So many people have expressed an interest in the so-called Cube House at 1 Sumach Street. I just saw this article in blogTO and wanted to repost it here for those interested in a recent update regarding the house’s future.
The author of this article is Jack Landau, writing for blogTO.
Toronto’s iconic Cube House to be Demolished but Not Completely Lost
The fate of Toronto’s iconic Cube House seems sealed, but a new company that has taken the helm of the forthcoming redevelopment is considering paying homage to the soon-to-be-demolished structure in a fun and creative way.
The eccentric structure at 1 Sumach Street was built in 1996 with an unconventional design by architect Ben Kutner and his partner Jeff Brown, inspired by Dutch architect Piet Blom’s similar works in Rotterdam and Helmond.
While beloved by many architecture enthusiasts, the building was first threatened when a proposal for the site planned for the current structure to be torn down and replaced with a new (and unique in its own right) 35-storey tower.
Block Developments acquired the site from previous developer Markee in 2023, and the company shared more details about the future of the Cube House in a press release on Thursday.
Block states that it has “been working closely with engineers and inspectors to explore ways to safely preserve the Cube House,” amid campaigns to save the heritage-listed landmark, but failed to find a solution that retained the beloved building.
However, the Cube House is set to live on in an unexpected way, as Block announced that it had partnered up with local artist Benjamin Von Wong to reimagine the structure following its impending demolition.
“After exploring multiple paths for the Cube House’s future, it became clear that it could not be safely preserved. Instead, we have chosen to continue its legacy through this collaboration with Benjamin,” says Joseph Reichmann, Chief Development Officer of Block Developments, adding, “We look forward to seeing where his creative process takes us.”
Von Wong is best known for his works that transform recycled and reclaimed materials into sculptural art, including his well-received “E-Waste Generator,” currently running as part of Arcadia Earth’s Toronto Exhibit.
Von Wong’s work on the upcoming 1 Sumach project will see materials from the Cube House repurposed into a sculptural artwork intended to extend the structure’s legacy well past its demise.
“I’ve always tried to create art that triggers a sense of shock, awe and wonder,” says Von Wong.
“The Cube house does all three, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to repurpose and reimagine what a future metamorphosis could look like in this creative partnership with Block Development that respects both the community and its legacy.”
“The cube house was originally envisioned as an urban community – but as that chapter closes and a new one opens up, I’m excited to see how we can honour that legacy as we design an installation that explores new ways we relate to ourselves, each other and the world around us.”
Joseph Reichmann stated that the team is “excited to partner with Benjamin to reimagine the Cube House in a way that honours its architectural significance while embracing the future of the site.”
The new project planned to replace the Cube House is expected to bring a mix of market-rate rentals, condos, and affordable housing to the site.
According to Block, “Plans for the overall development site are still under development,” and the developer is working with the City “to present a vision that will bring much-needed housing and community amenities to the neighbourhood. The developer is also exploring the possibility of including a grocery store, as well as various housing options.”
At 189 Yonge Street we find the fabulous Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. These are separate theatres located in the same building: the Winter Garden is located seven storeys above the Elgin, which is at street level. They are the last surviving Edwardian stacked theatres in the world.
Hallway to theatre lobby
A Bit of History
Currently owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, the pair of theatres were originally built as the flagship of Marcus Loew’s theatre chain in 1913. The building was designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, who also designed the Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly named the Pantages Theatre). The Elgin Theatre has a seating capacity of 2,149, while the Winter Garden Theatre seats a maximum of 1,410.
Lobby of the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre
Before construction of the stacked theatres, Marcus Loew intended to rent out the Yonge Street frontage as commercial space, but the dimensions contravened a 1912 Toronto bylaw. To bypass the bylaw, Thomas Lamb had to file drawings with the City Architect’s Office that showed a “sham” entrance on Victoria Street. Today, the Victoria Street entrance is still used — as the stage door.
Both theatres were built to host vaudeville acts and the short silent movies of the time. Each theatre was intended for a different class of patron. The gold-and-marble, domed, “hard-top” lower theatre (originally called Loew’s Yonge Street Theatre) was home to continuous vaudeville and movies. The theatres played host to such greats as George Burns & Gracie Allen, Sophie Tucker, Milton Berle and Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy.
The Elgin
The classical architecture of the Elgin was typical of vaudeville stages, set apart by its lavish interiors. Renowned for its warmth of colour and coziness, it was decorated in modern French Renaissance style – with gilt, imitation marble, red damask and ornamental plasterwork of festooned grapes, ribbons and musical instruments.
