Postcard image of the Queen and Roncesvalles corner, taken in the 70s.
At Queen and Roncesvalles, there's a hole in the sky, nothing where there should be something—the Edgewater Hotel sign. A battered but characterful old vintage 50s neon beauty that became a beloved fixture in Parkdale's visual landscape, the sign whispered of boozy nights at the lobby bar and legions of travelling salesmen schlepping their sample cases over from the Sunnyside bus terminal next door. Only a few short months ago, writer Rick McGinnis traced the history of the corner, its buildings (now a McDonald's and a Howard Johnson's), and their wonderful signs in a BlogTO article.
The news of the sign's fate is not good. At the Parkdale Residents' Association meeting last Thursday, Ward 14 city councillor Gord Perks (councillor_perks@toronto.ca) told the sorry tale of "the previous administration" doing a deal with the owners of the building in which they were allowed to keep a ginormous third-party billboard above the hotel (which, according to Rami Tabello of IllegalSigns.ca, also contravenes bylaws) on the condition that the Edgewater sign, supposedly under heritage protection, be kept.
Despite repeated warnings from the city about the situation and likely consequences, the owners allowed the sign to rust away until it became a safety issue, and the city was forced to order it down. According to Perks, "there was no legal requirement" that the owners maintain the Hotel's sign—"only that they keep it or lose the third-party sign." When asked if and how that would happen, Perks' response was that the enforcement process was in the works, but that it was likely to be lengthy and the owners would probably appeal, yadda yadda yadda.
In a 2006 article, Toronto Star architecture critic Christopher Hume described the practice of "demolition by decay," by which heritage building owners sidestep their responsibilities by simply letting the properties rot until they fail safety inspections and have to come down. Potentially costly problems solved!
It all comes down to what we value, and whether we—and the city whose job it is to protect our built heritage—have the foresight to do what's necessary to preserve it before it's too late. NOW Magazine and Torontoist both covered the story, and here's hoping the coverage shames the owners of 14 Roncesvalles into regretting some of their choices, or at least into thinking twice about future ones.
Meanwhile, all leads on what actually happened to the sign are cold. Maybe if it's still out there somewhere, it will someday grace the 'hood once again. A long shot, but it's that "Imagine"-slash-Miracle on 34th Street time of year, isn't it?
