Carivan and was in good repair at the time. It's likely that the community has moved their centre to bigger, newer digs. Don't know why it hasn't yet been redeveloped.

[Chris Taylor]

I think the guy holding the breadstick is supposed to be holding a snowboard, judging by the mittens and toque. Or possibly a child's ski, because it is a tad thin to be a snowboard and only has one binding.

[Nigel Tomes]

Thanks for drawing attention to 24 CECIL STREET, the downtown meeting place of "The Church in Toronto." I lived there for years with my family. That property was originally one of three matching buildings 2 on the E side & one on the W side of Ross St. (24 Cecil was the centre of the 3.) I'm told the original property burned down when it was occupied by the Communist Party of Canada. THey sold the building after collapse of the Communist regimes in Russia & E Europe--No more foreign funding?)
The present building was re-built in 1980 to match the original (Petros Dratidis was the architect, He did a great job!) The building won awards for it's brick work.
Since around 1992 it has been the downtown meeting place of "The Church in Toronto." What is that? It's a generic name because the Christians who meet there don't want to designate themselves as a specific denomination separate from other Christian believers. It is not intended to mean that ONLY they are the real Church and other Churches are not. Rather, they are one meeting place (among many) where Christians in Toronto gather. Still confused? Check out the website or come to a meeting! They gather at 24 Cecil St. Sundays at 10 am!!

Nigel Tomes

PS You didn't mention that the Russian Orthodox Church on Henry St which faces due West looking down Cecil St appeared (briefly) in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"! I was watching the DVD & nearly fell off the sofa when it came to the wedding scene & there was a aireal shot of what was unmistakably the RUSSIAN orthodox Church on Henry St. being passed off as a GREEK orthodox church building! Both are Eastern Orthodox, but I hope neither the Russians or Greeks were offended!!

[Cassia Hudgins]

24 Cecil Street is also the home of C.O.C/Joshua House. On Friday evenings university and college students come together for mutual encouragement to eat, sing, study the Bible and pray.
Our goal is to present the wonderful Person of Jesus Christ and the high truths of the Bible to the University community.

We hold the faith which is common to all believers (Titus 1:4, Jude 3):

The Bible is the complete divine revelation inspired word-by-word by God through the Holy Spirit
(2 Pet. 1:21 2 Tim. 3:16 )
God is uniquely one, yet triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit
(1 Tim. 2:5a, Matt. 28:19)
The Son of God, even God Himself, was incarnated to be a man by the name of Jesus Christ
(Jn. 1:1, Jn. 1:14)
Christ died on the cross for our sins, shedding His blood for our redemption
(1 Pet. 2:24, Eph. 1:7a)
Christ resurrected from among the dead on the third day
(1 Cor. 15:4)
Christ ascended to the right hand of God to be Lord of all
(Acts 1:9, Acts 2:33, Acts 2:36)
Whenever any person repents to God and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is regenerated (born again) and becomes a living member of the one Body of Christ
(Acts 20:21, Jn. 3:3, Eph. 1:22-23, Rom. 12:5)
Christ is coming again to receive His believers to Himself
(1 Thes. 2:19)

We warmly welcome you!

[Jennifer and Roy Hudgins]

24 Cecil Street is not only a place of meeting, it is also a community house for Christian students to live in during the school year. Our family has an apartment on the second floor. There are rooms for rent on the second and third floor. We have a true community living that incorporates eating, studying, meeting and activities. Our apartment door is open to whomever lives here as well as their friends and is often used as a place for students to relax.

[Petros Dratsidis]

In Nigel Thomes' comment re: the building at 24 / 26 Cecil Street my name appears as Petros Dratidis. The correct spelling is Petros Dratsidis. I hereby thank Nigel Thomes for his kind comments.

[Jewel Keller]

Oh, I also meet at 24 Cecil St! I was about to tell you what it was but I see some people I know already have. Yea, it's an awesome place. Thanks for this cool blog too, it's nice to see someone's paying attention to my hood.