In 1939, the Elgin held the premieres of classic films such as The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. It would continue to be open for the public from the end of World War II into the late 1970s, but as a cinema the theatre was facing high taxes. Even in 1940, as it lost money, the Elgin was beginning its journey towards degradation as the splendour of the old vaudeville days was starting to fade.
The Winter Garden
The upper-level Winter Garden is an “atmospheric” country garden under the stars, painted with murals of plants and garden trellises, with tree trunk columns and lantern lights. This upper theatre was originally built for the “big time” vaudeville market and had reserved seats at premium prices, catering to affluent patrons. As well as competing in a different market, the upper theatre could be used for experimentation with acts, without the risk of closing the lower theatre.
Decline and Closure
With the decline of vaudeville, the Winter Garden closed in 1928. It remained closed for more than half a century, becoming a time capsule of a bygone era. The lower-level Elgin, with its grand domed ceiling, continued as a movie house, gradually slipping into disrepair with the passing of each decade. After closure there was left inside a large collection of vaudeville flats and scenery, now the world’s largest surviving collection.
In 1969, Loews sold the Elgin to Famous Players. By the late 1970s, the Elgin was showing mainly B movies and soft-core pornography. In 1981, the Ontario Heritage Foundation bought the structure from Famous Players. The Elgin was closed as a movie theatre on November 15, 1981; the final film presented at the theatre was the erotic sex comedy What the Swedish Butler Saw.
From March 1985 through March 1987 the musical Cats was very successfully presented in the essentially unrestored Elgin, showing the viability of the theatre. Cats went on to gross nearly $22 million in ticket sales, making it one of Toronto’s most successful commercial shows.
Rebirth
Later in 1987, a $29-million restoration began in both theatres, directed by architect Mandel Sprachman; this was the largest theatre restoration ever undertaken in Canada. The gilt plaster detail work in the Elgin required more than 300,000 wafer-thin sheets of aluminum leaf. The walls of the Winter Garden had to be cleaned using hundreds of pounds of raw bread dough to avoid damaging the original hand-painted watercolour artwork. More than 65,000 square feet of new space was created, including lobby and lounge areas and an eight-storey backstage pavilion housing modern dressing rooms and two rehearsal halls. The theatres reopened to much acclaim in 1989.
The Elgin had suffered extensive alterations through its declining years of use as a movie theatre. The proscenium arch had been destroyed to accommodate a wider screen and the opera boxes had disappeared. With the original architectural drawings and archival photographs as reference points, the interior of the Elgin with its gilt ornamental plaster surfaces, red damask wall coverings and imitation marble features was painstakingly restored or reconstructed.
Historical Photos
Out front of Loew’s Yonge Street theatre in the 1920s Photo: Toronto Transit Commission Archives
The decaying structure of the The Winter Garden, 1967 Photo: Toronto Star Archives
The Elgin undergoing its extensive renovations in 1987 Photo: Toronto Star Archives
Here’s an excellent short video detailing the history, decline and rebirth of these beautiful theatres:
The Elgin and Winter Garden theatre building is a National Historic Site of Canada, and the theatres remain one of Canada’s finest theatrical stage complexes. A sampling of shows that have been presented here includes:
The Wizard of Oz
Kenneth Branagh’s King Lear
Robin Philips’ production of Aspects of Love
The North American premiere of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond
Napoleon
George F. Walker’s Nothing Sacred
The Who’s Tommy
STOMP
Forever Tango
Tap Dogs
Mikhail Baryshnikov and the White Oak Dance Project
Grease
The Full Monty
Stones in His Pockets
The Drawer Boy
Copenhagen
Rent
Avenue Q
Tuesdays with Morri
Various productions by Opera Atelier, the Canadian Opera Company and Ross Petty Productions
The theatres have also presented musical and comedy concerts, lectures, award presentations, gala screenings from the Toronto International Film Festival and a variety of special events and receptions.
The marvelous ceiling in The Elgin Theatre
A Haunted Elgin/Winter Garden?
According to the website TorontoGhosts.org, a number of paranormal occurrences in the theatres have been reported over the years, including:
A workman in the theatres watched once as a group of theatre seats in the Winter Garden folded down as if an unseen audience had just sat down to watch a performance, and then, moments after, returned to their normal position.
