It was a quiet Sunday afternoon at the Don Valley Brick Works. A few people walked their dogs as some wetland birds earnestly called out to each other. An earlier expedition contains information on the history of this site.

Inside the Brick Works, subdued shafts of light illuminated the interior like a cathedral of industry. Amongst a row of old kilns, a Parkhill Martin brick machine lay silent as it’s rusted metal surface gleamed in the evening light. It was manufactured by G. Baird, Son Co. and built in Parkhill Toronto. This soft mud brick machine was placed in the Brickworks after 1956.

This turned out to be the last visit. In the spring of 2009 a redevelopment company called Evergreen started a renovation of the Brick Works. By October the roof was removed. I discovered later that (*1) the roof was made from an asbestos composite called transite. This made me wonder about previous explorers and graffiti artists that passed through this site without respirators. Several of Toronto’s landmarks are built from bricks made at this factory, hopefully the restoration of this site will leave a piece of Toronto’s history intact.

References

(*1)
Rick McGinnis, Don Valley’s Abandoned Brick Works Finally Coming Back To Life, October 8, 2009
www.blogto.com/city/2009/10/

Evergreen Brick Works
http://ebw.evergreen.ca/

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After some research a source clarified more details about the building. Apparently the National Biscuit Co. became known as Nabisco during the WWI era. The quotes from an article by Lu Donnelly for the Young Preservationists Association address the history, function and design of the N.B.C buildings.

(2) “The success of Nabisco’s branding and advertising caused demand to exceed supply and the company launched a building campaign to provide enough bakeries for their popular crackers. The buildings commissioned by now company president Adolphus Green were different from the common manufacturing buildings of the World War I era. Green hired an architect full-time to design factories that would have enough style and dignity to inspire loyalty from the workers and act as shining models of modernity to the communities in which they stood (Cahn, 125). He hired Chicagoan Albert G. Zimmermann (1866-1947) to design the buildings using a soft colored brownish-orange brick with cream-colored brick trim and ranging from three to eleven stories. Zimmermann’s earlier practice had consisted mostly of residences and apartment buildings until his work for Nabisco. His Nabisco designs were featured in the American Architect magazine in both 1912 and 1916.”

Another excerpt from the article indicates when the Detroit N.B.C building was built.

(3) “After the war, between 1918 and 1925 new bakeries were built in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. The new factories had a consistent look, similar reddish brick, multiple stories and stair towers increased the company’s ability to transport products to the grocer and people’s homes. (Cahn, 196)”

N.B.C  is located in Detroit’s New Center area and seems to have been abandoned for some time. N.B.C’s close proximity to the railways may have given the company a compeditivie edge in distribution to major areas of the American Market.

References
(1) http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=253580

(2)(3) Historic Review Commission of Pittsburgh. National Biscuit Company Bakery Historic Nomination, Lu Donnelly for the Young Preservationists Association, Page 3,4

http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:OOPTiGRFGC4J:www.youngpreservationists.org/YPADocs/Nabisco%2520Nomination.pdf+national+buscuit+co+building+detroit&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

http://www.youngpreservationists.org/YPADocs/Nabisco%20Nomination.pdf.

Sources

The American Architect, “The Buildings of the National Biscuit Company,” by W. F. Wilmoth, Volume 101, June 19, 1912, part 2 number 1904, pp. 270-272.

The American Architect, “Building for the National Biscuit Company,” Volume 109, March 22, 1916, part 1, number 2100.

The Builders’ Bulletin, Volume 1, #37 (Supplement) , May 12, 1917: Building Permit issued “National
Biscuit Co., Owners; Turner Construction Co., Contractors; Foundation, Penn & Lambert St., 12 Ward.”
Other relevant issues 1917-1919.

Cahn, William, Out of the Cracker Barrel: The Nabisco Story From Animal Crackers to Zu Zu’s. New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1969.

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Forest Arms apartments was was built in 1905 and is located in the Wayne State University housing district. A corner stone beside the front entrance proclaims the date it was built. Forest Arms fits in with other Victorian era buildings in the area. (*1) On February 6, a major fire destroyed the entire site. Forest Arms has no roof or top floor. Windows are gaping portals to the sky instead of apartments. The facade seems to be intact and structurally sound.

References

(*1)
Benefit raises over $6,000 for Forest Arms Disaster Relief Effort
http://media.wayne.edu/2008/02/14/benefit-raises-over-6000-for-forest-arms

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The Film Exchange Building was designed by architect, Charles Howard Crane. This seven story structure was  built in 1926 to safely store volatile/flammable nitrate films. The interior houses several vaults for film storage. The relief above the front door gives a hint to the buildings previous function. Orange panels placed vertically between windows, serve as the only other distraction in the monotonous exterior. It closed some time during the 1970’s.

There have been renovations at the site for the last five years but no occupants taking up permanent residence.

References

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