The South Bayview Bulldog

Fiat is showing off a new larger 500L model in advance of the 2012 Geneva Motor Show in March. The “L” in 500L stands for “large” and while this is the biggest model in the Fiat 500 family, it will still be one of the smallest cars on the road when it goes on sale in Europe later this year and in the North America early next year. The Fiat 500L is designed to better compete with small winners like the Mini Cooper.  Fiat boasts that the 500L features the space of an MPV with the taller ride height and capability of a compact SUV. Overall dimensions come in at 13.6 feet in length, 5.8 feet in width, and 5.4 feet in height. Inside, there’s seating for five, although a seven-seat version is expected to be launched for European markets at a later date.

The Trend Shoppe at 1622 Bayview is having a store closing sale. Apparently the future of the Trend Shoppe on Bayview is doubtful although another women’s store may take its place. In the meantime, stock is being sold at 70 percent off at the Trend Shoppe.  

Forty years of fun and memories were generated by the imaginative waterfornt concept. But time and money crept up on Ontario Place. Now the government will close it and save as much as $20 million a year. The Toronto Star has an excellent slide show Ontario Place Through the Years. 

Most Canadians across the country can look forward to a warmer-than-normal winter, right through until spring, according to Environment Canada’s latest forecast issued today. The prediction for February, March and April comes after an unseasonably warm couple of months. It’s set the pattern and although it may put a crimp in winter sports, the construction and renovation business is booming.

An attractive semi-detached home at 98 Merton St. has sold for $646,000. That’s a nominal $3000 discount on the asking price of $649,000. This home has that most desirable feature of the Merton Street homes between Mt Pleasant and Bayivew namely a deep lot. The taxes, as those who live there might guess, were $5,051 last year. It has three bedrooms and one bathroom. This home was on the market a mere eight days. There are more pictures a the National Post.

Three months after Homefront opened on South Bayview the Globe and Mail published a feature called Eclectic Bayview. It appeared September 10, 2000 and featured a little map (right) showing what the author thought was the heart of the  district. All the shop owners were flattered. There were seven named. They were Inquisitive, The Country Store, Early Canadian Furniture, Horticultural Design, Nestings, Homefront and M.E.G.S.  Ten years has passed and, with Homefront slated to consolidate with its store at 371 Eglinton Ave. West, there will be two of the originals left on South Bayview. That of course is business. But we can’t help feeling sorry about closures on Bayview. The Globe’s article was highly personalized view of Bayview. As history has shown there are many other businesses that make the street exciting. And there have been openings. Detail, Oddjects, Moms to be and More and DEW, for example.

SOUTH AFRICA — An ancient dinosaur nesting site, the oldest ever found, has been excavated in the Free State, the University of the Witwatersrand said on Wednesday. Paleontologists found clutches of eggs, many with embryos, as well as tiny dinosaur footprints Researchers said this was the oldest known evidence showing that dinosaur hatchlings remained at the nesting site long enough to at least double in size.The nests were from the prosauropod dinosaur known as the Massospondylus and were 190-million-year-old. At least ten nests were found at several levels. Each one had up to 34 round eggs in tightly-clustered clutches. The researchers said the distribution of the nests in the sediments showed the dinosaurs returned repeatedly to the site, and apparently nested together. The research was led by Canadian paleontologist, Robert Reisz, a professor of biology at the University of Toronto. Hans-Dieter Sues from the Smithsonian Institute in the United States, Eric Roberts from James Cook University in Australia, and Adam Yates from Wits, were part of the team. Reisz said he suspected there were many more nests in the cliff still covered by tons of rock.

A copper box time capsule buried under the cornerstone of Maple Leaf Gardens has been opened to reveal items both predictable and mysterious. One of the unexplained pieces is the ivory elephant shown above. Toronto residents are being asked to offer an explanation for the elephant. It does seem possible that this was a good luck charm of some type. Perhaps Conn Smythe was hoping for good fortune as he opened this arena in the darkest days of the Great Depression. Among the items inside, a four-page typewritten letter from the directors of Maple Leaf Gardens that describes the building and the technology behind the ice. And,

• A four-page stock prospectus for Maple Leaf Gardens

• A 1930-31 official NHL rule book

• The 1931 official hockey rules of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association

• 1930 Ontario Hockey Association rules

• A 1931 Toronto Municipal handbook

• A Red Ensign flag

• A Globe newspaper from Sept. 21, 1931, sporting the headline ‘Britain abandons gold standard exchanges’

• A Mail and Empire newspaper from the same date with a similar headline

• A Toronto Daily Star

• The Evening Telegram

The contents of a time capsule found during the renovation of Maple Leaf Gardens will be revealed today in Toronto. The opening ceremony was to begin at 10.30. Above is a picture of the 1931 corner stone laying. The capsule may have been buried the same day. See previous post by clicking headline above. The time capsule was found by workers as the building was being remodelled to house a Loblaws grocery store and an athletic centre for Ryerson University. The box was found underneath a stone at the front of Maple Leaf Gardens. Maple Leaf Gardens was built by Conn Smythe in 1931 and the Toronto Maple Leafs played there until 1999. The time capsule contents are to go on display this afternoon at Ryerson University. More to come.