Showing posts with label Toronto General Post Office. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto General Post Office. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Lost Buildings of Toronto

Chorley Park







Built: 1915 (started in 1911)
Demolished: 1961
What exists there now: Parkland
Why it's missed: Chorley Park was the fourth and last official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Architect F.R. Heakes modelled it after the chateaux of the Loire Valley. The opulent building closed in 1937 due to the high maintenance costs. It served a few other uses before being razed.

Board of Trade Building
 Built: 1892
Demolished: 1958
What exists there now: EDS Building
Why it's missed: Designed by New York's James & James firm, the Board of Trade held a prominent place on the northeast corner of Yonge and Front streets. The rounded building was the perfect companion to the Flatiron a couple of streets away.
Grand Opera House

 Built: 1874 Demolished: 1927 What exists there now: Scotia Plaza Why it's missed: A fabulous Second Empire-style building with an an intriguing history courtesy of one-time owner Ambrose Small, the millionaire that one day up and vanished, nothing like it remains in Toronto.
Old Union Station

View of Union Station from waterfront


Built: 1873
Demolished: 1931
What exists there now: Citigroup Place
Why it's missed: As wonderful as the current Union Station is, think of what it'd be like to have the previous iteration of the station preserved and used for another purpose.

The Crystal Palace, 1879-1906

 After attending a preview of the first CNE, a reporter for the Globe newspaper stated that: The ground floor of the Crystal Palace will be devoted to musical instruments, gas fittings, saddlery, hardware, chinaware, billiard tables, etc.

Toronto General Post Office


 Built: 1873
Demolished: 1958
What exists there now: State Street Financial Centre
Why it's missed: This was Toronto's 8th post office and acted as the summit of the gorgeous Toronto St. Designed by Henry Langley, it was one of the city's most ornate Second Empire buildings.

Trinity College Campus
 
Trinity College 1929


In  1912, the City of Toronto purchased the 32-acre site where Trinity College was located. In 1925, Trinity College relocated to the campus of the University of Toronto. Some of the buildings on the former site were renovated to accommodate other purposes, but the structures suffered from lack of proper maintenance. In 1929, a fire caused extensive damage to them. However, the buildings survived until 1956, when they were all demolished except for St. Hilda’s College. It became a community centre and survives to this day. 

The site of the demolished buildings of Trinity College is today named Trinity Bellwoods Park. The most visible reminder of the former campus of Trinity College is the impressive gateway on Queen Street, erected in 1905-1906, designed by Frank Darling. In the modern era, they provide the main entrance to the spacious park. 
 Hanlan Hotel, located on the Toronto Islands, Lake Ontario, Canada
 This 1889 map depicts Hanlan’s Point and the hotel on the northern tip of the small eastern peninsula. Map by R. L. Polk and Company, Toronto Archives. Landfill joined these two small peninsulas into one land mass and the area to the north of Hanlan’s Hotel was eve eventually filled in, and is where the airport on the Island is located today.
Armoury
1891 1963 University Avenue and Armoury Street
 
 The above photo of the armouries is from the Toronto Archives, Fonds 124, Fl0001, Id 0064. The view is of its west facade, on University Avenue.
 
Sketch of the Toronto Armouries dated 1893, from the collection of the Toronto Public Library, r-5511.
Toronto’s armoury was to be located on the east side of University Avenue, a short distance north of Queen Street West, and south of today’s Armoury Street. Thomas Fuller chose the solid Romanesque Revival style of architecture as it was suitably militaristic in appearance, similar to the great fortresses of ancient times.
Built in 1891, the Toronto Armouries officially opened on May 17, 1894 according to the official story but we have a picture from 1893. In the interior of the armouries was a great  drill hall measuring 280’ by 125’, with a ceiling that soared 72’ above the floor.
 
 Links
https://tayloronhistory.com/2015/12/29/the-lost-hanlans-hotel-on-the-toronto-islands/
https://tayloronhistory.com/2016/01/27/torontos-lost-armouries-on-university-avenue/
https://www.blogto.com/city/2010/11/the_top_10_buildings_lost_to_demolition_in_toronto/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lost_buildings_and_structures_in_Toronto
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/05/24/torontos-lost-architecture.html 
https://www.blogto.com/city/2013/11/how_toronto_demolished_the_finest_mansion_in_canada/