The Arcade Building is a ten-storey office building with ground-floor retail in

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont St ...

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 known for the colourful LED lighting that has adorned its facade since 2008. The site was previously an indoor shopping

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

. Opened in 1960, the building is located at 137

Yonge Street Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Great Lakes#Geography, Upper Great Lakes. Once the southernmost ...

at Temperance Street and extends eastward to 74 Victoria Street at Lombard Street. The upper floors are commercial office space. The first floor originally had an arcade-style retail concourse but this was closed in 2008 and the main floor was redeveloped as a GoodLife Fitness centre and office space. The outer facade is steel and glass in the internationalist style.

Original Arcade building

The 1960 building replaced the 1884 Yonge Street Arcade, an indoor shopping mall and commercial building that was demolished in 1954. The original 1884 building, designed by architect Charles A. Walton, is considered to be Canada's first indoor shopping mall, or arcade. The four-storey indoor mall linked Yonge Street and Temperance Streets to Victoria and Lombard Streets one block east. The arcade consisted of 52 retail stores and was intended to compete with the large nearby

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appea ...

. Businesses located at the arcade included the British American Business College on the top two floors, a dentist and a cattle dealer. The facility had two hydraulic elevators at either end of the arcade. The exterior was Ohio cut stone. The arcade was a popular shopping destination for several decades. For a long time prominent signs proclaimed "Nothing over $18", and later, "Nothing over $25". By the 1950s, the building showed its age and the small shops and offices were considered outdated. Two fires damaged the structure in 1953. In January 1954, businesses were given one-month notices to vacate and the building was demolished later that year. The location was previously the site of the Bay Horse Hotel.

Gallery

File:AArcadeYonge.jpg, The original Arcade Building File:Yonge-arcade-interior-1885.jpg, 1885 view of interior of Yonge St Arcade File:Toronto Arcade.jpg, Rendered image of interior of old Arcade

References

{{coord, 43.651211, N, 79.378042, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Toronto Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 Burned buildings and structures in Canada Office buildings completed in 1960