Building the 1924 Durant. Leaside, Ontario

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Building the 1924 Durant. Leaside, Ontario

bjburnout · Uber Guru

Great video - smile thanx Todd.

As mentioned the building was a munitions plant during the First World War.

When my dad was 15 years old he worked in the plant during the war polishing the inside of the

shells on a machine. After the war dad left Toronto for a few years to work for Ford in Detroit

but soon returned home (on his mother's demand) and went to Pharmacy school.

After Durant was finished with the building it became Canada Wire and Cable.

My new father in-law worked there for many years on the assembly line until he passed away at work.

When the building was demolished I collected some brick rubble to commemorate all the

memories.

-- Edited by bjburnout on Sunday 4th of August 2024 08:08:48 AM

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Oh, that freshly minted copper-brass rad shell, those gennie headlights from 100 years ago...

Leaside, where DEL Truck Bodies have been since forever, complete with railhead into the facility. They always had brand new trucks of all makes being fitted with bodies for final sale & delivery. Well now it is gone, having moved out of Toronto up to Woodbridge. The building was demolished in 2019 and now is a new Mazda dealership.

At the Shoppers World plaza at the S/W corner of Victoria Park & Danforth (Scarborough) is a building on the west end with a louvred roof. That is the original structure of a WWII munition plant as well. I don't know that it will be there much longer, as it and the old Canadian Tire next door are giving way to condos. Meanwhile to the east of Victoria Park was a factory where they built Model A Fords. It sat for a while, then built Kaisers post WWII. The original foundation had remained of the old building for decades, and only now are they developing the site, down towards the end of Gerrard.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

Still live in the area and drive by almost everyday.

Here's an article about the redevelopment plans:

Click here

The façade of the Administration building has been saved and restored and incorporated into the new structure still under construction, its a beautiful art deco design so we are lucky to have it saved. I'll take a current picture and post on one of my drive-bys.

68beaumont · Guru

73SC wrote:
Still live in the area and drive by almost everyday.
Here's an article about the redevelopment plans:
Click here
The façade of the Administration building has been saved and restored and incorporated into the new structure still under construction, its a beautiful art deco design so we are lucky to have it saved. I'll take a current picture and post on one of my drive-bys.

Interesting article Ray, thanks for posting.