# Walnut Hall > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walnut_Hall > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Walnut_Hall.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Hall > Source revision: 1341504423 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Building in Toronto, Canada}} {{about|the building in Toronto|the plantation in [Durham County, North Carolina](/source/Durham_County%2C_North_Carolina), U.S.|Walnut Hall (Durham, North Carolina)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox building | name = Walnut Hall | native_name= | image = WalnutHall.jpg | caption = Walnut Hall in 1934 | former_names = O'Donohoe Row | building_type = Residential | architectural_style = [Georgian](/source/Georgian_architecture) | structural_system = | location = Shuter Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada | owner = Trisan Realty Corp (at demolition) | current_tenants = | landlord = | coordinates = | construction_start_date = | completion_date = 1856 | demolished_date = May 19, 2007 | height = | diameter = | other_dimensions = | floor_count = 3.5 | floor_area = | main_contractor = | architect = John Tully {{Designation list | embed=yes | designation1 =Ontario | designation1_date =1997 | delisted1_date =2007 }} | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | other_designers = | quantity_surveyor = | awards = | references = }} '''Walnut Hall''' was a row of four [Georgian](/source/Georgian_architecture)-style [terraced homes](/source/Terraced_house) in [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Ontario, Canada. Constructed in 1856, it was recognized by both the [Government of Canada](/source/Government_of_Canada)[http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/2002/agendas/committees/to/to020702/it013.pdf Report to Toronto East York Community Council from Joe Halstead, Commissioner Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, re. 102 – 110 Shuter Street – Walnut Hall – Authority to Enter into an Heritage Easement Agreement (HEA).] June 5, 2002. Retrieved 2008-04-29. and the City of Toronto''A by-law to designate the property at 102-108 Shuter Street as being of architectural value or interest''. City of Toronto By-law No. 1997-0219. Enacted May 12, 1997. as being of historic significance, but portions of it collapsed and it had to be demolished in 2007 due to neglect. At the time of its demolition, it was Toronto's last remaining complete row of 19th century Georgian townhomes.Kyonka, Nick. ''Historic building dies of neglect.'' [Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star). May 20, 2007. ==O'Donohoe Row== [John O'Donohoe](/source/John_O'Donohoe), a local politician, auctioneer and land speculator, purchased a lot on Shuter Street in Toronto in 1853. A four-unit terrace, known as ''O'Donohoe Row'', was designed by architect John Tully and completed on the lot in 1856. At three and half storeys, the building featured [buff brick](/source/buff_brick) with decorative brickwork and stone detailing, a symmetrical façade, a [gable](/source/gable)d roof and [dormer windows](/source/Dormer). At the time, Shuter Street was located in a prestigious residential neighbourhood. Given its location and the quality of its construction, O'Donohoe Row was intended to cater to the affluent middle class, and was representative of the Georgian-style brick row houses which flourished in Toronto in the 1850s. The character of the neighbourhood changed, and the building was renamed ''Walnut Hall Apartment House'' in 1903. In 1949, the interior was converted to a rooming house, and a number of changes were made to the exterior, including the conversion of the southeast corner to a storefront. The [Royal Canadian Mounted Police](/source/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police) purchased the building in the 1970s, as part of a land assembly for a new Ontario Division headquarters building.Goddard, John. ''Historic Building in Ruins.'' [Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star). May 21, 2007. In 1983, the [Government of Canada](/source/Government_of_Canada) designated it as a Recognized Federal Heritage Building. It was also during the 1980s that Walnut Hall was vacated, left unheated and boarded up. The building was sold to a private developer in 1996. Once it was privately owned, the City designated Walnut Hall under the ''[Ontario Heritage Act](/source/Ontario_Heritage_Act)'' in 1997. ==Demolition== thumb|left|Walnut Hall in 2006 Walnut Hall was the subject of a number of demolition proposals and redevelopment schemes from the 1970s onwards, ranging from a proposed parking lot to residential developments that would have incorporated the heritage building. None of the proposals was achieved, however, and Walnut Hall remained vacant and unheated. In 1999, the City of Toronto issued an order to the landowner to correct a number of growing structural deficiencies in the building. In 2004, Walnut Hall appeared in the film [Cinderella Man](/source/Cinderella_Man) when the derelict building was used to portray a 1930s [New York City](/source/New_York_City)-streetscape.{{cite web |url=http://torontoist.com/2008/07/reel_toronto_cinderella_man.php |title=Reel Toronto: Cinderella Man |author=Fleischer, David |date=2008-07-01 |work=[Torontoist](/source/Torontoist) |publisher= |accessdate=October 24, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.toronto.ca/tfto/newy.htm |title=Productions shot in Toronto representing New York |author=Toronto Film and Television Office |date= |publisher=City of Toronto |accessdate=October 24, 2010}} In March 2007, Trisan Realty Corp. purchased the property with the intention of restoring Walnut Hall.Goddard, John. ''Heritage block buyer `shocked' site demolished.'' [Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star). May 23, 2007. On May 19, 2007, however, police and fire officials were called to the site when pedestrians noticed bricks falling from the second and third storeys. By the end of the afternoon, parts of the rear walls had begun to cave in. That evening, a city building inspector recommended that Walnut Hall be demolished for safety reasons, and the demolition was undertaken that night. In 2008, [Heritage Canada](/source/Heritage_Canada) included Walnut Hall in its annual list of "Worst Losses", referring to the building's neglect and demolition as "a case of architectural [euthanasia](/source/euthanasia)".{{cite web|url=http://www.heritagecanada.org/en/issues-campaigns/top-ten-endangered/worst-losses-archive#ON|title=Worst Losses By Province - Ontario|work=Worst Losses Archives|publisher=[Heritage Canada](/source/Heritage_Canada)|accessdate=28 February 2012}} Michael McClelland, a heritage architect and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants, described the loss of Walnut Hall as being emblematic of a "broken" heritage preservation system in Toronto.{{cite web|last=De Franco|first=Luca|title=HEADSPACE: Architect Michael McClelland discusses Heritage Preservation|url=http://spacing.ca/toronto/2011/02/22/headspace-architect-michael-mcclelland-discusses-heritage-preservation/|work=Spacing Toronto|publisher=[Spacing](/source/Spacing_(magazine))|accessdate=23 July 2013}} ==References== {{Commons category}} {{reflist}} {{coord|43.655691|N|79.373099|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=title}} Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Toronto Category:Georgian architecture in Canada Category:Houses in Toronto Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Category:Residential buildings completed in 1856 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Walnut Hall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Hall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Hall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.