PDP #20: Four Years Before the Ashes

I've always thought that the best photos to share are those that can't possibly be taken anymore. After maintaining my archives for six years or so, the typically turgid pace of history and events have made a few of those photos, thanks to construction or destruction, into windows into history. Some of my previous offerings, like the renovation of Regent Park or the 2004 Toronto skyline, fit into this category as well.

At the end of 2007, a fire tore through part of downtown Barrie and burned down half a block of buildings, including some of the city's extremely rare historical properties. When I was last there, nearly two months ago, the site is still a scar of rubble in the midst of the city's downtown core. I would honestly be surprised if anything new is ever built there - directly across the street is a concrete "urban park," to describe it charitably, left when a Sam the Record Man store there burned down around 1990.

Today's picture was taken on August 24, 2003, looking east along Dunlop Street West. The tall brown building at the end of the northern row no longer exists except for ashes and debris. Anyone could go back there at any time they pleased, but this picture can never be taken again.



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