St. Lawrence Hall is a meeting hall 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 Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, located at the corner of King Street East and

Jarvis Street Jarvis Street is a north-south thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, passing through some of the oldest developed areas in the city. Its alignment extends from Queens Quay East in the south to Bloor Street in the north. The segment ...

. 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

King Street looking west with St Lawrence Hall

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

Joseph Bloor Joseph Bloor (or Bloore) (1789–1862) was an innkeeper, brewer, and land speculator in the 19th century who founded the Village of Yorkville, Toronto, Yorkville and is the namesake for Toronto's Bloor Street. Originally from Staffordshire, Engla ...

's Farmer's Arms Inn from 1824 to 1831. The Great Fire of Toronto in 1849 caused the northern portions of this building to be pulled down, leading to the building of the current

St. Lawrence Market St. Lawrence Market is a major market (place), public market in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Front Street (Toronto), Front Street East and Jarvis Street in the St. Lawrence, Toronto, St. Lawrence neighbourhood of downtown Toront ...

in 1850 a block south at what was then Palace Street, and today is known as Front Street. The vacated area at the corner of King and Jarvis was in the heart of the growing community. The new

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style building was designed by William Thomas. It was here that prominent politicians such as

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

and

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Fathers of Confederation The Fathers of Confederation are the 36 people who attended at least one of the Charlottetown Conference, Charlottetown Conference of 1864 (23 attendees), the Quebec Conference, 1864, Quebec Conference of 1864 (33 attendees), and the London Conf ...

, 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 National Ballet. The

City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the ''City of Toron ...

fully restored the hall in 1967 to mark the Centennial of Confederation (and rebuilt the east wing which had completely collapsed). That same year it was designated as a National Historic Site. The first two

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s ceremonies were presented here in 1970 and 1971. A remote detonated explosion, standing in for the groundbreaking of

Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting, Taft Broadcasting Company and the Gr ...

theme park in the York Region town of

Maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

, took place from the Hall. The site is protected under Part IV of 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 ...

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".

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 Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

, the central Roman temple that consists of the

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

, four engaged

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

, and the three arches underneath very closely resemble the work of an Italian Classist architect,

Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be on ...

. The symmetrical composition of building elements is also a defining characteristic of Renaissance architecture. The

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 A mansard or mansard roof (also called French roof or curb roof) is a multi-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper, and often punctured by dormer wi ...

due to abundant snowfall in Ontario. The ornamental

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

on top of the main hall is another feature of the Hall.

References

External links

Emporis ListingParks Canada – Information on St. Lawrence Hall as part of Toronto National Historic Sites Urban Walks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence Hall Municipal buildings in Toronto William Thomas (architect) buildings Neoclassical architecture in Canada Renaissance Revival architecture in Canada Buildings and structures completed in 1850 1851 establishments in Canada West National Historic Sites in Ontario

History

Architect and architecture

See also

References

External links