The hand operated elevators, which supposedly require an operator to move, will suddenly start up by themselves and go to various floors for no apparent reason. Staff have either experienced this themselves or know someone closely who has.
Many staff and a few theatre patrons have reported an apparition of a woman in Edwardian clothing appearing in the lobby and remaining long enough to be witnessed by a few before disappearing.
Some of the volunteers doing the renovation conducted a session with a Ouija Board. Almost as soon as they started, a ghost named “Samuel” identified himself. He had been a trombone player in 1918 who had passed away by falling into the orchestra pit of the Elgin. The volunteers asked if there were any other spirits there. He said yes, but when they asked to talk to them, he refused.
If you’re still reading this – thank you! I realize this has been a long-ish post but with such a fantastic subject, it’s easy to get a little carried away – the building is certainly deserving of architectural praise. We are so very fortunate to have this historic, gorgeous theatre complex in our city and shouldn’t take it for granted. The Elgin and Winter Garden came very close to being demolished like so many of Toronto’s heritage buildings… and that would truly have been a shame.
Outside the Pier 27 Condos, located at 29 Queen’s Quay East, there are two intriguing installations, both the work of Alice Aycock.
A Series of Whirlpool Field Manoeuvres for Pier 27
This was Phase 1 of the project, completed in 2017. The Toronto Twister is made of structural steel with aluminum powder coated white. It is 25 feet tall at its highest point:
Unweaving The Rainbow
The second phase of the project was installed in 2021 outside the Pier 27 Condos:
The Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden is found on the 14th floor Atrium of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre at 610 University Avenue. I should mention that the Healing Garden is not to be confused with the Max Tanenbaum Sculpture Garden at the Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital (click here for my earlier post on the Sculpture Garden).
A view of the Healing Garden from above Illustration: Janet Rosenberg & StudioArtist’s interpretation of the Garden from above. The viewing Atrium is on the right. Illustration: Janet Rosenberg & Studio
The Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden officially opened on November 10th, 2014. It was established by the Tauba and Solomon Spiro Family Foundation in honour of Tauba’s father, Max Tanenbaum, a noted businessman and philanthropist who loved nature and the outdoors. Created as a year-round oasis for patients and visitors at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, the Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden is a creative way to honour those who have been affected by cancer.
The challenge was to create a natural and beautiful space without using live plants in order to ensure a pleasing, year-round, no-maintenance garden on the 14th floor Atrium of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
In response to this challenge came the design from Janet Rosenberg and Studio. The Studio design uses the strong, cultivated patterns of formal French gardens and incorporates the artistry of hand-blown glass flowers, enclosed by an artificial boxwood hedge. The vertical walls feature decorative panels that add another visual dimension and unify a garden rich in colour, creativity and natural forms:
The hand blown glass flowers have each been created to blend together in a colourful garden that resembles a rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple are all represented in the garden with flowers that carry one colour or a blend of multiple colours and tones:
Here’s a short video of the Healing Garden:
Flowers can be dedicated via a monetary gift to the Cancer Centre. Here’s a little info from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre’s web page:
Secure a flower in The Max Tanenbaum Healing Garden with a gift of $1,000 and dedicate it to a loved one. If you would like to make more than one dedication, then you may secure multiple flowers; each flower can be dedicated with a donation of $1,000.
The Healing Garden is a display of honour, hope and healing and is a tribute to the many loved ones who have been affected by cancer. Every flower helps us to continue making advancements in patient care at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and carry out our mission to Conquer Cancer In Our Lifetime.
There are a limited number of flowers available – To ensure that you are a part of this beautiful display, please make your gift today. You can also call (437) 225-1711 to secure your flower over the phone.
The last time I walked down The Esplanade, I was struck by how many new condos have sprung up in that neighbourhood. I thought it may be interesting to put together a little photo journal of the structures I encountered that day.
More condos going upNovotel, on The EsplanadeNovotel, on The EsplanadeNovotel, on The EsplanadeIn behind Meridian Hall (aka The Okeefe Centre/Hummingbird Centre/Sony Centre… take your pick)“Eagle V. 1” by Dean Drever, 2018. 1 The Esplanade, southeast corner of The Esplanade and Yonge Street. I had not noticed this remarkable sculpture until I turned around and looked behind me.Reflections from Front Street EastReflections in Commerce CourtKing Street West and Yonge Street
A few years ago on a crisp, early Spring day, I crossed the Toronto Harbour and visited the Toronto Islands – Centre Island to be exact. I was curious to see how quiet things might be prior to the imminent mass invasion of families and kids from the city.
