November 27, 2009

PETER KENTER

Pedestrian traffic and proximity to other buildings made demolition of the old Sam the Record Man building a challenge.

Iconic Sam the Record Man signage to live on after demolition

Will be preserved in new Ryerson University building

PETER KENTER

correspondent

A Toronto landmark is being preserved in an unusual way. While there are still a couple of record stores bearing the name of Sam the Record Man, the chain itself declared bankruptcy in 2001.

The flagship store, located in Toronto near the Yonge Street and Dundas Street intersection, followed suit in February 2007.

Encouraged by the public, Toronto city council quickly designated the property a heritage site, not to protect the building itself, but as the only mechanism available to protect the two huge iconic neon records that made up part of the storefront — themselves a throwback to the days before CDs.

Ryerson University bought the building in January 2008 with an eye to demolishing Sam’s and several other properties to the north as part of a plan to create a gateway to the university on Yonge Street.

The neon signs were fired up one last time as part of a Nuit Blanche celebration in October of that year, before Quantum Murray carefully removed them as part of a $350,000 demolition contract.

“We honoured the agreement with the City to preserve the signs and later re-install the two discs in the proposed Ryerson Learning Centre,” says Domenic Magnone, Project Co-ordinator with Ryerson. The signs are currently in storage at Gregory Signs in Concord.

The contents of the building — including celebrity-autographed photos and numerous gold and platinum records — were already auctioned off.

“But there was still a large framed picture of Elvis on one of the walls,” says Magnone.

The demolition of Sam’s was fairly straightforward, he says, despite the fact that the storefront is located on one of the busiest stretch of Canada’s longest street. “It was a tight job, considering the proximity to pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and to the access to the Dundas Street subway,” says Magnone. “When Sam’s expanded, it had also incorporated a bank building at the corner of Yonge and Gould Streets, so we had to remove a number of safes and one full-sized vault.”

The demolition of the existing building and the construction of the new Student Learning Centre are LEED registered, so much of the debris has been recycled.

Magnone says, however, that taking down the Sam’s building was a bittersweet experience

“Back in the 1970s, I spent a fortune on records there,” he recalls. “It was kind of weird revisiting the same building we’d spent so much time in.”

Work continues on demolishing the remaining buildings north of Sam’s. An issue with the tenants of one of the buildings is expected to be resolved by Jan. 1st, after which demolition will continue under the existing contract. The facade of the former Future Shop has already been removed to reveal the signage of Sam’s former competitor, A&A Records.

“It was fascinating to see the old technology,” says Magnone. “The lights that spelled out A&A were like Christmas tree lights fitted with old fashioned relays to make them flash.”

Ryerson is currently selecting an architect to design the new Student Learning Centre, so the final location of Sam’s neon records hasn’t yet been chosen.

“Our agreement is that the signs will be incorporated into the complex somewhere,” says Magnone. “It will be a challenge, but they’ll live on as a cool reminder to some of us who grew up with them.”

Print | Email | Comment