Recording Hart Massey’s Factory and Concert Hall
In 1986, I photographed the historic, sprawling Massey Ferguson farm machinery plant in Toronto just as demolition work was getting underway.
Staying one step ahead of the wreckers, I was able to include views of the original loft workshops erected in 1879 to house Hart Massey’s rapidly expanding Massey Manufacturing Company. These historic workshops were buried within the South Plant, a warren of buildings at the corner King Street West and Strachan Avenue.
The Massey plant comprised 30 buildings linked by tunnels and land bridges. I was still much affected by long hours spent inside this melancholy precinct when, in 1987, I was commissioned by the Toronto and Region Architectural Conservancy to photograph the fly loft of Massey Hall. On arrival, I was amused to rediscover the factory’s