Friday, February 22, 2008

Queen and Portland aftermath of the fire...



RIP Suspect
Originally uploaded by
Jape Wisteria


queenfire!
Originally uploaded by
nice+smooth ultramedia.



We don't normally post other peoples shots but this will be an exception. These pictures were taken by several Toronto Flickr members who were close to this 6 alarm blaze. Follow the image links to see more.

UPDATE Feb 28_08: Duke's Cycle is posting a running diary on their site of the day-to-day behind the scenes of getting back to business after the fire.

Some of what was lost:
Duke's Cycle shop (levelled. A great 90 year old family business. That's where I bought my last bike.)
Suspect Video On Queen (they still have Suspect on Markham, but a very large stock with many obscure and hard to find films were lost)
Preloved (they just got their lovely spring collection ready)
National Sound (40 years in business, one of the few shops in Toronto still repairing turntables)

Here's a stitched-together image of the block BEFORE the fire posted by Kevin Steele:

5 comments:

Clive said...

Wow, and Dukes got nailed. I've got two bikes from Dukes myself. Fortunate no one was killed though.

Marcos Mateu said...

Sorry to hear, sounds like a slice of history is gone.

the doodlers said...

Hi Clive,

Yup, Dukes is completely gone. In an interview, owner Gary Duke mentioned he wants to open in a temporary location as soon as possible.

Marcos,

Yes, it's quite a hole in the block. The buildings were not in the best of shape but it's very sad to see them gone.

Howevert, this does present an opportunity to do some real neighbourhood building. As part of the reconstruction,I'd like to see some low-cost accomodation for artists and musicians.

Willy Ashworth said...

Hello John and Arna

The news of the fire came to me here at work in Charlottetown, and it was shocking to say the least. I lived in Harbourfront for 8 years and always considered Queen West to be my "downtown".

The news made me a little homesick for Toronto, but I have to say I love it here.

Nice people, very friendly, lotsa snow, and it seems like there is a crow for every snowflake.

So many crows!!

The houses are adorable and come in every colour in the rainbow.

Plus I can walk to work in 20 minutes or less, and that is a bonus.

Hope you two are well and happy.

Willy

the doodlers said...

Hi Willy! Good to get an update on your activities. Hope all is good and that you aren't working too hard.

It's still a mess on that block of Queen. I think it will be sometime before the Queen streetcar is not diverted.

We're sure not seeing the crows in Toronto these days. West Nile got most of them. Interesting that they still thrive in Charlottetown. Sounds like you've got a 'Birds'-like scenario there.

We're both doing well, thanks for checking in. Wish we could visit with ya!