I'm seeing that it was turned into a parking lot, so I'm guessing the State was on Abbot behind the building, and what we're seeing is the northeast corner of The Abbot, here? Looks a bit fancier than I thought.
EDIT: Yeah, I guess this was the back, and here's the view from Grand River and Abbot.
It's weird how the architecture makes it look so much shorter than the modernized building. Must be the oddly extended ground floor details. It looks like the base of a much larger building, really, like it was unfinished. lol
Yeah you can see the scale of the first floor when you notice how small the front door is in that picture.
If I could ask for anything for this corner, it would be a 6 or 7 story building with a large pedestrian plaza out front. I would want to leave a lot of space for gatherings and events, which is why I think the building could be taller to still get use out of the location. (6 or 7 stories still seems more realistic for this area).
I also would like to see more city services located downtown (more parks, a downtown library and a city museum).
Great photo find! This is from the 1956 based on the cars and the movie showing, also the 100 Grand River building has not been altered. It is interesting to see the facade's stone work that looks like the theater matched the building next door, but I do not think they were part of the same building. I like the cop writing a ticket, his motorcycle is so cool. You have to wonder why they knocked the theater down so long before any of this started. Also why did they cover up or remove the nice stone arched windows. The [late 60's?] re-hab was so ugly, but people back then thought it was modern and looked new. It's all gone now. It will be sad if it becomes a parking lot however temporary.
I noticed that after demolition, the developers have marked off and planted grass only part of the filled in lots. Perhaps this means that they have new development plans forthcoming, and hope to get started soon?
I'd imagine this isn't really a sign of much of anything given how easy it would be to excavate a site regardless of whether it was grassed over or not. Maybe they just haven't gotten to grassy over the other part. Or maybe they want to use part of it for temporary parking. I kind of recall hearing about that, but I don't remember if it was mentioned as something that wouldn't be allowed at the site or if it was a possible temporary usage.
Temporary parking is a possibility I hadn't considered; I'd have to go back and see whether they topped the lots with gravel or dirt fill. But it seems like they have deliberately marked out the seeded areas, so I'm thinking they probably won't be planting any more grass, but who knows.
Comments
I'm seeing that it was turned into a parking lot, so I'm guessing the State was on Abbot behind the building, and what we're seeing is the northeast corner of The Abbot, here? Looks a bit fancier than I thought.
EDIT: Yeah, I guess this was the back, and here's the view from Grand River and Abbot.
It's weird how the architecture makes it look so much shorter than the modernized building. Must be the oddly extended ground floor details. It looks like the base of a much larger building, really, like it was unfinished. lol
I think they may have added another floor in the intervening years. State Theater was behind the larger building on Abbot.
I don't think so. The modernized building was also only four stories. It's just that the modernized facade gave it a more uniformed look.
Yeah you can see the scale of the first floor when you notice how small the front door is in that picture.
If I could ask for anything for this corner, it would be a 6 or 7 story building with a large pedestrian plaza out front. I would want to leave a lot of space for gatherings and events, which is why I think the building could be taller to still get use out of the location. (6 or 7 stories still seems more realistic for this area).
I also would like to see more city services located downtown (more parks, a downtown library and a city museum).
Great photo find! This is from the 1956 based on the cars and the movie showing, also the 100 Grand River building has not been altered. It is interesting to see the facade's stone work that looks like the theater matched the building next door, but I do not think they were part of the same building. I like the cop writing a ticket, his motorcycle is so cool. You have to wonder why they knocked the theater down so long before any of this started. Also why did they cover up or remove the nice stone arched windows. The [late 60's?] re-hab was so ugly, but people back then thought it was modern and looked new. It's all gone now. It will be sad if it becomes a parking lot however temporary.
After reading the post the theater was part of the original 20th century building. Very interesting thanks for posting it.
I noticed that after demolition, the developers have marked off and planted grass only part of the filled in lots. Perhaps this means that they have new development plans forthcoming, and hope to get started soon?
I'd imagine this isn't really a sign of much of anything given how easy it would be to excavate a site regardless of whether it was grassed over or not. Maybe they just haven't gotten to grassy over the other part. Or maybe they want to use part of it for temporary parking. I kind of recall hearing about that, but I don't remember if it was mentioned as something that wouldn't be allowed at the site or if it was a possible temporary usage.
Yeah I remember hearing that a gravel parking lot was part of the temporary plan.
Temporary parking is a possibility I hadn't considered; I'd have to go back and see whether they topped the lots with gravel or dirt fill. But it seems like they have deliberately marked out the seeded areas, so I'm thinking they probably won't be planting any more grass, but who knows.