{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox historic site | name = St. Lawrence Hall | native_name = | native_language = | other_name = | etymology = | image = St Lawrence Hall, Toronto (exterior).jpg | caption = St. Lawrence Hall on [[King Street (Toronto)|King Street]] | alt = | locmapin = | coordinates = {{coord|43|39|01|N|79|22|20|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | location = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada | area = | elevation = | founded = | founder = | built = 1850–1851 | restored = 1967 | original_use = | current_use = [[meeting hall]] | architect = [[William Thomas (architect)|William Thomas]] | architecture = Renaissance Revival | governing_body = | owner = [[City of Toronto]] | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | website = | designation1 = National Historic Site of Canada | designation1_offname = | designation1_date = 1967 | designation1_number = | designation2 = Ontario Heritage Act | designation2_offname = | designation2_date = 2009 | designation2_number = }}
'''St. Lawrence Hall''' is a meeting hall in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada, located at the corner of [[King Street (Toronto)|King Street East]] and [[Jarvis Street]]. It was created to be Toronto's public meeting hall home to public gatherings, concerts, and exhibitions. Its main feature was a thousand-seat ballroom. 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== [[File:King Street looking west with St Lawrence Hall.jpg|thumb|left|upright|St. Lawrence Hall, c. 1860. The building was erected in 1850—51, following the [[Great Fire of Toronto (1849)|Great Fire of Toronto]] in 1849.]] 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]]'s Farmer's Arms Inn from 1824 to 1831. The [[Great Fire of Toronto (1849)|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]] in 1850 a block south at what was then Palace Street, and today is known as [[Front Street (Toronto)|Front Street]]. The vacated area at the corner of King and Jarvis was in the heart of the growing community. The new [[Renaissance Revival]] style building was designed by [[William Thomas (architect)|William Thomas]]<ref name="parks">{{cite web |url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/proj/urbain/circuits-walks/index_e.asp?walkid=2&loopid=1&buildingid=28 |title=Toronto National Historic Sites Urban Walks |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606115441/http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/proj/urbain/circuits-walks/index_e.asp?walkid=2&loopid=1&buildingid=28 |archivedate=June 6, 2011 |publisher=Parks Canada}}</ref> who won the commission in an open competition.{{sfn|McArthur |Szamosi |1996 |p=48}}
It was here that prominent politicians such as [[John A. Macdonald]] and [[George Brown (Canadian politician)|George Brown]], [[Fathers of Confederation]], 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 of Canada|National Ballet]]. As a Centennial project, the [[City of Toronto government]] fully restored the hall in 1967 to mark the [[Canadian Centennial|Centennial of Confederation]]. During restoration, the east wing collapsed in March 1967 and was rebuilt.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=March 11, 1967 |title=Section of St. Lawrence Hall falls into busy intersection |page=1}}</ref> That same year it was designated as a [[National Historic Sites of Canada|National Historic Site]].<ref>[http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/lhn-nhs/det_E.asp?oqSID=0561&oqeName=St.+Lawrence+Hall&oqfName=St.+Lawrence+Hall St. Lawrence Hall]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada</ref><ref>[http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=7527&pid=0 St. Lawrence Hall], National Register of Historic Places</ref> The first two [[Juno Award]]s ceremonies were presented here in 1970 and 1971.
A remote detonated explosion, standing in for the groundbreaking of [[Canada's Wonderland]] theme park in the York Region town of [[Maple, Ontario|Maple]], took place from the Hall.<ref name=thrill>{{cite journal|last=Cowan|first=James|title=View to a thrill|journal=Toronto Life|date=September 2001}}</ref>
The site is protected under Part IV of the ''[[Ontario Heritage Act]]'' 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".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://secure.toronto.ca/HeritagePreservation/details.do?folderRsn=2434439&propertyRsn=714924 |title= Heritage Property Detail, Address: 157 KING ST E |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=City of Toronto Heritage Property Search |publisher=City of Toronto |access-date=October 30, 2018 |quote=}}</ref>
==Architect and architecture== {{seealso|William Thomas (architect)}} [[File:St Lawrence Hall, Toronto (interior).jpg|thumb|Interior of St. Lawrence Hall. The building was designed by architect [[William Thomas (architect)|William Thomas]].]] William Thomas (c. 1799–26 December 1860) was an architect of both England and Canada. He immigrated to Toronto with his wife and ten 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]], the central Roman temple that consists of the [[pediment]], four engaged [[Corinthian order|Corinthian columns]], and the three arches underneath very closely resemble the work of an Italian Classist architect, [[Andrea Palladio]]. The symmetrical composition of building elements is also a defining characteristic of Renaissance architecture. The [[Renaissance Revival architecture|Renaissance Revival]] 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]] due to abundant snowfall in Ontario. The ornamental [[cupola]] on top of the main hall is another feature of the Hall.
As part of the commission, a market building was built to the south of the main Hall building. It was a single-storey building on the remainder of the block south to Front Street. It has been replaced three times and is currently the site of the [[St. Lawrence Market North]] court, office and market building.
The 1967 restoration was directed by Toronto architect and professor [[Eric Arthur]].{{sfn|McArthur|Szamosi|1996|p=51}}
[[File:St. Lawrence Hall from St. James Park.jpg|thumb|220x220px|St. Lawrence Hall from [[St. James Park (Toronto)|St. James Park]] November, 2021]]
==See also== * [[List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto]]
==References== {{Reflist}} ===Bibliography=== * {{cite book |last1=McArthur |first1=Glenn |last2=Szamosi |first2=Annie |title=William Thomas, Architect: 1799-1860|year=1996|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=0-7735-9607-0}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061030193630/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=235797 Emporis Listing] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20121006172134/http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/proj/urbain/circuits-walks/index_e.asp?walkid=2&loopid=1&buildingid=28 Parks Canada – Information on St. Lawrence Hall as part of Toronto National Historic Sites Urban Walks]
{{Toronto landmarks}} {{NHSC}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lawrence Hall}} [[Category:Municipal buildings in Toronto]] [[Category:William Thomas (architect) buildings]] [[Category:Neoclassical architecture in Canada]] [[Category:Renaissance Revival architecture in Canada]] [[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1850]] [[Category:1851 establishments in Canada West]] [[Category:National Historic Sites in Ontario]]