R. L. Hearn Generating Station

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 440 Unwin Ave.
Date: Dec 2014
Website:  www.portlandsenergycentre.com

   From several places around Toronto you can spot a rather large structure.  No, this is not the city's famous CN Tower.  Just in front of the Leslie Spit, the R. L. Hearn Generating Station sits relatively unobstructed.  At 705 feet tall, it's chimney is the 3rd tallest in Canada   That is over 64 stories high.  It still has a long way to go to beat the Inco Superstack in Sudbury, Ontario which is over 1200 feet and is the second tallest chimney in the world.  In case you were wondering a power station in Kazakhstan has the world's tallest chimney at just under 1400 feet.

  The R. L. Hearn Generating Station was built to meet Toronto's power needs.  It was named after Toronto engineer Richard Lankaster Hearn.  The building was originally a coal powered station and eventually became a natural gas powered station up until it was finally closed in 1983.  The huge chimney was built in the early 70s to try and reduce the smog output.  Since its closure the location is occasionally used as a venue for events such as Luminato in June 2014 and 2015.  Right next door, the much smaller Portlands Energy Centre (building with 2 small chimneys above) currently helps generate some of the power needed to keep Toronto going.

  While the chimney has made its way into many of our photographs, we decided it was time to give the building a closer look.  So we took a drive down to Toronto's Portlands.  This area is also home to Cherry Beach, the Leslie Spit, Polson Pier and Pinewood Toronto Studios.

  In 1983 the movie Strange Brew was released.  The Hearn Generating Station was used as the Elsinore Brewery exterior in that film.  Since the station also shut down in 1983, this would have saved them from countless Bob & Doug McKenzie fans showing up and claiming to have found a mouse in their beer.

---

Map of Our World
R. L. Hearn Generating Station

---

Post # 57

Flying Gremlin Attack

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

  In Gremlins 2 there are all sorts of gremlins loose in a science lab.  The poor Futtermans, who surprisingly survived the first movie, are in New York visiting Billy & Kate.  Once again they find themselves in a situation with one of the creatures.  As a result of one gremlin becoming mixed with a bat and some genetic sunblock it flies out into the city.  The Futtermans are standing in front of  the Cathedral of Saint Eva Marie when it swoops down from the sky.  The joke here is that Eva Marie Saint is an Academy Award winning actress for her work in On The Waterfront.

  This scene was filmed on New York Street at Warner Brothers Studios.  The gremlin flies down and attacks Mr. Futterman in front of A Taste Of Greece restaurant.  This was located just to the right of the awning in the photo above.  He struggles with the gremlin as they move down the sidewalk past two big store windows.  He finally manages to get the better of the gremlin and dunks him into some freshly poured concrete.  This happens at the end of the block in front of the entrance to the building below and just behind the pillar on the left.  The gremlin gets covered in concrete but still manages to fly up and land back on the church before the concrete finally hardens and he becomes a permanent gargoyle.  Concrete?  Reviewing our gremlin rules we know that you never want to get them wet or they will multiply.  We also know that concrete is a mixture of water and cement.  This scene could have ended quite differently. 

    The front of this building may already be familiar to fans of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  It served as the Daily Planet newspaper building, but in the picture above it is missing it's giant metal globe.  The stars of the show were a pre-Desperate Housewives Teri Hatcher as Lois and Dean Cain as Superman. 

---

See more locations from the Warner Bros. Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
Flying Gremlin Attack

---

Post # 56

Clamp Center

Location: New York, New York, USA
Address: 101 Park Ave.
Date: Nov 2014
Website:  www.101park.com

  Gremlins 2 takes place primarily inside one skyscraper.  In the movie it is Clamp Center, but in reality it is 101 Park Avenue in New York City.  The main tenant is Clamp Enterprises and they are involved in all sorts of scientific testing.  Mix Gizmo the mogwai with a little water and then some eating after midnight and eventually the building is crawling with gremlins.  Unlike the original Gremlins, the sequel is out of control.  It seems that any idea is fair game and nothing ends up on the cutting room floor.  As a result we end up with a new batch of gremlins. These include a spider gremlin, a flying gremlin, an electric gremlin, a vegetable gremlin and even one that sounds like Felix from The Odd Couple.
 

  In one scene you can see Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) crossing the street and Grand Central Station is visible behind them.  This is because the real building is just south of Grand Central.  Also visible in the movie is the big 101 over the main entrance.  The CEO of Clamp Enterprises decides to hang a huge curtain over this entrance and trick the gremlins into thinking it is night time.  Once all of the gremlins have congregated in the lobby then the curtain will be dropped and they will meet their demise.  If you are unfamiliar with the rules pertaining to mogwai and gremlins please watch the original Gremlins movie.
  If you are in New York and visiting Grand Central Station then you are just a short walk from where all the mayhem of Gremlins 2 took place.  Now let's join Tony Randall and the gremlins in a rousing chorus of the classic Frank Sinatra tune "New York, New York".

---

Map of Our World
Clamp Center

---

Post # 55