Q2. What was the tallest building in the Brittish Empire in 1895? (P35)
Q5. Who became Canada's first Aboriginal doctor and in what year? (P36)
The Majestic Temple Building - Toronto 's First Skyscraper
Hailed as the first skyscraper
in Toronto and the British
Empire's tallest building for
a time, the Temple Building helped
usher in a new era of high rise towers
that transformed the downtown core
in the late nineteenth century. Built in
1895 at the northwest corner of Bay
and Richmond Streets, the Temple
Building prompted the redevelopment
of Bay Street from a small-scale
commercial district into an office
area. Its construction was recognized
as such a watershed moment for the
city that the Governor General, the
Earl of Aberdeen, laid the cornerstone
with all appropriate pomp and
circumstance. However, as tastes and
the city's necessities changed over
the decades, its demolition in 1970
would usher in another new era and a
new style of office building.
In the late 19th century, new
construction methods made
tall buildings possible, and the
development of the electric elevator
made them practical. Toronto banks
and institutions soon realized the
potential for such monumental
buildings to act as "effective imagemakers
for the institutions that
sponsored them," in the words of
historian William Dendy
Independent Order of Foresters
When the Independent Order of
Foresters, a fraternal and charitable
society, needed to erect a new North
American headquarters, the Order's
intentions were no different. When
it was rare for projects of such
magnitude not to have at least one
advisor from Chicago or New York,
the IOF enlisted Canadian architect
George W. Gouinlock to handle the
entire project from start to finish.
Gouinlock designed a cast-iron frame
building—one of the last built before
steel frames became the norm—that
rose to the then-remarkable height of
nine storeys (a tenth storey was added
in 1901).
Although the frame carried the weight
of the building, Gouinlock's design
included thick brick and stone walls,
which measured 4' 3" thick at the
base and 18" thick at the ninth-floor.
This made the building's construction
an arduous process. Masons needed
to pre-test the durability of each stone
by hitting it with sledgehammers on the sidewalk before raising it into place.
But the substantial walls ensured that the
new building fit the Romanesque styling
of the nearby Old City Hall and the
Confederation Life Building. Gouinlock
used red brick and Credit Valley stone so
that the building's facades varied in texture
and colour. The Temple Building, however,
had relatively little decorative carving apart
from acanthus leaves above the entrance
ways and detailed corbels supporting thirdfloor
balconies above. A carved moose head,
the symbol of the IOF, overlooked each
balcony. The building's interior featured ornately tiled floors, hand-carved panelling
with inlaid marble, and ornamental doors
with raised designs carved into doorknobs.
The main office even contained a
gilded replica of Edward VII's coronation
chair. Among other modern amenities,
the Temple Building boasted the fastest
elevator in town.
Oronhyatekha – the Supreme Chief Ranger
Inside the building, there stood a lifesize
bronze statue of Oronhyatekha,
the Supreme Chief Ranger of the IOF,
one of Canada's foremost Aboriginal entrepreneurs and the man whose unceasing
work had made the new building possible.
Born in 1841 in a Six Nations Reserve near
Brantford, Oronhyatekha always insisted
on being called by his Mohawk name rather
than the anglicized Peter Martin. In 1860,
the nineteen-year-old Oronhyatekha was
chosen to give an address welcoming the
Prince of Wales on a visit to Six Nations.
The wit and intelligence of Oronhyatekha's
speech were so impressive that the prince
arranged to have the young man study
at Oxford University. Upon his return to
Canada, Oronhyatekha studied medicine
at the University of Toronto and became
Canada's first Aboriginal doctor in 1867.
"Dr. O," as he became affectionately
known, at first struggled against the
tide of discrimination as he built up his
medical practice. For this reason – or so
a 2007 Ottawa Citizen profile speculates
– Oronhyatekha increased his network of
contacts by joining community groups,
such as the Masons, the Good Templars, and
the Orange Order. The Independent Order
of Foresters had to make an exception to
the rule limiting their membership to ablebodied,
white males so that Oronhyatekha
could join in 1878. As he demonstrated
himself to be a charming entrepreneur and
a passionate orator, he rose rapidly through
the Forester ranks.
He joined at a time when the IOF was so
ridden by internal strife and debt that it was
near collapse. Upon his election as Supreme
Chief Ranger in 1881, Oronhyatekha's
leadership reinvigorated the IOF. By
the early 1890s, he'd built it into North
America's leading fraternal benefit society.
He travelled widely, met with American
presidents, and advocated that women
be encouraged to become full members
of the IOF in 1898. His efforts increased
membership exponentially and Foresters
investments grew to over $1 million.
Oronhyatekha became such a household
name that his death made front-page news
in March 1907. Largely due to his tireless
efforts, the IOF survived and evolved into
the $6-billion insurance company that
still exists today. The IOF outgrew the
Temple Building in 1954 and moved to
Jarvis Street, and then to a new 22-storey
building in Don Mills.
The Temple Building from Heyday to Doomsday
During its early-20th century heyday, the
Temple Building was one of the social
centres of the city. Its sixth-floor Assembly
Hall, with a gilt ceiling and ornate walls,
hosted dances, meetings, and conventions.
With most of the city's parades and
celebrations now marching up Bay Street to
Old City Hall, the Temple Building offered
the best vantage point in town from which
to observe. For example, when the Duke
and Duchess of York (later King George
V and Queen Mary) visited in 1905, a
triumphal arch was erected to span Bay
Street in their honour.
With time and the accumulation of dust
and grime over seventy-four years, however,
the Temple Building came to be seen an
outdated relic in the booming city of the
late 1960s. The demand for office space
in downtown Toronto, The Star reported
on August 1, 1970, had increased fourfold
over the previous twenty years and
was expected to double again by 1980.
To take advantage of this hot market,
new buildings popped up everywhere,
including the Commerce Court complex,
the Sheraton Centre Hotel, the Thomson
Building, The Star's new waterfront head
office, and the Manulife Centre. The new
buildings offered amenities that older
structures couldn't match: air-conditioning,
temperature control, modern interiors,
and access to the brand new underground
pedestrian network. As The Star concluded,
the Temple Building's "prime downtown
location and high assessment rate make
preserving it economically impractical."
On June 29, 1970, the Temple Building's
remaining tenants vacated so that Y and R
Properties could begin developing its new
$20-million, 32-storey office complex on the
site. Known simply as 390 Bay Street, the
new building was designed by Webb, Zerafa
and Menkes, one of the most successful
architecture firms in Canada. Over six
months, Teperman and Sons Ltd demolished
the Temple Building. Teperman signs were
such a common sight around town at this
time that the name became newspaper shorthand
for the destruction of the past.
The Globe and Mail
bemoaned the fate of the
monumental building on
July 6, 1970:
Want to see a monument
destroyed? Go down to
the corner of Bay and
Richmond streets and
watch them make gravel out
of the Temple Building. It
won't go easily or prettily
because it wasn't built
with destruction in mind.
It was intended to last
like the Pyramids, one of
the wonders of a young
country, a great stone
tribute to an Iroquois
who became supreme chief
ranger of the Independent
Order of Foresters in 1881.
Article first published:
torontoist.com
by Kevin Plummer
Kevin Plummer grew up in
Saskatchewan then bumped
around Canada with stints
living on the west coast
and the east coast, before
finally arriving here in the
middle. Now, whenever
he needs escape from the
clichéd existence of a cubicle
worker, he stumbles out to
wander the city he loves.
He's got a very diverse set of
interests from urban affairs
and history to classic film
noir to obscure soul music,
and finding new ways to
procrastinate.
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