TORONTO
August 27, 1998
To:City of Toronto Community Council
From:Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board
Subject:Designation Under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act and Permission to Enter into a Heritage Easement
Agreement - - 1107 Avenue Road (Eglinton Hunt Club)
Purpose:
This report recommends that the property at 1107 Avenue Road (Eglinton Hunt Club) be designated under Part IV of the
Ontario Heritage Act and that permission be granted to enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement with the property owner.
Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
Not applicable.
Recommendations:
1.That City Council state its intention to designate the property at 1107 Avenue Road (Eglinton Hunt Club) under Part IV
of the Ontario Heritage Act.
2. That the appropriate officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to give effect hereto.
3.That authority be granted for the execution of a Heritage Easement Agreement under Section 37 of the Ontario Heritage
Act with the owners of 1107 Avenue Road using substantially the form of easement agreement prepared by the City
Solicitor, subject to such amendments as may be deemed necessary by the City Solicitor in consultation with Heritage
Toronto (Toronto Historical Board).
4. That authority be granted for the necessary Bills in Council to give effect hereto.
5. That the owners be requested to provide Heritage Toronto (Toronto Historical Board) with two (2) copies of the required
photographs of 1107 Avenue Road for inclusion in the easement agreement.
Background:
At its meeting of August 26, 1998, the Board of Heritage Toronto had before it the attached report recommending the
designation of the property at 1107 Avenue Road (Eglinton Hunt Club) under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. As
conditions of the redevelopment of the property, the applicant has agreed to enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement and
the designation of the property.
Comments:
Short Statement of Reasons for Designation
Eglinton Hunt Club
1107 Avenue Road
The property at 1107 Avenue Road is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The Eglinton
Hunt Club opened in 1919 as an equestrian club patronized by Toronto society. The social activities of the club were
centered in the clubhouse, completed in 1929 according to the designs of Toronto architects Vaux Chadwick and Bryan
Chadwick. The property is historically important as the location during World War II of Dr. Wilbur Franks' research in
aviation medicine under the direction of Sir Frederick Banting.
Architecturally, the clubhouse is an excellent example of the English Period Revival style. Constructed of brick with brick
and stone detailing, a 2½-storey entrance block is flanked by wings rising 1½ and 2½ stories. The main (south) entrance is
protected by a portico. The segmental-headed and flat-headed window openings, bow windows and French doors are
important elements. The building is covered by a combination of gable, hip and gambrel roofs with firebreak end walls,
dormers and tall chimneys. The entrance hall, two-storey staircase and main lounge are important interior elements.
Located at the southeast corner of Avenue Road and Roselawn Avenue, the clubhouse is the surviving component of the
Eglinton Hunt Club and a local landmark in the North Toronto neighbourhood.
Conclusion:
Heritage Toronto recommends that City Council designate the property at 1107 Avenue Road (Eglinton Hunt Club) under
Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act and that permission be granted to enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement with the
owners of 1107 Avenue Road.
Contact Name:
Ms. Kathryn Anderson
Preservation Officer, Historical Preservation Division, Toronto Historical Board
Tel: 392-6827, ext. 239
Fax: 392-6834
George Waters,
Acting Managing Director
(g:\report\1998\cc98\cc98021.thb)
copy:
Councillor Anne Johnston, Metro Hall, 55 John Street, Suite 205, Toronto, M5V 3C6
Councillor Michael Walker, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite 12, Toronto,
M5H 2N2
HERITAGE TORONTO
August 17, 1998
To:Chair and Members, Toronto Historical Board
Subject:1107 AVENUE ROAD (EGLINTON HUNT CLUB) - DESIGNATION UNDER PART IV OF THE
ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT
From:Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board (thb98027.hpd)
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.That City Council state its intention to designate the property at 1107 Avenue Road (Eglinton Hunt Club) pursuant to
Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act to be of architectural and historical value.
