RIP
I walked by the damage last night. Covered in a thick layer of ice, with icicles hanging like gingerbread, the dead buildings look haunted already. Even the ice-covered trees looked like sad skeletons pointing to the damage (they are surely dead as well).
They had started clearing debris as early as last night, the claw of an earth-mover reaching out of the gaping hole that was Duke's and pulling its innards back in off the street. A tooth punched out of a decaying smile. Nick said it reminded her of a film set, with all the lights and trucks. The street is still lit up and full of people, cleaners, reporters, gawkers. I was unabashedly one of the latter, mouth agape as I took in the beautiful morbid buildings. I was nearly teary, thinking of the memories in those places. Suspect, of course. How many movies have we rented there? and then come back down to Pizzaiolo for slices. We don't go there so much anymore, but those are my first nights spent with her. Pizza and movies, walking downtown.
There are memories from before too, and life goes on. But everyone knows that it is more than burnt businesses and lost merchandise, lost homes. These buildings were granted historical status just last year, to protect them from being sucked in by the Home Depot slated to take over the parking lot on the corner. The status was aimed not only to prevent their destruction, but also to limit the purview of the hardware store within its new digs. So the block, and the feel of the neighborhood, which, though certainly gentrifying, has managed to retain a fair amount of its original character, was in a small but meaningful way protected. Whether of not the conveniently-timed fire was accidental, the probable outcome is worrisome. Condos, more cookie-cutter stores. We are pre-emptively mourning that too.
Lastly, it should be noted that the corner of Queen and Bathurst is also known as a bit of a 'crack-corner.' (Early on, there were rumors that the fire was started by a drug lab in one of the buildings.) Part of its charm is the street-punk panhandlers and squeegee kids on the corner outside the Big Bop, the crackheads doing whatever it is they do in alleys and doorways, even in the midst of locals, teenage suburban weekend punks and goths lied up outside the Bovine, and the clientele of design stores and Pre-loved. Some have a problem with this, and will probably welcome development that quietly sweeps the unsightly to another area, but I always thought of it as the reality of the city. All these different strata squished together. I don't always love Toronto, but this is one of my favorite aspects.
I woke up with more pain in my neck. going to the sports massage therapist tomorrow, but that plus generally feeling run-down, i called in sick and went back to sleep. feeling marginally better now. off to take a bath. Another month of this is too long, dammit.
They had started clearing debris as early as last night, the claw of an earth-mover reaching out of the gaping hole that was Duke's and pulling its innards back in off the street. A tooth punched out of a decaying smile. Nick said it reminded her of a film set, with all the lights and trucks. The street is still lit up and full of people, cleaners, reporters, gawkers. I was unabashedly one of the latter, mouth agape as I took in the beautiful morbid buildings. I was nearly teary, thinking of the memories in those places. Suspect, of course. How many movies have we rented there? and then come back down to Pizzaiolo for slices. We don't go there so much anymore, but those are my first nights spent with her. Pizza and movies, walking downtown.
There are memories from before too, and life goes on. But everyone knows that it is more than burnt businesses and lost merchandise, lost homes. These buildings were granted historical status just last year, to protect them from being sucked in by the Home Depot slated to take over the parking lot on the corner. The status was aimed not only to prevent their destruction, but also to limit the purview of the hardware store within its new digs. So the block, and the feel of the neighborhood, which, though certainly gentrifying, has managed to retain a fair amount of its original character, was in a small but meaningful way protected. Whether of not the conveniently-timed fire was accidental, the probable outcome is worrisome. Condos, more cookie-cutter stores. We are pre-emptively mourning that too.
Lastly, it should be noted that the corner of Queen and Bathurst is also known as a bit of a 'crack-corner.' (Early on, there were rumors that the fire was started by a drug lab in one of the buildings.) Part of its charm is the street-punk panhandlers and squeegee kids on the corner outside the Big Bop, the crackheads doing whatever it is they do in alleys and doorways, even in the midst of locals, teenage suburban weekend punks and goths lied up outside the Bovine, and the clientele of design stores and Pre-loved. Some have a problem with this, and will probably welcome development that quietly sweeps the unsightly to another area, but I always thought of it as the reality of the city. All these different strata squished together. I don't always love Toronto, but this is one of my favorite aspects.
I woke up with more pain in my neck. going to the sports massage therapist tomorrow, but that plus generally feeling run-down, i called in sick and went back to sleep. feeling marginally better now. off to take a bath. Another month of this is too long, dammit.