St. Lawrence Hall
St. Lawrence Hall | |
---|---|
City of Toronto | |
Designated | 1967 |
St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at the corner of King Street East and Jarvis Street. It was created to be Toronto's public meeting hall home to public gatherings, concerts, and exhibitions. Its main feature was a thousand-seat amphitheatre. For decades the hall was the centre of Toronto's social life before larger venues took over much of this business. Today the hall continues as a venue for events including weddings, conferences, and art shows.
History
The location was previously part of the Market Square area and had been the site of the first permanent market buildings as well as site of
It was here that prominent politicians such as John A. Macdonald and George Brown, Fathers of Confederation, addressed the people of Toronto. It was the main venue for musicians and other performers who came to the city. The lower levels were integrated into the market and were home to stores and businesses. A third storey section of the building was known as St. Patrick Hall, an important meeting place for the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union.
By the 1870s the growing city had a number of larger and more suitable performance venues and the Hall entered a long decline. It continued to serve a number of roles, including several years as the home of the
A remote detonated explosion, standing in for the groundbreaking of Canada's Wonderland theme park in the York Region town of Maple, took place from the Hall.[4]
The site is protected under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act since 2009. The City of Toronto also notes that the "Front Street right of way at 92 Front Street East is an Archaeologically Sensitive Area".[5]
Architect and architecture
William Thomas (c. 1799–26 December 1860) was an architect of both England and Canada. He immigrated to Toronto with his wife and 10 children from Leamington Spa, England due to the economic crisis in 1837. After his emigration to Toronto, his career as a city engineer and architect prospered. One of his well-recognized successful works in architecture after his settlement is St. Lawrence Hall.
Thomas’ work was undoubtedly influenced by 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, the central Roman temple that consists of the pediment, four engaged Corinthian columns, and the three arches underneath very closely resemble the work of an Italian Classist architect, Andrea Palladio. The symmetrical composition of building elements is also a defining characteristic of Renaissance architecture. The Renaissance Revival was a clear goal of William Thomas, but the Hall reinterpreted the Italination in a vernacular and contemporary manner. St. Lawrence Hall is designed in a Victorian composition with a French mansard roof due to abundant snowfall in Ontario. The ornamental cupola on top of the main hall is another feature of the Hall.
See also
References
- ^ "Toronto National Historic Sites Urban Walks". Parks Canada. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
- ^ St. Lawrence Hall[permanent dead link], Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
- ^ St. Lawrence Hall, National Register of Historic Places
- ^ Cowan, James (September 2001). "View to a thrill". Toronto Life.
- ^ "Heritage Property Detail, Address: 157 KING ST E". City of Toronto Heritage Property Search. City of Toronto. Retrieved October 30, 2018.