For this year’s Doors Open event, I visited six buildings in the city. In the first post, we looked at a church, historic jail, and heritage lumbermill. Here are the photos from the other three: a power generation plant, an artist’s home, and a re-purposed carpet factory.

Portlands Energy Centre

The Portlands Energy Centre is located in the eastern industrial section of the Toronto port lands harbour on Lake Ontario. It is a state-of-the-art, natural gas power generating station that provides about one fourth of the electricity to central Toronto. All of the equipment is housed indoors in a massive building, protected from the weather. The plant tour requires you to don full safety gear, including hardhat, eye and ear protection, and a safety vest. Kinda felt like a Minion going to work 🙂 .

Fool’s Paradise

Picturesque Fool’s Paradise is located on the Scarborough Bluffs and is the former residence of Canadian artist Doris McCarthy, best known for her landscape paintings and her association with the Group of Seven artists. The origin of the name comes from the 12-acre purchase in 1939, considered extravagant at the time, and referred to by her mother as “that fool’s paradise of yours”. The home was built by McCarthy and donated to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1998, and is now a retreat residence for artists, musicians, and writers. There was a great view of the bluffs on this weather-perfect day.

Toronto Carpet Factory

At the heart of Liberty Village in the city’s west end, the industrial complex that was the Toronto Carpet Factory has now been transformed into trendy offices and home to some 100 creative and innovative businesses. This used to be a industrial complex that spanned an entire city block, and instead of being torn down, has been retrofitted to modern standards. At this year’s event, two of the many companies at the site opened their doors to the public: Movable, a full-service digital printing company, and Beanfield Metroconnect, an ISP and co-location data services provider.