Grand National Rink

Last updated
Grand National Rink
Grand National Rink
Address153 Brock Avenue
LocationToronto, Ontario
Coordinates 43°38′47.1654″N79°26′3.4106″W / 43.646434833°N 79.434280722°W / 43.646434833; -79.434280722
OwnerAndrew Wheeler Green
Opened1896
Closed1902

The Grand National Rink was an outdoor skating rink located in the Brockton Village neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1896 [1] to 1902. [2] At the time, it was the largest open-air rink in the city. [1] [3] Its location is now the site of the McCormick Playground Arena at McCormick Park in the Little Portugal neighbourhood.

Contents

History

Business merchant Andrew Wheeler Green [4] owned the Grand National Rink [4] [5] at 153 Brock Avenue, [6] south of Dundas Street. Opened in December 1896, [1] the north side of the grounds featured the ice rink and a heated bandstand. [7] Expansion plans began in March 1897 to add new amenities. [8] By May 1900, a new bandstand was constructed and the grounds featured a large fountain surrounded by evergreen trees. [9] A basketball court was added along with a race track for sprinting and distance running and an athletic field for jumping and vaulting. [10] One corner had a summertime outdoor roller skating rink [9] [10] and an open-air hockey rink for the winter. [11]

Skating carnivals were held at the Grand National Rink [12] [13] [14] along with speed skating races that attracted crowds of up to 1,000 spectators. [15] [16] In January 1902, the rink was awarded the bid by the Amateur Skating Association of Canada to hold the Ontario racing championships during the first week of February. [17] Event organizers expected the tournament to attract a wide array of speed skaters from across the country [17] and Green anticipated large attendance numbers. [18] However, its location was too distant from the city’s downtown to draw a big crowd [2] and the gathering became a local sporting event with a provincial name. [19] Green's incurred financial losses forced the closure of the Grand National Rink in 1902. [2]

Reopenings

The grounds of the Grand National Rink remained vacant until the end of 1907, [20] which was then followed by two brief reopenings.

Royal Alexandra Rink

The north end of the Grand National Rink became the Royal Alexandra Rink, reopened as an outdoor hockey rink in January 1908 [21] at 189 Brock Avenue. [22] Its secretary was Thomas Bert Andrew, [23] a hockey player with the Bank of Toronto Hockey Club in 1904 [24] [25] [26] whose brother, William Herbert Andrew, [27] attended the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1902. [27] The last scheduled hockey game at the Royal Alexandra Rink was held in March 1908. [28] By April, the rink and its adjoining property, spanning an area of 3 acres (1.2 ha), became the grounds for a baseball field [29] with a large bleacher-seating area. [30]

Brock Avenue Rink

Toronto Marlboros treasurer Arthur Hillyard Birmingham [31] and his brother, team captain Herbert Frederick Birmingham, [31] organized a consortium of hockey players to bring the Toronto Professional Hockey Club, a predecessor of the Toronto Maple Leafs, over to the Eastern Canada Hockey Association [32] [33] [34] in response to the hockey club's withdrawal from the Ontario Professional Hockey League on November 19, 1909. [35] The Birmingham brothers telegraphed a proposal to the association on November 24 [33] [34] [36] about their plan to erect a large canvas roof over the site of the former Grand National Rink [36] [37] [38] and install wooden sideboards for a hockey rink by the end of 1909. [36] The cost to build the temporary structure with a seating capacity for 4,000 people [36] was CA$2,000 [36] (equivalent to $53,801in 2023). [39] Construction of a permanent hockey arena for the professional team was scheduled for the following year on the grounds of the baseball field. [34] [36] The Canadian Hockey Association, which succeeded the Eastern Canada Hockey Association, accepted the proposal on the condition that the new indoor arena had to be ready to house the Toronto club by the next summer. [40]

The former Royal Alexandra Rink became the Brock Avenue Rink, reopened in December 1909 [41] at 189 Brock Avenue. [42] The ice rink featured amateur hockey games, [43] skating carnivals [44] [45] and speed skating races. [46] When the Canadian Hockey Association was dissolved on January 15, 1910, [47] [48] its hockey teams were transferred over to the National Hockey Association [47] [48] and its agreement with the Birmingham brothers came to an end. [40] The last known skating event at the Brock Avenue Rink was held in March 1910 [46] and the Mutual Street Arena in downtown Toronto became the first home arena of the Toronto Hockey Club and, subsequently, the Toronto Maple Leafs. [49]