I wandered through Centreville, the children’s amusement park, marvelling at how deserted it was. I did not see another soul in Centreville that afternoon; it was kind of eerie with no one around, but I enjoyed it:
Centreville was built as part of a master plan to convert the Toronto Islands’ land usage from cottage residences to recreational uses. The park replaced the old Sunnyside Amusement Park, which closed in 1955, as well as Hanlan’s Point Amusement Park, which closed in the 1930s to make way for the Toronto Island Airport. The park opened in 1967.
The park originally had seven rides and has expanded over the years, adding one or two rides a year. The park’s buildings have a 1900s turn-of-the-century village theme:
This 1870s cast iron planter, created to commemorate Queen Victoria’s birthday, was originally located in front of St. Lawrence Market but has been relocated to the centre of the Park.
Rough Times: Floods and COVID-19
Due to flooding of many areas of the Toronto Islands, Centreville did not open in May 2017. It reopened on July 31, 2017, but three rides were unable to operate: the swan ride, bumper boat ride (due to high water levels) and the train ride (because of flood damage to the tracks). Mosquitos carrying the West Nile virus had been found on the islands but the Toronto Public Health department said that with certain precautions, visitors should not be concerned.
A Park spokesman said that the loss in revenue was CA$8 million due to the flood, and the cost of repairs was estimated at CA$6 million.
In 2020, Centreville and nearby Far Enough Farm were closed for the entire 2020 season due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Both Centreville and Far Enough Farm opened 7 days a week for the 2021 season from July 9, until September 6, 2021. This was two months later than originally planned because of earlier COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
During that 2021 season, Centreville installed fencing and gates around the amusement park area and charged grounds admission fees. Individual ride tickets were not made available for that operating season and only all-day ride passes were offered for anyone going on the amusement rides. All ticket sales moved online as well and needed to be purchased in advance. The park also implemented COVID-19 screening on all visitors and reduced capacity limits.
Centreville: Post-COVID
On a more uplifting note, business appears to be back to normal at Centreville. The marketing plug on their website reads:
With more than 30 rides and attractions and 14 mouth-watering food outlets, Centre Island’s iconic Centreville Amusement Park is the ultimate summer destination for families with young children!
Surrounded by 600 acres of gorgeous parkland and just across the harbour from the City of Toronto, you and your family can spin yourself silly in the Twirling Tea Cups, take a plunge in the Log Flume or bounce around in Bumper Boats and Bumper Cars – plus don’t forget to ride our Antique Carousel!
The Toronto Island Park is operated by the City of Toronto and open year round. Centreville Amusement Park is located within the Park and operated by William Beasley Enterprises Ltd.; it is open seasonally between May and September.
Tickets and passes for the Centreville Amusement Park can be purchased online or at the front gates.
Underpass Park is truly an interesting and unique place in Toronto. Opened on August 2, 2012, the Park is located under the Eastern Avenue, Richmond and Adelaide overpasses. The actual address is 168 Eastern Avenue.
Designed to transform derelict and underused space, the park takes full advantage of the concrete beams and columns of the overpasses to create a unique and inviting community asset and provide year round weather protection.
This unique public space is part of Waterfront Toronto’s revitalization efforts of the West Don Lands neighbourhood. It serves to link Corktown Common, River Square and the neighbourhoods of both sides of the overpass complex through the provision of safe and animated public realm design.
Mirage
A public art layer was integrated into the underside of the structure to interact with the lighting scheme and to reduce the oppressive character of the heavy structures above. A portion of the overpass ceiling is adorned with a reflective public art piece entitled Mirage, created by Paul Raff Studio in 2012. This mirrored artwork dramatically brightens the covered spaces, adding to the interplay of natural light during the day and becoming its own piece of magic at night when the park lighting scheme is fully employed.
The artwork on the ceiling of the park uses the unique condition of the site to recreate a naturally occurring optical illusion that blurs the boundary between ground and sky.
Playground & Recreation Facilities
A sizable playground is located in the middle section of the park, between St. Lawrence Street and River Street. The eastern-most section of the park, east of River Street, includes two basketball half-courts, and an extensive skatepark featuring a series of obstacles, rails and ledges. There is also a flexible open space that can be used for community events:
Basketball half-courts
The Locals
Several of the figures on the pillars are caricatures of local residents:
Designed by landscape architects PFS Studio with The Planning Partnership, Underpass Park is part of an ongoing effort to transform pockets of neglected urban spaces on the waterfront into valued public amenities.
