TORONTO

To:City of Toronto Community CouncilAugust 24, 1999

From:Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board

Subject:Designation Under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act - - 832 Bay Street (McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom)

Purpose:

This report recommends that the property at 832 Bay Street (McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom) be designated for architectural and historical reasons under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Not applicable.

Recommendations:

1. That City Council state its intention to designate the property at 832 Bay Street (McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom) for architectural and historical reasons 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.

Background:

At its meeting of August 4, 1999, the Board of Heritage Toronto had before it the attached report recommending the designation of the property at 832 Bay Street (McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom) under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

The Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) has agreed to sell the property to Addison Motors, the car dealership that currently occupies the site. A condition of the sale is the designation of the property under the Ontario Heritage Act. The purchaser consents to designation.

Comments:

Short Statement of Reasons for Designation

McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom

832 Bay Street

The property at 832 Bay Street is designated for architectural and historical reasons. The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom was completed in 1925 according to the designs of architects Hutton and Souter of Hamilton, Ontario. The building housed the Toronto automobile dealership of R. S. McLaughlin, president of General Motors of Canada. The Addison on Bay dealership has occupied the property since 1955.

The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is a good example of a specialized commercial building highlighted with Neo-Gothic design elements. The significant exterior features are found on the facades along Bay and Grenville Streets flanking the main entrance. Constructed of steel with buff brick cladding and cut limestone trim, the building has a two-storey plan which is angled to follow the jog in Bay Street. The main entrance is set in a stone arch containing double wood glazed doors. The entrance is flanked by bronze light fixtures and surmounted by a commercial sign area and a parapet. The elements of interest on the east and south walls are the large copper-trimmed showroom windows, and segmental-headed window openings with metal glazing. (The north and west walls are not included in the designation). Significant interior details are the plaster columns and ceiling beams and mouldings in the first-floor new car showroom. (No other interior elements are included in the designation.)

The property at 832 Bay Street fills the short block from Grenville to Grosvenor Streets on the west side of Bay Street. A rare surviving example of an early 20^th century automobile showroom in Toronto, it has been occupied continuously by a car dealership since 1925. With its location on Bay Street where it jogs north of College Street, the McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is an important neighbourhood feature.

Conclusion:

Heritage Toronto recommends that City Council designate the property at 832 Bay Street (McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom) for architectural and historical reasons under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

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\1999\cc99\cc99012.thb)

copy:

Councillor Olivia Chow, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite C50, Toronto, M5H 2N2

Councillor Kyle Rae, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Suite A5, Toronto, M5H 2N2

HERITAGE TORONTO

July 29, 1999

To:Chair and Members, Toronto Historical Board

Subject:832 BAY STREET (MCLAUGHLIN MOTOR CAR SHOWROOM) -

DESIGNATION UNDER PART IV OF THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT

From:Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board (thb99030.hpd)

 RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. That City Council state its intention to designate the property at 832 Bay Street (McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom) 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 832 Bay Street was included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties on June 15 and 16, 1989. In 1997, the Ontario Realty Corporation advised Heritage Toronto of its intention to sell the site. The property was assessed by the Ministry of Government Services (forerunner to ORC) in 1991 and determined to have heritage significance. The ORC has agreed to sell the property to Addison Motors, the car dealership that is currently leasing the site. A condition of the sale is the designation of the property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. At this time, the ORC is overseeing the restoration of portions of the building, including masonry repairs and parapet rebuilding.

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.

1. Short Statement of Reasons for Designation:

The property at 832 Bay Street is recommended for designation for architectural and historical reasons. The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom was completed in 1925 according to the designs of architects Hutton and Souter of Hamilton, Ontario. The building housed the Toronto automobile dealership of R. S. McLaughlin, president of General Motors of Canada. The Addison on Bay dealership has occupied the property since 1955.

The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is a good example of a specialized commercial building highlighted with Neo-Gothic design elements. The significant exterior features are found on the facades along Bay and Grenville Streets flanking the main entrance. Constructed of steel with buff brick cladding and cut limestone trim, the building has a two-storey plan which is angled to follow the jog in Bay Street. The main entrance is set in a stone arch containing double wood glazed doors. The entrance is flanked by bronze light fixtures and surmounted by a commercial sign area and a parapet. The elements of interest on the east and south walls are the large copper-trimmed showroom windows, and segmental-headed window openings with metal glazing. (The north and west walls are not included in the designation.) Significant interior details are the plaster columns and ceiling beams and mouldings in the first-floor new car showroom. (No other interior elements are included in the designation.)

