Ophelia (242-262 Queen St S) | 11 fl | U/C

[dtkmelissa]

That picture really illustrates how much larger older buildings were. The York building is only 7 floors while Ophelia is 11, yet they're roughly the same height. The York is 100000 times nicer, with unique architecture and original interiors. Ophelia is small, generic and bland, like a fast food burger and by the time it gets to the age of the York building, it'll probably be falling apart.

Ophelia is doomed by being ordinary? But it's a mid-market apartment building, designed to provide housing for people without high incomes. It's certainly not offensive, and looks far better than DTK, let alone the Waterloo student buildings.

The York has unique features and nice interiors. But that is to be expected. It was very much a high-end luxury building when it was built in 1928, and, as the tallest building in the city, a flagship, with elevators and dumbwaiters etc. This is like saying that a classic Rolls Royce is 100000 times nicer than a modern Corolla, which provides mobility to millions of people. It's simply an apples and oranges comparison.

See here what the York was all about:
https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/oha/d...le?id=5012

Hmm, this line from that history is not one I see very often in local media anymore!  "The new building was viewed as a large structure that would be a benefit to the community"