The Masonic Temple, also known as the CTV Temple or the MTV Temple, is a six-storey building on the north-west corner of Davenport Road and Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Construction began early in 1917, the Masonic ceremony of laying the cornerstone occurring November 17, 1917 and the first Lodge meeting taking place on New Year's Day, 1918.[1] At its peak, the Masonic Temple was home to 38 different Masonic bodies: 27 Craft Lodges, six Chapters (York Rite), two Preceptories (Knights Templar), two Scottish Rite Bodies and Adoniram Council.[2]
In the years before its sale to CTV, it had been known as The Concert Hall, and earlier, in the late 1960s, The Rockpile, a sitting-on-the-floor style concert venue which featured not only showcases for top local talent, but appearances by major international recording stars, including Toronto's first Led Zeppelin 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's Inventory of Heritage Properties 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.; but it was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act that same year.[3]
Also in the 1990s, the studio was the home of Open Mike with Mike Bullard, and was one of CTV Toronto's news bureaus. Also, notably, it has been rented as a rehearsal space by the Rolling Stones. In March 2006, the building became the broadcast home of the new MTV Canada. Since 2009 it has hosted the Polaris Music Prize.
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