Being Old Doesn't Normally Give You Historical Status

I haven't been down to Queen and Bathurst for about a year and what I experienced was a slew of chi-chi eateries, panhandlers plying their trade and one pissing in a doorway, etc. so I have to agree with John Oakley although I lament for Wonder Woman.....

Blazing Saddles

A section of Toronto's downtown core is ablaze as firefighters struggle to get a six-alarm fire on Queen Street under control.

"It looks like 623, 625 and 627 Queen St. have collapsed,"

If the fire made it to #651, Mikey and I can kiss future Fetish Night excursions goodbye.
Or find another venue.
Or just stay home...
Posted by Wonder Woman

John Oakley: Don't lament Queen West's 'lost buildings'

Posted: February 21, 2008, 12:22 PM by John Turley-Ewart

John Oakley

The raging inferno that gutted a block of historic Queen Street West in Toronto has many in the city lamenting the loss of another irreplaceable tract of Ontario heritage. Cry me a river.

While it is unfortunate that many people and businesses have been put out, that particular row of dilapidated buildings, like too many in Toronto, was lost to reclamation decades ago. The time to concern ourselves with the disappearing face of the sepia-tinged Toronto might have been back in the day when the city allowed so-called leasehold improvements and assorted reno projects to deface and bastardize these very structures.

What part of caked-on paint and extruded aluminum facing suddenly speaks to heritage; the touchstone to a storied past? These were derelict buildings whose owners showed no apparent interest in architectural preservation. Slapping an historical designation on a slum is like putting lipstick on a pig. At the end of the day it’s still a pig.

John Oakley can be heard from 5:45 a.m.-10 a.m. EST Monday to Friday on AM 640 Toronto Radio