[URBAN NOTE] On a goodbye in Yonge and Eglinton to an unloved shopping plaza

[rfmcdonald]

Joshua Errett's CBC News article does a great job of explaining how an ugly shopping complex on Yonge north of Eglinton, badly designed and filled with unmemorable stores and restaurants, has become the target of nostalgia since news came of condos.

Lloyd Alter spent more than three decades hating the split-level shopping plaza that took up half a city block on Yonge Street, a few blocks north of Eglinton Avenue.

"For years, I would avoid driving up Yonge Street because of that place," said Alter. "I couldn't look at it."

Alter's relationship with the building goes way back to the early 1980s, when he designed it as an architect. But when the building opened in 1984, and businesses put up mismatched awnings and signage, he immediately regretted it.

So this week, when it was announced the despised plaza would be demolished, Alter could finally rejoice.

But the demise of the building he so hated brought a range of feelings, including the sinking feeling his shopping plaza provided a venue — albeit an ugly one — for small retailers who gave the area an urban character.

"It's getting to be a monoculture of big stores," he said of Yonge and Eglinton, citing condos, big banks, drug stores like Shoppers Drug Mart and chain retailers."You can't find a place that has a little store anymore."