2.That the appropriate officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to give effect hereto.
COMMENTS
1.Background:
The property at 1107 Avenue Road was included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties on April 23,
1981. The impetus to designate at this time stems from a redevelopment proposal for the property, also on this agenda.
A Short Statement of Reasons for Designation, intended for publication, follows. A Heritage Property Report (Long
Statement of Reasons for Designation), including visuals, is attached. Both documents constitute the Reasons for
Designation.
2.Short Statement of Reasons for Designation:
The property at 1107 Avenue Road is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The Eglinton
Hunt Club opened in 1919 as an equestrian club patronized by Toronto society. The social activities of the club were
centered in the clubhouse, completed in 1929 according to the designs of Toronto architects Vaux Chadwick and Bryan
Chadwick. The property is historically important as the location during World War II of Dr. Wilbur Franks' research in
aviation medicine under the direction of Sir Frederick Banting.
Architecturally, the clubhouse is an excellent example of the English Period Revival style. Constructed of brick with brick
and stone detailing, a 2½-storey entrance block is flanked by wings rising 1½ and 2½ stories. The main (south) entrance is
protected by a portico. The segmental-headed and flat-headed window openings, bow windows and French doors are
important elements. The building is covered by a combination of gable, hip and gambrel roofs with firebreak end walls,
dormers and tall chimneys. The entrance hall, two-storey staircase and main lounge are important interior elements.
Located at the southeast corner of Avenue Road and Roselawn Avenue, the clubhouse is the surviving component of the
Eglinton Hunt Club and a local landmark in the North Toronto neighbourhood.
George Waters
Acting Managing Director
RS/KA
encl.Heritage Property Report
HERITAGE TORONTO
Heritage Property Report
Eglinton Avenue Hunt Club
1107 Avenue Road
August 1998
Heritage Property Report
Eglinton Hunt Club
1107 Avenue Road
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Basic Building Data1
Historical Background2
1.Eglinton Hunt Club2
2.World Ward II and Aftermath3
Architectural Description4
Context5
Summary5
Sources Consulted5
Attachments:
IShort Statement of Reasons for Designation
IILocation Map
IIIPhotographs
HERITAGE TORONTO
Heritage Property Report
Basic Building Data:
Address:1107 Avenue Road (southeast corner of Avenue Road and
Roselawn Avenue)
Ward:22 (North Toronto)
Current Name:not applicable
Historical Name:Eglinton Hunt Club
Construction Date:1928-1929, Clubhouse
Architect:Vaux Chadwick and Bryan Chadwick
Contractor/Builder:not found
Additions/Alterations:1928-1929, riding school wing added;
1940s and 1950s, military buildings added;
1986, stables (1919) demolished
Original Owner:George Beardmore
Original Use:Recreational
Current Use*:Not applicable
Heritage Category:Notable Heritage Property (Category B)
Recording Date:August 1998
Recorder:HPD:KA
* this does not refer to permitted use(s) as defined in the Zoning By-law
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
1.Eglinton Hunt Club:
The Toronto Hunt was founded in 1843, holding its first official meet at the Golden Lion Hotel at Yonge Street and
Sheppard Avenue. The second oldest hunt club in Canada, it established its first permanent location in 1895 with facilities
off Kingston Road in Scarborough. George Beardmore, the Toronto businessman who served as Master of the Hunt from
1893 until 1931, acquired the Gartmore House (Oriole Parkway at Burnaby Boulevard) in North Toronto as a temporary
clubhouse. In 1919, Beardmore purchased property on Avenue Road, north of Eglinton Avenue, as the club's new
headquarters. The Toronto Hunt was officially renamed the Eglinton Hunt Club in 1922; 11 years later, it became known as
the Toronto and North York Hunt.
In 1919, stables accommodating 150 horses were erected on the Avenue Road site according to the designs of James
Mitchell of the architectural firm of Mitchell and White. Demolished in 1986, its cupola and weathervane survive on the
site.
