Almost Industry news, Last Building from Camera Heights in Toronto be to saved.

cmacd123 · Aug 25, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...ak-building-more-than-60m-then-back-1.3734468

Seems the very last Kodak Building at the former Kodak Canadian Site is going to be moved and renovated to become a transit station. (if it does not break in the move.)

Picture shows the typical "Kodak Style"building.

MattKing · Aug 25, 2016

That building was the Employee Building. Among many other things (a bowling alley?), it had fully equipped and supplied darkrooms set aside for employee personal use. Although my father worked almost his entire working life for Kodak and with Kodak films, it was only in those darkrooms that my Dad ever made any prints. My brother and I still have a couple of colour prints he made there.

cmacd123 · Aug 26, 2016

some shots of the big move here.
http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2016/08/big-move-metrolinx-goes-literal-mount-dennis-station

and here.
http://www.blogto.com/city/2016/08/historic_kodak_building_9_in_toronto_moves_200_feet/

mshchem · Aug 27, 2016

MattKing said:
That building was the Employee Building. Among many other things (a bowling alley?), it had fully equipped and supplied darkrooms set aside for employee personal use. Although my father worked almost his entire working life for Kodak and with Kodak films, it was only in those darkrooms that my Dad ever made any prints. My brother and I still have a couple of colour prints he made there.

That's a great story. I have a Nikon D800, I use it occasionally. But digital is so fleeting, so ephemeral. When I want to keep it or print it I almost always shoot film. Prints and negatives, well I have my Dad's Kodachrome slides starting in 1948, and everything I've done over the last 50 years or so. I took out a Bronica today loaded with Kodak TMY 2 . I was taking pictures of the new cars on the sales lots. Several had signs ZERO % INTEREST FOR 84 MONTHS. That certainly will be a shock to someone in 40 years time.
It's great that something is being saved from the site. Who could have imagined this 20 years back?
Best regards Mike

AgX · Aug 28, 2016

APUGuser19 said:
At first thought I was somewhat amazed and thought it as not feasible. Or practical, as I'm not sure of the best word. Then I thought about a Saturn 5 rocket and how it would compare in size and weight to that building. And they got lots of those all the way to the moon?

You would not need rocket technolgy to shift a building.

A whole station in Antwerp made from bricks was shifted in 1907:

https://slachthuiswijk2060.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/den-dam-tamtam-a-la-recherche-du-dam-perdu/

cmacd123 · Aug 28, 2016

AgX said:
A whole station in Antwerp made from bricks was shifted in 1907:

moving building happens all the time. There is an outfit that moves houses not far from where I live, and they often have a "Used" house with a for sale sign in their yard, ready to deliver to your lot.

http://www.cdsmovers.com/

One building here in Ottawa was moved a greater distance as part of the "Landsdowne Park" project. (although it is now permanently at its new location).

The Deal with this one is that Kodak had a smaller version of Kodak Park in Toronto that served the Canadian market, as at one time the tariffs were high enough to make it worth while to make film in Canada. (Toronto made film was marked SA'FETY, or KO'DAK) the entire complex was torn down,except for this building, which is typical in appearance of many Kodak buildings in different locations. It is representative of the many buildings torn down at this site.

MattKing · Aug 28, 2016

cmacd123 said:
The Deal with this one is that Kodak had a smaller version of Kodak Park in Toronto that served the Canadian market, as at one time the tariffs were high enough to make it worth while to make film in Canada. (Toronto made film was marked SA'FETY, or KO'DAK) the entire complex was torn down,except for this building, which is typical in appearance of many Kodak buildings in different locations. It is representative of the many buildings torn down at this site.

Not just film. Cameras too.

And it wasn't just tariffs, because the market in Canada was healthy in itself.

This link has lots of interesting history, including information about the Employee's Building - the one that is destined to be converted into the transit station: http://library.ryerson.ca/asc/2015/01/kodak-in-toronto-1899-2005-a-century-of-traces/

My father worked at the Camera Heights location between 1947 and 1961. Prior to then, my grandfather, who worked for CN trucking, often delivered to Kodak Heights. My father had a childhood memory of riding with my grandfather when he delivered a truck-load of silver bars to Kodak - with my young dad serving as the only "security" for the shipment.

skorpiius · Aug 29, 2016

mshchem said:
That's a great story. I have a Nikon D800, I use it occasionally. But digital is so fleeting, so ephemeral. When I want to keep it or print it I almost always shoot film. Prints and negatives, well I have my Dad's Kodachrome slides starting in 1948, and everything I've done over the last 50 years or so. I took out a Bronica today loaded with Kodak TMY 2 . I was taking pictures of the new cars on the sales lots. Several had signs ZERO % INTEREST FOR 84 MONTHS. That certainly will be a shock to someone in 40 years time.
It's great that something is being saved from the site. Who could have imagined this 20 years back?
Best regards Mike

Absolutely, people will see that and go "people used to BUY cars??"

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