Distillery District Reaches New Heights

distillery spirits buiilding front view
Originally uploaded by 416style.

Up until a couple years ago Toronto's Distillery District was used only for big budget Hollywood flicks. One night, I was lucky enough to get access to a movie set and snuck through buildings that had lay relatively abandoned for 15 years or more. What I'll always recall about the buildings, as I rose in the darkness on suspiciously creeky stairs, was that some of the floors reached less than 5 feet in height. It was pointed out to me then that this had been where the distillers accomplished their backbreaking tasks.
Much has changed. It's now a playground, a spacious pedestrain-only district, for Torontonians and its visitors to enjoy. There's no place like it anywhere. From bakeries to Balzac's to the Boiler House to breweries, there's so much one can appreciate about the site of this Victorian Industrial complex, the largest example of such architecture in North America. Just off Mill Street, East of Yonge, the creative energy booms amidst the cobblestone and brick. It's definitely worth exploring, and now nobdy has to be sneeky about it.