In 1928, the club engaged Toronto architects Vaux and Bryan Chadwick to design a clubhouse and riding school. The older
of the two brothers, William Craven Vaux Chadwick (1868-1941) trained as an architect in the office of R. C. Windeyer
(c.1830-1900). During Chadwick's tenure in his firm, Windeyer prepared the plans for St. Alban's Cathedral at 110
Howland Avenue, a project later completed by his student. At the turn of the 20th century, Chadwick formed a partnership
with Samuel G. Beckett, which lasted until 1917 when the latter died in World War I. Chadwick and Beckett are primarily
recognized for their residential designs, including "Seven Oaks", Prime Minister Arthur Meighen's house at 57 Castle
Frank Crescent (built 1910). During this period, the partners were the official architects for the development of the
Lawrence Park neighbourhood. Bryan Chadwick joined the practice in 1910, managing the firm while his brother served in
the military. Prior to receiving the commission for the Eglinton Hunt Club, Vaux and Bryan Chadwick completed
alterations to the Osgoode Hall Law School and prepared designs for the Norman Seagram House at 2 Hawthorn Gardens.
All of the above noted properties are recognized on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.
In their designs for the clubhouse at the Eglinton Hunt Club, the Chadwick brothers conceived a two-part complex. In one
wing, bowling alleys were located in the basement beneath the main-floor dining room and kitchen and the second-floor
dance hall and apartment. The other wing housed a basement swimming pool with locker rooms on the first floor and a
gymnasium above. An indoor riding school wing was attached to the rear (north) end of the structure (the riding school
wing is not included in the Reasons for Designation). The complex was completed with the inclusion of an outdoor riding
ring.
With the northward expansion of the City of Toronto, streets containing residential buildings quickly surrounded the
Eglinton Hunt Club. By the late 1930s, the club was facing bankruptcy and available for sale. After the Government of
Canada purchased the property in 1939, the club used the proceeds of the sale to move to a temporary location at Hoggs'
Hollow and later to the Eaton family's North York farm. In 1963, the organization amalgamated with the Caledon Riding
and Hunt Club to form the Eglinton and Caledon Hunt Club with facilities in the Caledon Hills.
1.World War II and Aftermath:
In 1938, Sir Frederick Banting, the co-discoverer of insulin as a treatment for diabetes, headed the Banting and Best
Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto. Banting developed an interest in aviation medicine that
resulted in his participation with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in research concerning the physiological problems
encountered by pilots operating high-altitude combat aircraft. The "unofficial" status of the research required a secret
location. With the acquisition of the Hunt Club property, Banting headed the Number 1 Clinical Investigation Unit (CIU)
of the RCAF. An aircrew intake evaluation unit was established on the site to disguise its true purpose.
Working on the Hunt Club property, Banting and his researchers investigated the problem of pilots temporarily losing
consciousness during high speed and high altitude maneuvers from the effects of "G" forces - up to seven times the normal
pull of gravity. Banting recruited Dr. Wilbur Franks, a cancer researcher, to his team. The first man-made centrifuge unit in
North America was secretly constructed on the Hunt Club property where Dr. Franks developed and produced the first
"G"-suit, a water-filled rubber flying suit. Ironically, Banting was killed in an airplane crash while en route to England to
conduct operational tests on the Franks flying suit. Following the successful deployment of the flying suit during combat in
1942, it was used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It is considered a forerunner to later "G"-suits that used compressed
air rather than water as the enveloping material.
Other research activities on the Hunt Club property included an "acceleration laboratory": the decompression chamber
designed to test human capabilities under extremes of cold and high altitude led to the development of oxygen and survival
equipment for the RCAF. The CIU was renamed the RCAF Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM) in 1945. Following the
war, additional buildings were erected to provide administrative, training and living facilities for the IAM and RCAF
Auxiliary Squadrons. In 1959, the site became the RCAF Staff School, with the clubhouse used as an officers' mess.