The property at 832 Bay Street fills the short block from Grenville to Grosvenor Streets on the west side of Bay Street. A rare surviving example of an early 20^th century automobile showroom in Toronto, it has been occupied continuously by a car dealership since 1925. With its location on Bay Street where it jogs north of College Street, the McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is an important neighbourhood feature.

George Waters

Acting Managing Director

RS/KA

encl.Heritage Property Report

HERITAGE TORONTO

Heritage Property Report

  McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom

832 Bay Street

               July 1999

Heritage Property Report

 McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom

832 Bay Street

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Basic Building Data

Historical Background

1.Bay and Grenville Neighbourhood

2.832 Bay Street

Architectural Description

Context

Summary

Sources Consulted

Attachments:

IShort Statement of Reasons for Designation

IILocation Map

IIIPhotographs

 HERITAGE TORONTO

Heritage Property Report

 Basic Building Data:

Address:832 Bay Street (northwest corner of Bay and Grenville Streets)

Ward:24 (Downtown)

Current Name:Addison on Bay

Historical Name:McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom

Construction Date:1925

Architect:Hutter and Souter

Contractor/Builder:Anglin-Norcross Limited, contractors

Additions/Alterations:dates unknown, exterior and interior alterations; 1999, brick and stone restoration on south and east facades

Original Owner:R. S. McLaughlin, General Motors of Canada

Original Use:commercial (automobile dealership)

Current Use*:commercial (automobile dealership)

Heritage Category:Neighbourhood Heritage Property (Category C)

Recording Date:July 1999

Recorder:HPD:KA

* this does not refer to permitted use(s) as defined in the Zoning By-law

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

1.Bay and Grenville Neighbourhood:

The area northwest of Yonge and College Streets was opened for residential development after 1860. The first street running north of and parallel to College was named Grenville Street, purportedly in honour of Robert Temple Grenville, the first Duke of Buckingham. In 1922, houses along College and Grenville Streets were demolished to provide a right-of-way connecting two north-south streets, Terauley and St. Vincent. Upon completion, the route was renamed Bay Street, a continuation of the principal corridor that begins in the Financial District to the south.

According to the City of Toronto Directories, the first building constructed on Bay Street north of College Street was the McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom, located on the northwest corner of Bay and Grenville Streets.

2.832 Bay Street:

In 1892, Robert Samuel McLaughlin (1871-1972) opened the McLaughlin Carriage Works in Oshawa, Ontario in partnership with his father and brother. The company began building car bodies for the Buick Motor Company of Flint, Michigan in 1908, adding Chevrolets to the production line in 1915. When General Motors purchased the company in 1918, R. S. McLaughlin was appointed president of General Motors of Canada and vice-president of the American parent. By the 1920s, the company's Oshawa plant had a workforce of 3000 which "produced more cars for the Canadian and Commonwealth market than the rest of Canada combined" (McCallum, 1275). Retiring in 1942, McLaughlin remained chairman of the Board of Directors of the company until 1967. McLaughlin was a noted philanthropist who supported the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto and started the country's most famous breeding farm for thoroughbred horses, "Windfield Farms", which he later sold to entrepreneur E. P. Taylor.

In 1909, R. S. McLaughlin opened a Toronto car showroom at 126-128 Church Street. A new location was found on the recently opened extension of Bay Street in 1924. Construction magazine noted that "the importance which it (Bay Street) is assuming as a traffic artery and as an avenue of motor travel between the downtown and north end sections is perhaps in nowise more fully recognized than it is in the facilities which have been provided in catering to the motorist's needs, of which the new building of the McLaughlin Motor Car Company is an outstanding example". Hutton and Souter, an architectural firm based in Hamilton, Ontario, prepared the plans. The building accommodated separate showrooms for new and used cars, as well as service and storage areas.

After 1931, the name "McLaughlin" was no longer associated with the property, although it continued to house consecutive General Motors dealerships. During World War II, when J. Redmond Beattie operated the Beattie Cadillac Chevrolet Oldsmobile dealership, the site also housed the Women's Employment Services of the National Selective Service Commission.

Addison on Bay has occupied the property since 1955. The property at 832 Bay Street was included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties in 1989.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:

The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom displays features of the Neo-Gothic style, which was especially popular for educational and commercial buildings in the early decades of the 20^th century. The style derived its decorative motifs from the medieval period, but differs from the late 19^th century Gothic Revival in its size and the absence of polychromatic detailing.