The Park is another project of the developer WaterfrontToronto, a joint effort of the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments, created in 2001. Their focus is to create parks, public art, infrastructure and buildings that combine to create vibrant waterfront neighbourhoods, for example, The Bentway and Underpass Park; these gave unused spaces a new life.
Underpass Park is the 18th public space that the WaterfrontToronto group has built or revitalized since 2005 in the Toronto waterfront district.
Back on December 6, 2022 I published a post about the colourful murals outside a semi-neglected, mostly-deserted building on the southwest corner of Jarvis Street and Queen Street East (141 Queen Street East, to be exact). The only merchant in this sketchy-looking place is the iPot Cannabis store; a parking lot consumes the rest of the space outside the building.
I hadn’t been down to this area for over a year, but I found myself passing through there last weekend. I noticed that many of the murals had changed. Here are the latest:
I would have captured a few more shots but I surprised a couple of cracked-out zombies as I rounded the corner of the building, and they weren’t very receptive to my presence.
I like to revisit some of the urban mural sites every so often to catch up on the artists’ latest creations; I’m glad I chose that particular route home that day.
In 2018, Paul Raff Studios installed a sculpture entitled Hours of the Day. The piece honours Ontario’s correctional workers who have fallen in the line of duty.
The “sheets” are actual sculptural representations of the angles of the sun as it moves over the hours of the day, month, season and year, forming a kind of a three-dimensional sundial.
The sculptor of the piece – Paul Raff – remarks that:
…one doesn’t need to read the time with it, but what it does do is speak to the theme of time, which to me was the most important and essential theme in recognizing the vital role that correctional workers play in the health of our society. It is this contribution, of the hours of service, that we felt needed to be articulated in the sculptural form.
The geometry of the sculpture is derived from a very specific and elaborate computer program which tracks the angles of the sun throughout the day.
What I love about [the sculpture is that with its very accurate, high tech, three-dimensional mapping, it actually strikes a remarkably unique figure that offers a lot of visual richness. It looks different from every angle, unfolding for pedestrians as they commute past it, looking different on their way to work than on their way home. It looks different at different times of the day, and in different light.
The sculpture is situated by Queen’s Park Crescent East, near the Legislative Assembly:
The Chapel of St. James-the-Less is located at 635 Parliament Street, in the grounds of the St. James’ Cemetery and Crematorium. It is a mid-19th-century funeral chapel built of stone in the High Victorian Gothic Revival style. The chapel is picturesquely set atop a small landscaped knoll, just inside the main gates of the cemetery.
The Chapel of St. James-the-Less was designated a national historic site in 1990 because this small funeral chapel is a splendid example of High Victorian Gothic design.
Designed by prominent Toronto architects Cumberland and Storm, St. James-the-Less exemplifies the small chapels built in the High Victorian Gothic Revival style. It maintains the liturgically correct interior, steep roof and prominent tower of earlier Gothic Revival designs, but presents its component parts in a manner that is both dramatic and harmonious.
The chapel is enhanced by its elevated site and the picturesque setting of St. James’ Cemetery, laid out by John G. Howard in 1842.
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements contributing to the heritage value of the Chapel of St. James-the-Less include:
its rectangular plan, typical of small parish churches in the High Victorian Gothic Revival style, with a nave, porch, tower and transept;
the clear articulation of its component parts, the nave, the porch, the tower, the transept and the prominent roof;
features typical of Gothic Revival churches, including, the steeply pitched roof with deep caves and low sidewalls, the Gothic-arched openings that are often paired, the use of buttresses, and the pinnacles executed in both stone and cast-iron;
its rough-cut stone walls;
the deep entrance porch, with its steeply pitched roof, low eaves, and intricate woodwork;
the short, square belltower set to the side and topped by a tall, thin broach spire with triangular dormers;
its fenestration patterns and windows, including, the deep-set trefoil side windows with stained glass, the stained-glass chancel windows, and the triangular roof dormers;
its materials, including Georgetown grey sandstone, white brick, Ohio stone trim, slate roofing, and wooden porch;
its interior finishes, including the exposed timbers of the roof structure and the wood panelling;
its siting on a slight rise;
its setting within the picturesque grounds of St. James Cemetery.
Chapel Interior
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, February 1990
This is such a lovely part of the city. I love how they fixed up that square and the fountain…