Following the unification of the armed forces in 1966, it was known as the Canadian Forces Staff School (CFSS). By the
1980s, the property also housed the Air Cadets League of Canada, the Armed Forces Benevolent Fund, the Canada Defence
Construction (1951) Limited, and a militia unit. During this period, the centrifuge unit was removed. The property
remained a military site until its closure in June, 1994.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
The Clubhouse at the Eglinton Hunt Club is the integral component of a campus of buildings that developed on the
property following World War I. The building is designed in the English Period Revival style, with medieval and Classical
features inspired by country-house architecture. The Clubhouse features elaborate massing with a 2½-storey entrance block
flanked by long 1½-storey wings. The building is covered by a combination of steeply-pitched gable, hip and gambrel
(double-sloped) roofs with dormers that are described below. The red brick walls have brick and stone detailing. Most of
the window openings and dormers contain casement-style windows, many arranged in pairs with transoms. The openings
are decorated with brick voussoirs and stone sills.
On the principal (south) facade, the central entrance block rises 2½ stories beneath a steeply-pitched hip roof with a
segmental-headed dormer. In the lower floor, the main entrance is placed in an inset porch. A moulded wood doorcase with
a segmental head contains a panelled wood door with glass inserts and a multi-paned glass transom. On either side, single
flat-headed window openings have inset windows. A flat-roofed portico supported by fluted stone columns and brick piers
with stone bases and capitals protects the entrance. Overhead, a pair of French doors is set between single flat-headed
window openings.
The east wing is organized into four bays of varied proportions beneath a gable roof with three segmental-headed dormers.
In the centre of the east wing, the wall rises 1½-storeys beneath a cross-gable roof with a large chimney. The chimney is
decorated by piers with stone coping and a stone plaque with a carved fox's head. In the lower storey, the chimney is
flanked by bow windows with tent roofs, while two flat-headed window openings are placed at the second-floor level. At
the left end of the east wing, a single-flat-headed window opening is located in the first floor.
The west wing off Avenue Road is organized in three parts. The centre section rises 2½ stories beneath a hip roof with
segmental-headed dormers. At its base is placed a bow window identical to those on the east wing, while the second floor
contains two flat-headed window openings. On the right, next to the entrance block, a gambrel (or double-sloped) roof rises
2½-stories. Its upper slope contains a pair of segmental-headed dormers with round multi-paned windows. Below, the
second floor is marked by two similarly-shaped wall dormers containing a pair of windows. The first floor has a large
segmental-headed window. At the left end of the west wing, the steeply-pitched gable roof has three hip-roofed dormers in
the half-storey. Below, the first floor has three segmental-headed window openings that are smaller versions of the one
found elsewhere on this wing.
The west end of the building facing Avenue Road has a gabled firebreak wall with a variety of window openings copied
from the principal façade. An entrance is placed in the second storey, while the half-storey has an oval window opening.
The east wall has a gabled firebreak wall. The rear (north) wall and roof contain window openings similar to those found on
the south wall.
On the interior, the entrance hall, two-storey staircase, and main lounge are important heritage elements. Inside the
principal entry, the ceiling of the wide entrance hall is shaped like a Tudor arch. In the centre of the hall, a single flight of
stairs extends to a second-floor landing where it divides in two and continues to the upper floor. The stairs have wood
banisters, iron spindles and, in the second storey, extended wood supports. At the landing, a moulded wood doorcase with
Classical detailing contains four entrances. The centre doors are superseded by a monumental fanlight with a multi-paned
iron transom. On the upper floor, the doorways are identified as significant heritage features. East of the entrance hall in the
first storey, the main lounge fills the east wing. Important details are the beamed ceiling, wood-panelled walls, and a
rubblestone fireplace with a stone mantel and carved hounds' heads.
