The Great Canadian Heritage Restoration Thread

[Ramako]

The_Architect's post in the re-clad thread (quoted below) inspired me to start this thread. Let's see your city's best restorations of heritage buildings. Post pictures of what they looked like when they were built, as they were during the "dark times" and what they look like now.

Originally Posted by The_Architect

Toronto recently had this restoration/reclad at Queen and Bathurst. The old Reverb/Kathedral/Big Bop music venue (where I actually played a couple times).

Before:


Sauce.

and After:


More sauce.

I'm personally torn because I loved playing there and it was a good part of my life, but the reclad is definitely good for the building and the area. Looks much better.

Bonus, tiny picture, but this is what the building originally looked like. Shame it lost the roof:


I like alfredo sauce personally.

[Martin Mtl]

Great idea for a thread.

Here's a recent one. This victorian building sits at the corner of Des Pins and Saint-Laurent. It was in such a bad state that I was sure it was not possible to save it. Then the city obliged the owner to do something about it and voilà !

The original


Source: projet Montreal

Before the restoration


Source: La Presse

After the restoration


Source: Montreal RE blog

[Ramako]

The Dineen Building at Yonge & Temperance:




From thecharioteer at Urban Toronto



Here it is on the left:


From thecharioteer at Urban Toronto



And again on the left:


From thecharioteer at Urban Toronto



How it looked from Google Street View just a few years ago. I was sure that it was going to either collapse or be demolished:


From Urban Toronto



And here it is today:


By: Craig White at Urban Toronto



Learn more here:

A Breath of Fresh Air for the Historic Dineen Building on Yonge
The Dineen Building Opens For Business
Urban Toronto project thread

[caltrane74]

I see subway construction in one of those pictures...

Must be getting ready for the Yonge line..

[MTLskyline]

Those are some fantastic restorations in Toronto. I especially like the moldings around the roofline.

[MTLskyline]

This one was not quite as far gone, but it was a good restoration nonetheless.

3414 Stanley (2009-2012)

Photo: Guillaume St-Jean
http://www.flickr.com/photos/guil343...in/photostream

[MTLskyline]

Godin Building, corner Saint-Laurent and Sherbrooke. Built in 1914-1915 by Joseph-Arthur Godin. It is one of the few Art Nouveau buildings in Montreal. It was classified as a heritage building in 1990 by the Quebec government. Unfortunatley I don't have any pictures of when the building was new.

2003

Montreal May 2003 by Montreal Photo Chick, on Flickr

2006

Godin Building by designwallah, on Flickr

2003-2006

2003-2006 by guil3433, on Flickr

[Martin Mtl]

St-James church on Ste-Catherine.

From wikipedia: When it was built in June 1889, it was the largest Methodist church in Canada, with 2,000 seats; it was nicknamed the "Cathedral Church of Methodism." In 1927, to cover upkeep costs, the church permitted a commercial building to be built in front of its Sainte Catherine Street façade. The building, adjoining the church's structure, concealed the church for over 78 years, the church itself being announced by a large neon sign.

In 2005, as part of an $8-million restoration effort sponsored by the city of Montreal and the Quebec government, a portion of the commercial buildings were demolished, once again revealing the facade of the church, lovely restored to its former glory.

The original


Source: McCord museum

From 1927 to 2005:


Source: Vanishing Montreal

Today:


Source


By blork on Flickr


By aljuarez on Flickr

[lake of the nations]

The Paton Factory was built in 1866. In 1871, it was Canada's second largest factory.


ETRC

115 years after its opening, it closed.


François LeBlanc

It has now become a mixed-use building. Unfortunately, the small tower you can see on the first picture has not been rebuilt.


Mario Hains

[Martin Mtl]

Southam building. An old printing building left to rot for many years and just recently restored and turn into condos.

Before


By johnbrycedavidson on Flickr


Source: Southam lofts

After


Source: Southam lofts


Southam Building 6 new by johnbrycedavidson, on Flickr


Southam Building 7 new by johnbrycedavidson, on Flickr



Southam Building 9 new by johnbrycedavidson, on Flickr[/QUOTE]

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Ramako

By: Craig White at Urban Toronto

Absolutely fantastic restoration! Thanks for sharing!!

[someone123]

The Toronto building's interesting. I remember walking by that building many times. It was depressing looking and I expected it would just be torn down someday, but now it looks great. Hopefully the same thing will happen when they build condos above the old abandoned bank buildings across from the Eaton Centre. Toronto should put a lot of effort into protecting buildings like that. There aren't many left, and the amount of money required is pretty small given the scale of the modern city.

[SignalHillHiker]

Very few of our commercial heritage buildings have been destroyed. Those that have been changed at all have typically been completely destroyed and replaced by modern construction.

