Evergreen Brickworks - a look back at abandoned factory

The Evergreen Brickworks is getting ready for a fun Earth Day Celebration on Saturday April 23rd, 2011 at the former Don Valley Brickworks factory and park. On Thursday April 21 the site will also try to make the world’s longest picnic table. Evergreen is also celebrating its 20^th anniversary of making cities more livable. It’s time to get your Green On and participate in some free eco-activities.

Here is a look back at the abandoned group of buildings that was slowly crumbling, with holes in the roof that on sunny days let in slices of sun, and walls full of bright graffiti. The bricks long since stopped being churned out of the factory complex, fences put up in an attempt to keep out people interested in seeing the desolation that unwanted buildings and empty workplaces can produce. It was ghostly and fascinating at the same time and you could always stand in a sunbeam and look for a rainbow and a pot of gold.

Photo Vault - Brickworks beam of light

The excitement of checking out the abandoned Don Valley Brickworks. The holes in the ceilings produced such great sunbeams when the conditions were right. Erin's breath comes out frosty in the cool of winter, highlighted in the bright light cutting through the dark building.

Evergreen Brickworks now open

The former Don Valley Brickworks, now christened the Evergreen Brickworks, has finally opened (September 5, 2010) to the public while much of their site remains under construction. The property seems to have everything under the sun including office space for lease and I am surprised they haven't squeezed a condo development into the mix. They have saved part of the brick making equipment and kilns and a lot of the graffiti that adorned any available, reachable space.

The old, abandoned factory is almost gone and urban explorers will have to find a new place to haunt because they come out of the brick work when you start to take pictures. I was told it was illegal to take pictures there now without a permit although I found no mention of this on their website.

The site is owned by the City of Toronto and the Toronto Region Conservation Area and they not only purchased the site, they paid millions of dollars to upgrade the old quarry. Give us your money but don't try to take a picture is an unfortunate message that they want you to have. Oh well, these may well be the last pictures that you see of the brickworks (following photo by fresh Joe).

Evergreen Brickworks

The abandoned Don Valley Brickworks, long a destination of choice for those that like to explore old buildings, continues along on it's rebirth as a green site and park known as Evergreen Brick Works. The large roof of the main kiln building is being replaced and a fence and security keep people away from the construction site.



I was glad to see that they will keep the kiln building in it's dilapidated splendor complete with graffiti but it will not replace the fun of going in to the site and taking photos when it was just a forgotten relic of an older time.

Photo Vault - Don Valley Brickworks

I visited the wastelands that were the Don Valley Brickworks a few times over the years. The longtime maker of bricks shut down and the site gradually fell into ruin which made for exciting visits. I can see why quite a few people make it a hobby to explore abandoned places - just remember to be safe.

Climbing in through the fences and openings in the buildings you walked through a massive complex of buildings full of steel stairs, colourful graffiti and old kilns. The large cavernous buildings were full of remnants of the past where sunbeams cut through holes in the ceilings and highlighted small sections of the interior. You could even find rooms full of bricks scattered on the floors.






The Brickworks lasted a long time starting in 1889 and finally closing in 1984. Then in 2002 they decided to try to make something of the historic site and have been fixing it up. It is now called the Evergreen Brick Works and they will celebrate their grand opening in September 2010.

Photo Vault - Sights around Toronto

Toronto's skyline from across the bay as the sunsets over the city. Of course we now know that the CN Tower is no longer top dog in tall structures as the Dubai Tower, named Burj Dubai, takes over top spot.



The urban park at Yonge-Dundas has a great feature - a parallel line of fountain sprinklers that have jets of water that are fun to play in on a hot summer day.




During the long conversion of the Don Valley Brickyards from it's crumbling industrial decay to an urban park, the interior of the brick factory was a smorgasbord of graffiti and building waste that was exciting to explore on a sunny day. The sun would poke through the holes in the ceiling and bright beams would light up the gloomy, dank structure. The photos above were taken in January of 2006. Now called Evergreen Brick Works the site also includes a Farmers Market.



The TD Canada Trust Tower pokes into the sky in the downtown core, it's sign almost obscured by the steam rising in the cold of December, 2005.