Toronto Board of Trade Building

The Board of Trade Building was one of the first skyscrapers in Toronto, Canada at seven stories, and home to the Toronto Board of Trade and the Toronto Transit Commission. Located on the corner of Front Street West and Yonge Street, it was completed in 1892.

It was designed by the American architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge.[1] There was considerable controversy about the award of the design contract; the Board of Trade wanted to build a skyscraper like those in New York, Chicago and Boston, and they favored an American architect over Canadian-based ones, supposedly on the basis of experience with tall buildings. The first design by James and James of New York collapsed during construction.[2]

The Board of Trade Building was soon eclipsed in 1894 by the Beard Building and then in 1895 by the ten-story Temple Building on Bay Street.[3]

It was demolished in 1958. The lot is now occupied by the EDS office tower.

References

  1. ^ CAB Archt Ed 4, (June 1891): 65 and supplement no. 6;
  2. ^ Carr, Angela (1995) Toronto Architect Edmund Burke: Redefining Canadian Architecture McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, ISBN 0-7735-1217-9 p. 110;
  3. ^ Careless, J.M.S. (1984) Toronto to 1918: An Illustrated History James Lorimer and Company, Toronto, ISBN 0-88862-665-7 p.21;

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