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The Masonic Temple (branded & operated as The Concert Hall since 2017) is a
hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-west corner of
Davenport Road Davenport Road is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is believed to be the oldest road in Toronto, starting as a native trail called "old portage" along the shoreline scarp of Glacial Lake Iroquois. It currently run ...
and
Yonge Street Yonge Street ( ') 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. Ontario's first colonial administrator, ...
.


History

Construction began November 2, 1916, when the contract was signed and approved by the Board of The Masonic Temple Company for the tearing down of an existing church and excavation. The Masonic ceremony of laying the cornerstone occurring November 17, 1917, with the first Lodge meeting taking place on New Year's Day, 1918. At its peak, the Masonic Temple was home to 38 different Masonic bodies: 27 Craft Lodges, six Chapters (
York Rite In Anglo-American Freemasonry, York Rite, sometimes referred to as the American Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. It is named after York, in Yorkshire, England, where the Rite was supposedly first practiced. A Rite is a series of ...
), two Preceptories (
Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...
), two
Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...
Bodies and Adoniram Council. The hall functioned as a
ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called ''balls''. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially histori ...
in the 1930s and began to host rock acts in the late 1960s. In the years before its sale to CTV, the building housed live music clubs known as The Concert Hall, and in the 1960s, Club 888 and The Rock Pile, a sitting-on-the-floor style concert venue that featured not only showcases for top local talent but also appearances by major international recording stars, including Toronto's first
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
concert on February 2, 1969, during the band's inaugural North American Tour. Although the location remained historically significant and was added to the City of Toronto Heritage Property Inventory in 1974, the building has changed hands a number of times. In 1997, it was threatened with demolition: a developer had planned a new highrise residential building marketed to Asians, solely to exploit its " lucky" address of 888 Yonge Street, It was designated under the ''
Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Canadian Province of Ontario, as being of cultural heritage ...
'' in the same year. Also in the 1990s, the studio was the home of ''
Open Mike with Mike Bullard ''Open Mike with Mike Bullard'' is a Canadian late-night talk show which was broadcast on The Comedy Network 1997 to 2003 and also aired on the full CTV Television Network beginning in 1998. For a time it overtook ''The Tonight Show with Jay Le ...
'', and was one of CTV Toronto's news bureaus. Also, notably, it has been rented as a rehearsal space by the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
. From March 2006, the building became the broadcast home of the new
MTV Canada MTV was a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel formerly owned by Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. with the name and branding used under a licensing agreement with Paramount Global. Originally devoted to talk, lifestyle, d ...
and has hosted the
Polaris Music Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize. The prize was inc ...
since 2009. The building's fate was once again placed under a cloud on November 2, 2012, when Bell Media announced the moving of MTV Canada studio production to
299 Queen Street West 299 Queen Street West, also known as Bell Media Queen Street or Bell Media Studios, is the headquarters of the television/radio broadcast hub of Bell Canada's media unit, Bell Media, and is located at the intersection of Queen Street West and J ...
and that the building would be sold, possibly for condominiums. Bell Media officially listed the property for sale on March 4, 2013. On June 17, 2013, the building was purchased by the Info-Tech Research Group for $12.5 million. Info-Tech announced that its plans for the building include staging an annual charity rock concert in the auditorium. In 2017, as part of the press for the
Toronto Jazz Festival The Toronto Jazz Festival is a jazz event in Toronto which takes place for 10 days in late June through early July. Like the Beaches International Jazz Festival, most of the events are outdoors and located throughout the downtown core. The hub of th ...
, it was announced that 888yonge Inc., operating as The Concert Hall, intended to re-establish itself as a premier Toronto events space, year-round, and open to the public. From 2018 to 2023, the venue leased its space for the Sunday services of Hillsong Canada, a
charismatic Christian Charismatic Christianity is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit in Christianity, Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts as an everyday part of a believer's life. It has a global presence in the Christian community. Practit ...
megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Evangelical, although the term denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. A megachurch draws 2 ...
pastored by Damian and Julie Bassett. The church's inaugural service was held on September 23, 2018. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, in-person services were suspended on March 15, 2020, and resumed with health and safety measures on July 11, 2021. The church's final service at The Concert Hall was held on May 28, 2023.


References


External links


888Yonge.com - Official website


{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Toronto Masonic buildings in Canada Music venues in Toronto Television studios in Canada Masonic buildings completed in 1917 City of Toronto Heritage Properties