BlogTO's Derek Flack goes deep into the archives to unearth Liberty Village's industrial past. Flack's archival photo essay reveals the Liberty Village that existed "before the condos"—from the early 20th century prison that gave Liberty Village its name, to the growth and decline of the area's industrial activity, to the transformation of the area by a small group of artists in the 1980s.
"For all the development that's shaped Liberty Village over the last decade or so, the area's industrial past retains something of a ghostly presence—at least if one confines himself to exploring the western half of the neighbourhood. The eastern end, leading in across the still new-feeling East Liberty Street from Strachan Avenue, on the other hand, remains a source of angst for heritage preservationists who lament this city's near-complete contempt for 19th and early 20th century industrial architecture."
"According to a report from the University of Toronto's Centre for Urban and Community Studies, "municipal deregulation of land uses in the King Street West area in 1994 contributed to the attraction of the area for developers and real estate speculators.... Many small businesses and low-income tenants were evicted to allow property owners to renovate their buildings. The deregulation of zoning bylaws had increased the pressure to redevelop industrial lands and put planners under constant pressure to allow the conversion of old industrial buildings for residential or office use."
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