The Whitney Block is a

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor ...

office building located in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It is located across the street from the

Ontario Legislative Building The Ontario Legislative Building (french: L'édifice de l'Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is a structure in central Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It houses the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and the viceregal suite of the Lieutenant Governor ...

, and contains the offices of the

Premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typ ...

and most cabinet ministers. The street address of Whitney Block is 99 Wellesley Street West, though the principal facade faces west towards Queen's Park Crescent and the Ontario Legislature. The building is linked to the legislature by a tunnel under the street, by a bridge to the Macdonald Block, and through there via another tunnel to the subway. The Modern Gothic-

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

structure was built in 1926 by architect F. R. Heakes and the tower was added in 1932. Whitney Block is faced with Queenston limestone. The facade is ornamented by repeated sequences of

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

s, and figures designed by Charles Adamson, which represent abstract ideals like justice, tolerance, wisdom and power, as well as more ordinary pursuits such a mining, forestry, labour, law, education and farming. The floors are made of marble mined in Bancroft. At its completion it was one of the tallest buildings in Toronto. It was originally known as the East Block, but it is now known as the Whitney Block in honour of former

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

James P. Whitney. While no longer used for office space, the tower remains as a distinctive feature of the building and contains one of the few operational hand-cranked elevators remaining in Toronto. The building also once contained a bowling alley and a section set aside for live domestic and farm animals. The Ministries of Natural Resources and Forestry, Government and Consumer Services, and Northern Development and Mines are located at Whitney Block. Other government buildings nearby include: * Mowat Block * Macdonald Block *

Ontario Power Building The Intact Centre is an office building located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that serves as the head offices of Ontario Power Generation and Intact Financial. It was originally built in 1975 for Ontario Hydro (of which OPG is a successor company) a ...

Hearst Block The Macdonald Block Complex is a set of office buildings in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that houses 12 cabinet ministers, 15 Ontario government ministries (as of 2016) and the largest concentration of Ontario public servants. Its address is 900 Ba ...

Frost Building The Frost Building is a curved 7 and 6 storey office building complex on the south east side of Queen's Park Crescent in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building is owned by the Government of Ontario and is part of the large Queen's Park campus. T ...

References

External links

Ontario Parliament Virtual Tours
{{coord, 43.663124, N, 79.389774, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Ontario government buildings Buildings and structures in Toronto