Saturday, April 26, 2014

Wandering Through Downtown

The Armoury in Guelph is a Gothic Revival structure built in the first decade of the 20th Century. Across Canada at the time, armouries were being built for militia drill halls in towns and cities. This one is still very much used today, and I took this shot at dawn.


Like most cities and towns across the country, Guelph also has a war memorial downtown, honouring the dead of two World Wars, the Korean War, and military service.


I have seen monuments in small villages; if a local died during military service, even a hamlet would erect a cenotaph. The plaques marking the names of deceased soldiers from the area show that many here in Guelph served and died in the World Wars. As memory serves, in Korea, a single local resident was among the Canadian dead of that conflict.


Changing pace, but still downtown. This is a retail complex now called Old Quebec Street. It was once referred to as the Eaton Centre Guelph, invoking the architectural style of the mall in downtown Toronto. Stores inside began to fail over time as new retail was built elsewhere in town, and it might have been tempting to tear the whole thing down. Instead the owners restyled the entire thing.


Now there is retail on the ground floor, offices on the second floor. The retail shops have more of an eclectic feel than before, and the interior has been redesigned to give the shopper more of a street feeling, which, in fact, it once was, before the previous mall was built. The place is also linked to an arena, and it seems to have worked well in giving this part of the downtown a boost.


Take a wild guess where I have no problem stepping into.


I'm finishing off today with a view of downtown Guelph from some high ground. Tomorrow I'll take you inside where this shot was taken from.


31 comments:

  1. Oh, I love this retail outlet, William! It reminds me of the Carrefour Laval, here in Quebec...have you seen it?

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  2. Love your last shot here William, snow really does make every scene look a little magical! Meet you in the chocolate shop :)

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  3. The picturesque castle of the Armory caught my attention, and I would like to visit that nice gallery, especially with the snow outside...

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  4. What an interesting place to wonder around and take snaps.

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  5. Pretty town! Clearly there are lots of great things to explore in Guelph!

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  6. I didn't realize Guelph had so much snow still . I haven't been there for years the last time I was in Guelph it was still a small farming town ! Lovely photos . Thanks for sharing . Have a good weekend !

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  7. Linda: I have been in there a couple of times.

    Grace: I expect we'll have company!

    VP: I visited the city many rimes growing up but this was the first time I noticed the armoury.

    Stuart: thank you!

    Tamera: yes.

    Marleen: so do I.

    Country Gal: oh these are all from December and January.

    Luis: thanks!

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  8. Hey, those are some great pictures of my hometown! Love the first one of the armoury.

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  9. I find a memorial to Korean war dead interesting; seldom do I see those as they are not as common as memorials to WWI or WWll

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  10. Next Saturday is Guelph's Doors Open and I'm hoping to get up there. So, this is a nice preview.

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  11. the armory is quite a formidable fortress. :) our small towns erect memorials to their fallen, too. i love that remembrance for the families and friends.

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  12. I'd be right there with you at the Nutty Chocolatier.

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  13. You have taken us on a nice tour and it made me hungry!

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  14. What a beautiful place. I want to go to that chocolate shop!

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  15. @Furry Gnome: I'll have to get inside there someday.

    @Kate: generally the death rates for Korea weren't as big as the world wars, and it came so soon after the second world war that it gets overlooked.

    @Hamilton: if you get up there, have fun. And I expect Hamilton itself has one of these during the summer, so by all means, get busy on that weekend too.

    @Tex: there's a village in cottage country that has a cenotaph. Six or seven men died in the Second World War, out of a population that might have been under a thousand at the time. Which means they'd have been known to everyone in town.

    @Sharon: it's much too delicious inside!

    @Judy: I don't know if there are many of those stores. I can think of three in the province.

    @Le Regard: Merci!

    @Krisztina: be prepared to drool for chocolate!

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  16. Our museum has the wooden and gold plaque created for WWII Veterans. There's now a memorial for all veterans at our Civic Park by the City Hall building. Thanks for sharing your memorial. The chocolate store was a nice touch.

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  17. That mall looks very inviting!

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  18. I am so glad that some towns are able to incorporate old structures into today's market!

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  19. You are showing some nice monuments here, William. I'm always impressed to see all the names of people who faught for our freedom.

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  20. Love that front window photo. All that glass... love that setup.

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  21. @Whisk: it's much more inviting than it was when it was a more conventional mall.

    @Mari: in a city the size of Guelph it would have been expected.

    @RedPat: it is. I remember it from childhood being quite different.

    @Cheryl: this seems to have resurrected the old quite nicely.

    @Jan: I'm ever mindful of that sacrifice.

    @Birdman: glass structures tend to draw me right in.

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  22. Nice tour! Thank you!
    That armory is truly an imposing structure. I don't think I've seen that many in the Gothic Revival style. And I've noticed that Canadian memorials frequently have wreaths around them, or signs of attention that I've not seen as regularly in the U.S.
    The mall actually looks inviting! It looks like they've "done" it nicely.

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  23. The mall is pretty! I'm glad it wasn't torn down. I wouldn't have resisted the chocolatier either.

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  24. I haven't been there in ages! My cousins, not speaking to me, live there!

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  25. Fabulous tour! You could have made 2 posts from this. Especially love the memorials. Oh, and that chocolate looks good too :).

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  26. What an fantastic tour! That Armory is absolutely amazing and so is the mall. I wouldn't have a problem going in that chocolate shop. :D

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  27. @Kay: you're welcome.

    @Hilda: that chocolatier is a good one.

    @Jennifer: I have to go back sometime.

    @Lauren: thanks!

    @Nita: thank you.

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