Ferry Dock – c. 1927

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• Aaron, I'm already on it :)

  From what I understand it's completly moderinzed, but I've arranged to visit on Monday regardless.

• *applauds extaticly* : )

• how about some quick preservation news for a change? not sure if you already know andrew, but the new owners of windsor court, a big company from T.O. ( $ ) plan on restoring the building to actually get it it's heritage designation. nice to see someone, much less a coperation take an interest in our heritage. i'm moving in there sept 1st, so that's great news!!
  and the elevators in that place ROCK!!!

• me again. "4 storey glass block" hmmmm? sneaky, sneaky lol

• Restore Windsor Court? You mean from the outside or what? They've already wrecked it from the inside: cut up the larger apartments into smaller ones, gutted the lobby, glued pergo tile to the hardwood floors, and painted most of the woodwork. Last I heard, they only had 30 out of the 120 apartments rented because most of the apartments were so run down that it had a lot of code issues as well as fires. And, it's been like that for years. What exactly did they say they're going to do to restore it? And, what's the time frame? They made such a mistake selling the parking lot next door to the radio station. They have like 18 underground spots now to accomodate 120 apartments. It may have been something when it opened in 1925 as a premier hotel, but today it's got a looooong way to go to bring it back to its former glory and so far every group who's had a crack at it ran out of money and sold it to the next group of Toronto slumlords. Dealing with the parking issue is going to be one of the biggest challenges if the owners plan to get better clientelle than the ones they've got there now.

• i don't know; restore it.......in and out.... i didn't get into specifics. but the lobby hasn't been gutted, as a matter of fact it's remarkably intact with all sorts of intricit trim, fire place (bricked in). yeah, alot of the wood work is painted over but that's what happens over 80 some odd years right? they are replacing all the windows in the exact same style just more efficent, they just did the roof, rehabing all the units....and they've only owned the place since april.
  i checked out 6 apartments and all of them had beautiful gleaming original hardwood floors, and the apartments themselves were in fantastic condition, 9/10 ft ceilings, 2 bdrms had beautiful ornimental fireplaces....the old kind that had a huge elecric heater in the hearth...they don't work but they look nice. they freely told me that i think it's up to 60 of 120 units are being rented because the rest are uninhabitable, they arn't ashamed of it or anything, it's something they want to correct. the other owners were letting trash live there, most of which have gotten the boot by this new company, and then just little things like broken windows, and one burned out apt. i don't think they're toronto slumlords either. they operate 50 buildings in toronto alone, they also manage buildings in Belleville, St. Catharines, Windsor, and Montreal. so they have the cash. cut up the larger apartments? they told me the 3 bed room apts are close to 2000 sq ft...so i'm not too sure about that, i can always take a look for you though. the timeframe is however long it takes. like you said, the building has had it's face kicked in over the last century....so it's gonna take alot of work, or should it just be given up on beacuse it's alot of work? no. and better clientelle don't necessarily have to drive a car, they are crackheads who need parking too....so that means absolutly nothing. i have a spot....so i don't care.
  wait till i move in.....i'll gather as much info as i can about the rehab goals and start taken pics, or even invite andrew for a tour if he'd like, the shutterbug can try and catalouge the progress that's made if he likes.

• Well, I hope they get that building together because it sounds like they made huge improvements over when I stopped in a year ago to have a look. Back then, I only saw carpet, pergo, or that plastic simulated hardwood. But, kudos to them for throwing that junk out and resanding the original hardwood flooring. I remember them ripping out the oranmental fireplace in the lobby and seeing it in the back dumpster along with lots of trim. But, I guess they found something else to put there that will fit in with the decor. They also had some really cheap lighting in the hallways and not a single chandelier anywhere, which I hope they fixed since then. I always hoped that the building would find someone who appreciated it and would bring it back to it's former glory.

  Now, if they would only buy some of those houses on Dufferin and Pelissier for parking, they could really turn it into something.

  It really has the potential to be grand again. They could even turn it back into a part-hotel with conceirge like some of those grand places in Yorktown Toronto. We'll see. Now, if they could only do something about the crackheads in Marine Towers, that whole stretch could be like Windsor's Yorktown again.

• absolutly david. i can't say i remember any chandeliers in the lobby, and there's still cheap lighting in the hallway. i'd imagine they're gonna get to any saftey issues before really goin to town on it. the hallways kinda made me feel like i was in the 3rd and 2nd class halls of the titanic....but that can change too lol i agree that they need more parking, but the hanna/duffrin area isn't deathly horrible for on street parking if nescessary. hell i'm impressed that something built in '27 HAS underground parking!! pretty neat too, there are sky lights (granted they're broken, probly from old trash in a psychodelic rage) lighting the garage and it's heated. there are also sky lights in the stairwells which i thought was a nice feature.
  i was looking at moving to the marine apartments 2 years ago. went to check out a place, nice apartment with a great western veiw on the 11th floor....i liked it quite a bit. on my out i seen an ambulance, 2 cruisers, and some junkies at the drop off for the lobby.....never went back.