CONTEXT:
The Eglinton Hunt Club is located on the southeast corner of Avenue Road and Roselawn Avenue, four streets north of
Eglinton Avenue West. The site is bounded by Elwood Boulevard on the south and Oriole Parkway on the east. All of the
surrounding streets contain residential buildings. On Eglinton Avenue west of Avenue Road, the Eglinton Theatre at 400
Eglinton Avenue West is included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.
SUMMARY:
The Eglinton Hunt Club housed the social facilities of an equestrian club for Toronto society during the post-World War I
era. The site gained historical significance during the Second World War when essential experiments in aviation medicine
were conducted by Dr. Wilbur Franks under the direction of medical researcher Sir Frederick Banting. An excellent
example of English Period Revival architecture, the clubhouse is a local landmark in the North Toronto neighbourhood.
Sources Consulted:
Allan, Peter. "The Story of Canada's unsung tactical weapon: The Franks Flying Suit". Canadian Aviation Historical
Society (Winter 1983).
Arthur, Eric. Toronto. No Mean City. 3rd ed. Revised by Stephen A. Otto. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1986.
Ashley, Lt. General L. A., "The Closing of the Accelerator Hut, 1107 Avenue Road, 27 March 1987". Typescript, 1987.
"Case of architectural drawings". The Canadian Architect and Builder (February 1907) 1.
"Eglinton Hunt club started shortly after First World War". The Mirror (23 March 1977).
Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Building Evaluation Report, 1107 Avenue Road. September 1986.
Hay, Group Captain H. B. "I. A. M. (Institute of Aviation Medicine)". Roundel (January-February 1964), 4-6.
Higginson, A. Henry, and Julian Ingersoll Chamberlain. Hunting in the United States and Canada. Doubleday, Doran,
1928.
"If you fly, put him high on your hero list (Wilbur Franks)". Toronto Star (18 September 1984).
McHugh, Patricia. Toronto Architecture. A City Guide. 2nd ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1989.
Moon, Lynda, Barbara Myrvold and Elizabeth Ridler. Historical Walking Tour of Lawrence Park. Toronto: Toronto Public
Library Board, 1995.
"Obituary: Dr. Wilbur Franks". Toronto Star (6 January 1986) A16.
Otto, Stephen A. "Richard C. Windeyer". Typescript, 1979.
Ritchie, Don. North Toronto. Erin, Ont.: The Boston Mills Press, 1992.
Saunders, Ivan J., "Canadian Forces Staff School Buildings, 1107 Avenue Road,
Toronto, Ontario". Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, 1985.
"A Short History of CFSS (Canadian Forces Staff School)". Undated typescript.
Kathryn Anderson
August 1998
ATTACHMENT I
Short Statement of Reasons for Designation
Eglinton Hunt Club
1107 Avenue Road
The property at 1107 Avenue Road is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The Eglinton
Hunt Club opened in 1919 as an equestrian club patronized by Toronto society. The social activities of the club were
centered in the clubhouse, completed in 1929 according to the designs of Toronto architects Vaux Chadwick and Bryan
Chadwick. The property is historically important as the location during World War II of Dr. Wilbur Franks' research in
aviation medicine under the direction of Sir Frederick Banting.
Architecturally, the clubhouse is an excellent example of the English Period Revival style. Constructed of brick with brick
and stone detailing, a 2½-storey entrance block is flanked by wings rising 1½ and 2½ stories. The main (south) entrance is
protected by a portico. The segmental-headed and flat-headed window openings, bow windows and French doors are
important elements. The building is covered by a combination of gable, hip and gambrel roofs with firebreak end walls,
dormers and tall chimneys. The entrance hall, two-storey staircase and main lounge are important interior elements.
Located at the southeast corner of Avenue Road and Roselawn Avenue, the clubhouse is the surviving component of the
Eglinton Hunt Club and a local landmark in the North Toronto neighbourhood.
