#igersbarrie

The Grand Trunk Railway’s original Allandale station near downtown Barrie hasn’t been in use since the early 1990s. At one point it was going to be “The New VR’s” (CKVR) street-level studios, but Bell Media’s purchase scuttled that. It continues to await adaptive reuse next to the current GO Allandale-Waterfront station. • • • #igersbarrie #barrie #ontario #canada #allandale #cnr #simcoecounty #railway #barriewaterfront #heritage #grandtrunkrailway #italianate #metrolinx #gotransit (at Allandale Waterfront GO Station) https://www.instagram.com/p/CS706N3NIch/?utm_medium=tumblr

Prairie-style on Kempenfelt Bay. This is Barrie’s historic Allandale Station which was last served by passenger rail in 1980. Strangely, it was briefly owned by CHUM and at one point was to become a new broadcast centre for CKVR (a.k.a. “The New V.R.”) #Barrie #igersBarrie #barrieontario #CKVR #Allandale #trainstation #GrandTrunkRailway #SpierAndRohns #VRland (at Allandale Waterfront GO Station)

Easily the best and most photogenic bit of Barrie is Ron Baird’s glorious “Spirit Capture” sculpture. It was commissioned for Vancouver’s Expo ‘86 and all 20 tons of COR-TEN steel were moved to Barrie in 1987. Baird has also received recent fame for Markham’s infamous “Charity the Cow” which I declare equally glorious. #igersBarrie #barrieontario #Barrie #LakeSimcoe #kempenfeltbay #art #publicart #sculpture #ronbaird #spiritcatcher #corten #cortensteel #expo86 (at The Spirit Catcher)

Barrie was established as a village in 1854 and a city in 1959. Known by many as the “Gateway to Cottage Country” it now has a population of 147,000+. #Barrie #igersBarrie #barrieontario #History #historic (at Downtown Barrie)

When looking at architecture I don’t like, I generally try to appreciate it as a product of its time and/or from the perspective of what the architect was visioning. As for Barrie City Hall, I’ve got nothing folks. #Barrie #barrieontario #igersbarrie #barriecityhall #publicspace (at Barrie City Hall)

One of the few gems in Barrie - the MacLaren Art Centre. Housed in an old Carnegie Library with a Siamak Hariri (of #HaririPontarini) extension. #Barrie #barrieontario #igersBarrie #CarnegieLibrary #ArtGallery #ArtMuseum (at maclarenARTcentre)