However, our residential heritage buildings have gone through many changes. The ornate woodwork of the original construction was often lost to renovations over the years as it's expensive to replicate. However, now heritage protection laws require any new renovations to return these old homes to an authentic state.

Here is one such example. The rowhouse on the right has been recently renovated. The one on the left was probably renovated in the 1940s-1960s.


Authentic? by Signal Hill Hiker Photography, on Flickr

One of the more famous ones is the house in Republic of Doyle. I used to have a picture of how it looked originally as well as immediately before its most recent renovation. In the 1960s they renovated it to have giant, foot-wide wooden panels for siding. It was awful. But I lost those pictures in the transition to a new computer.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by someone123

The Toronto building's interesting. I remember walking by that building many times. It was depressing looking and I expected it would just be torn down someday, but now it looks great. Hopefully the same thing will happen when they build condos above the old abandoned bank buildings across from the Eaton Centre. Toronto should put a lot of effort into protecting buildings like that. There aren't many left, and the amount of money required is pretty small given the scale of the modern city.

If you mean these buildings, that's where Massey Tower is going:



From blogTO

[entheosfog]

Man, this thread is right up my alley! I'll post some examples, some more may come to mind, but they'll all have corresponding now photos as it's just easier for me to post them that way.

Ok, let's start off with the Carnegie Centre, now a community centre for the downtown eastside but stated out as a library and for many decades was the Vancouver Library's main branch:
under construction:

Carnegie Centre Construction - 1902/2010 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

1906:

Hastings and Main - 1906/2008 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

The library moved out in the late '50s when a new building was built and this sat neglected until it was restored and made into a community centre in the early '80s.
1971 and vacant, fate unknown at this point:

Hastings and Main - 1971/2010 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

It just received another facelift recently.
2010:

Carnegie Community Centre by entheos_fog, on Flickr

[entheosfog]

The Yale Hotel, built in 1888.
1944:

Yale Hotel - 1944/2009 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

1975:

Yale Hotel - 1975/2009 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

2009:

Yale Hotel by entheos_fog, on Flickr

This building is currently undergoing a restoration along with a condo tower going up beside it:

[entheosfog]

Pennsylvania Hotel (right), built in 1906. The Holden Building is the building under construction, another building brought back to life thanks to a restoration.

000 Block of East Hastings St - 1910/2010 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

Originally called Woods Hotel, 1908:

Pennsylvania Hotel - 1908/2009 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

1957:

SE Corner of Carrall and Hastings St - 1957/2010 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

2001, photo courtesy of Bob_2006 on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobkh/

Pennsylvania Hotel - 1906 by Bob_2006, on Flickr

2009, great new sign and the 'hat' on the turret was remade:

Pennsylvania Hotel by entheos_fog, on Flickr

Holden building details:

223/365 - Holden Building by entheos_fog, on Flickr

[entheosfog]

Salt building, built in 1931:

Salt Building - 1933/2011 by entheos_fog, on Flickr

2006, photo courtesy of bob_2006 on Flickr:

Domtar Salt Building - 1931 by Bob_2006, on Flickr

And 2010. This building is situated right in Olympic Village and played a key role in the games. It's still sitting vacant but there's talk of a brew pub or restaurant opening up in here soon:

Salt Building and Others by entheos_fog, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

Wow, Entheosfog. Very impressive. And I LOVE that Salt Building.

[1ajs]

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Red River College's culinary institute open for classes
Main Street is cooking again at the Paterson Global Foods Institute
By: Nick Martin
Posted: 01/10/2013 1:00 AM

Just try to resist the seductive scent of fresh baking wafting throughout the Exchange District and the heart of downtown.
Go ahead -- just try.
And once that smell lures you inside the grandeur of the oldest skyscraper in Winnipeg, what are the chances you won't want to sit amid marble splendour and enjoy fine dining prepared by aspiring chefs whom you can watch and even chat up as they prepare your meal?
Words such as grandeur and splendour haven't been used in the same sentence as Union Bank Tower for a very, very long time.
There's nary a pigeon carcass left in the 1904 skyscraper across the corner from city hall on Main Street.
Officially, it's the Paterson Global Foods Institute, housing the hospitality and culinary arts programs of Red River College and six floors of student residences. The official opening is Feb. 21. But as tradespeople finish the conversion of the enormous banking section into Jane's restaurant, 30 students have already moved into residence and 300 students are in a state-of-the-art school with opulent kitchens spread over several floors, learning everything from how to bake delicate European pastries, to cooking veal and fresh fish, to tasting wine and beer and spirits to see what goes best with a particular dish.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/bre...186271751.html