Victory Soya Mills Silos

As seen from the hill in front of the Corus building

Photos - Hearn Generating Station

I managed to capture only a small portion of the giant smokestack protruding from the decommissioned Hearn Generating Station in Toronto's Portlands area. Originally a coal-fired plant starting in the 50s, it was later converted to a natural gas-fired facility in the early 70s. Hearn ceased to generate power in the early 80s. Here's an analogy, or thought experiment. How many of us experience frustration and the futility of waste when our smartphones (apparently worth $600) last us a year? Scale that up to the humongous (650 000 metres cubed) power generating facility that is Hearn, which fulfilled its function for roughly 30 years.

Backyard Havens

With spring coming up soon people are starting to think about patios, porches, sunscreen, and breezy cocktails, not to mention hammocks. I spied the perfect little backyard haven with colourful lanterns behind an artists' coop. It even has a sun roof constructed out of bundled branches or something of that nature. A little slice of heaven within urban Queen West.

Galerie Voltaire

People have been talking about this abandoned space for years (since at least 2008 from what I can gather), and it's always with the same comments: "This place has been abandoned/boarded up for years" and "But I've seen lights on." My theory is that it's not really an abandoned building. How else could its decrepit charm be maintained consistently since 2008? Then again, some artists showed there back in 1997. A quick search reveals that this is an oft-photographed building. Maybe the gallery has turned into art itself.