The significant exterior features are found on the facades along Bay and Grenville Streets flanking the main entrance. The building is constructed of steel with buff brick cladding and cut limestone trim. Rising two stories, the plan has a truncated southeast corner to follow the jog in Bay Street. The principal entrance is placed on this wall where double wood doors with multipaned windows are set in a stone Tudor arch with multiple mouldings. The opening is flanked by bronze light fixtures and name plates, and surmounted by a large sign (the sign is not original) and a brick parapet with stone coping. Two-storey incised stone piers with decorative caps flank the entrance bay and divide the east (Bay Street) elevation into 9 bays and the south (Grenville Street) wall into 3 bays. On both elevations, the first floor has large showroom windows with copper detailing. There are two service entrances and two pedestrian entries along the east wall. Above a stone cornice in the second storey, segmental-headed window openings with brick spandrels are set in stone surrounds and separated by thin buttresses with decorative caplets. In the single bays on either side of the entrance bay, the window openings are flanked by sidelights. The openings contain multi-paned windows with steel sash. There are no significant features on the north and west (rear) walls.

On the interior, significant features in the first-floor new car showroom are the plaster-clad columns and ceiling beams and mouldings. (No other interior features are included in the designation.)

CONTEXT:

The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is located on the west side of Bay Street and fills the short block from Grenville to Grosvenor Streets. There is a parking area at the north end of the site and, on the west, a laneway separates it from the neighbouring properties. The adjoining property at 51 Grosvenor Street contains the Kenson Apartments, dating to 1924 and listed on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

SUMMARY:

The property at 832 Bay Street is identified for architectural and historical reasons. The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom has been used continuously as an automobile dealership since 1925. While originally associated with R. S. McLaughlin and General Motors, the property has been occupied by the Addison on Bay dealership for over 40 years. It is one of the few historical properties remaining in the former City of Toronto associated with the early years of the automobile. The former Pierce Arrow Showroom (1930) remains at 1140 Yonge Street, and the last surviving Joy Oil Gas Station (1937) is located at 1978 Lake Shore Boulevard West. The latter properties are also included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.

Sources Consulted:

Blumenson, John. Ontario Architecture. Toronto: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1990.

City of Toronto Directories. 1921 ff.

Filey, Mike, and Victor Russell. From Horse Power to Horsepower. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1993.

"Gordon Johnson Hutton". Entry in Middleton and Landon. The Province of Ontario. Vol. 4. 1929.

Litvak, Marilyn. "A Tour Through "Parkwood", Oshawa". City and Country Home (Fall 1982) 60-76.

McCallum, Margaret. "Robert Samuel McLaughlin". Entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2^nd ed. Vol. II. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1982.

"McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited". Construction (June 1925) 184-188.

"William Russell Souter". Entry in Middleton and Landon. The Province of Ontario. Vol. 3. 1929.

  Kathryn Anderson

July 1999

APPENDIX I

Short Statement of Reasons for Designation

McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom

832 Bay Street

The property at 832 Bay Street is designated for architectural and historical reasons. The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom was completed in 1925 according to the designs of architects Hutton and Souter of Hamilton, Ontario. The building housed the Toronto automobile dealership of R. S. McLaughlin, president of General Motors of Canada. The Addison on Bay dealership has occupied the property since 1955.

The McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is a good example of a specialized commercial building highlighted with Neo-Gothic design elements. The significant exterior features are found on the facades along Bay and Grenville Streets flanking the main entrance. Constructed of steel with buff brick cladding and cut limestone trim, the building has a two-storey plan which is angled to follow the jog in Bay Street. The main entrance is set in a stone arch containing double wood glazed doors. The entrance is flanked by bronze light fixtures and surmounted by a commercial sign area and a parapet. The elements of interest on the east and south walls are the large copper-trimmed showroom windows, and segmental-headed window openings with metal glazing. (The north and west walls are not included in the designation). Significant interior details are the plaster columns and ceiling beams and mouldings in the first-floor new car showroom. (No other interior elements are included in the designation.)

The property at 832 Bay Street fills the short block from Grenville to Grosvenor Streets on the west side of Bay Street. A rare surviving example of an early 20^th century automobile showroom in Toronto, it has been occupied continuously by a car dealership since 1925. With its location on Bay Street where it jogs north of College Street, the McLaughlin Motor Car Showroom is an important neighbourhood feature.