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Trouble brewing in Corktown

Tue, June 8th, 2004 by Jay

It seems that the wheel of capitalism is hard at work down in the Distillery District. Far be it from me to say which side is right and which is wrong - what I do know though, is that the merchants are starting to get pissed off.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that if the merchants, who were lured down there by the promise of the area becoming Toronto's cultural hotspot, are getting pissed off - it's just a matter of time before they pack up and move to west Queen West. I for one would hate to see that happen.

I have shot at the district countless times and I know from looking at other photoblogs, that I am not the only one in love with the area's diverse and unique beauty. I fear that if they can't resolve their problems down there, the merchants will leave and the place will go belly-up and the last thing I want to do is show up there one day with my camera in hand, only to be confronted with a barb-wired fence.

I appeal to all Torontonians to get down to the Distillery District, and don't just take pictures - eat in the restaurants, check out the shops and galleries and no matter how stale the pastries are at Balzac's...order two! Here is a list of some of the things to do this summer at the Distillery District:

June

Historic District Flower Market
Convenant House Fundraiser - Wine Whisky & All That Jazz
Outdoor Art Exhibition
Disigner Flea Market
Strawberry Festival

July

World Music
Beaches Jazz Festival
Toronto Int'l Street Theatre Festival

August

Berry Festival
Ffida Dance Festival
Corn Harvest
Outdoor Art Exhibition

For more info, check out their website: http://www.thedistillerydistrict.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2004 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Blogging News, Meeting Events, Photoblogs.org News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Responses to “Trouble brewing in Corktown”

  1. matto Says:
    June 9th, 2004 at 10:24 am

    My first introduction to the Gooderham & Warts complex was as an extra in the Marilyn Manson video "The Beautiful People". Now THAT was a great photo op. It was a lot cooler down there before the gussied it up, in my opinion. Now the whole place kind of reeks of pre-fab "cultural milieu". I'm not sure it's possible to build a cultural hotspot in a year, ya know? These things need to be a bit more organic. Not that it's a bad place, it's not. The architecture is beautiful and there are a few great galleries and events. But it all feels a little forced to me somehow. Meh, time will tell.

    I knew the people in the studios were getting annoyed because of noise, dirt and infrastructure problems but I didn't realize the merchants were having problems too. If it's because they're not getting any business, then could that be because they're mostly mediocre? Or rather, because they mostly sell stuff that appeals to a) the Queen West crowd (who already shop on Queen West) or b) tourists (who are not inclined to go to that remote part of town).

    I could sum up my feelings about the Distillery like this: Queen's Quay.

  2. your_waitress Says:
    June 11th, 2004 at 6:17 pm

    i don't live in toronto, but have seen the same thing happen in all the cities i have lived in across the united states. it is always a shame to lose local stores to larger "glossier" corporate indentities. it is great that you are trying to inspire others to help do something about it. :)

  3. marylinus Says:
    September 7th, 2004 at 1:52 pm

    I'm annoyed that the only way to preserve a historic building is to use it as an 'attraction' (i.e. stick boutiques in it and hold silly 'festivals' like 'Woofstock' around it, like they did at the Gooderham and Worts distillery or cover it up with hockey stuff, like what was done to the Bank of Montreal Building at Front and Yonge) It distracts and detracts from the historical and architectural significance of the sites, Disneyfies our history, and is really oh-so-tacky.
    The Yankees didn't cross the lake in 1813 to swill beer at Fort York. They came to invade and occupy the town. But is any of that apparent to a visitor to Fort York? Nope. The city does nix about proclaiming its past but passing unenforcible by-laws to keep the building preservantionists quiet.
    The place for the Hockey Hall of Fame is Maple Leaf Gardens, not the only downtown building that survived the Great Toronto Fire of 1904 and all that followed. The Bank building had beautiful interiors, and could have been better used as a museum for the city's history.
    Not knocking the shops and jazz played at the Distillery District. (It's a more appropriate venue for the Beer Festival than Historic Fort York - but the poor old fort needs the revenue.) The stuff's okay if you're a yuppie, and renting out studio space in the newer(1927)office part of the Gooderham site should pay the taxes. Also using it as a movie set, because we need the movie money. But the crowds, the market stalls (with the St. Lawrence and Kensington Markets, Harbourfront, all the downtown stores, Queen West ... Do we really need another place to peddle minimalist looking, overpriced kitch?)

  4. sakura Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 3:52 am

    "私たちは、工業用コーティングものの、海外を明確にギャップが、建築塗料华润涂料の視点は、国内企業が外国のブランドよりもペイントされるすべての技術的な問題は存在しませんします。そのため、国内企業はほとんど真ん中と低コーティング製品、技術的にません。ません、彼らから利益华润涂料をより多くの費用を考慮すると、 "日本塗料工業会エンツォ、記者団に語った。

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