McCormick Park

The grounds of the former rink and baseball field on Brock Avenue were sold in November 1910 and subdivided into housing lots. [50] [51] Toronto City Council purchased 2.7 acres (1.1 ha) of the land [52] the following month for CA$34,000 [53] [54] (equivalent to $927,600in 2023) [39] for the purpose of establishing a playground. [53] The parcel of land became the McCormick Playground in 1911, [55] named in recognition of Mary Virginia McCormick, the daughter of American inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick [56] [57] who lived in Toronto in 1908 [58] and donated to the Toronto Playgrounds Association in 1910. [59] [60] [61] The McCormick Recreation Centre opened at the north end of the property in 1912 [62] [63] at 163 Brock Avenue. [64]

By 1963, the outdoor playground became known as McCormick Park. [65] A new McCormick Recreation Centre was opened in 1964 [66] [67] at 66 Sheridan Avenue, [68] located immediately east of the original building which itself became the site for the McCormick Playground Arena in 1972, [69] an indoor skating arena at 179 Brock Avenue. [69] [70]

List of notable speed skaters

Notable athletes who skated at the Grand National Rink include the following:

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Rinks". Toronto Evening Star . December 22, 1896. p. 2.
  2. 1 2 3 "Comment on Current Sporting Topics". Toronto Daily Star . December 13, 1902. p. 15.
  3. 1 2 3 "Skating Races New Year's Day". Toronto Daily Star. December 28, 1901. p. 6.
  4. 1 2 "Obituary". Milton Canadian Champion. September 25, 1930. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "A.W. Green Buried". Toronto Daily Star. September 13, 1930. p. 2.
  6. ↑ Toronto City Directory, 1898 (PDF). Toronto: Might Directory Company, Limited. 1898. pp. 110, 1462. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Grand National". Toronto Evening Star. December 11, 1897. p. 7.
  8. ↑ "Beyond the Subway". Toronto Evening Star. March 30, 1897. p. 2.
  9. 1 2 "Roller Polo in Toronto". Toronto Daily Star. May 10, 1900. p. 8.
  10. 1 2 "Grand National Sports". Toronto Daily Star. May 30, 1900. p. 8.
  11. 1 2 "Toronto Speed Skaters". Toronto Daily Star. December 14, 1900. p. 8.
  12. ↑ "By the Way". Toronto Globe . February 4, 1897. p. 10.
  13. ↑ "Cycle Chat". Toronto Globe. December 22, 1898. p. 10.
  14. ↑ "Vanity Fair on Ice". Toronto Daily Star. January 30, 1901. p. 2.
  15. ↑ "Fast Skaters, Hot Races". Toronto Evening Star. January 20, 1899. p. 4.
  16. ↑ "Champion Robson Was Beaten Twice". Toronto Daily Star. January 2, 1901. p. 8.
  17. 1 2 "Skating Races Here in February". Toronto Daily Star. January 13, 1902. p. 3.
  18. ↑ "To-Night's Championships". Toronto Daily Star. February 6, 1902. p. 8.
  19. ↑ "The News of Sport". Toronto Globe. February 10, 1902. p. 8.
  20. ↑ Toronto City Directory, 1907 (PDF). Toronto: Might Directories, Limited. 1907. p. 118. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  21. ↑ "Hockey on Open-Air Rinks". Toronto Daily Star. January 8, 1908. p. 10.
  22. ↑ Toronto City Directory, 1910. Toronto: Might Directories, Limited. 1910. pp. 99, 1066, 1425. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Hockey Doings". Toronto Daily Star. February 21, 1908. p. 13.
  24. ↑ Toombs, Frederick R., ed. (January 1907). Spalding's Official Ice Hockey Guide 1907. New York: American Sports Publishing Company. p. 40.
  25. ↑ "Big Surprise in the Bank League". Toronto Daily Star. February 10, 1904. p. 10.
  26. ↑ "Torontos Again Champions". Toronto Globe. February 10, 1904. p. 12.
  27. 1 2 "Retired Druggist Served in QOR". Globe and Mail . March 2, 1951. p. 5.
  28. ↑ "Woodgreen Ahead". Toronto Daily Star. March 6, 1908. p. 11.
  29. ↑ "A Twenty-One Game Schedule for C.A.L.". Toronto Daily Star. March 28, 1908. p. 20.
  30. ↑ "New Grounds for Amateur League". Toronto Daily Star. March 16, 1908. p. 9.
  31. 1 2 Farrell, Arthur, ed. (January 1906). Spalding's Official Ice Hockey Guide 1906. New York: American Sports Publishing Company. p. 114.
  32. ↑ Harper, Stephen J. (2013). A Great Game: The Forgotten Leafs and the Rise of Professional Hockey . Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada. p. 208. ISBN   978-1-4767-1653-4.
  33. 1 2 "Ottawa Hears of It". Toronto Daily Star. November 24, 1909. p. 12.
  34. 1 2 3 "That Arena Again". Toronto Globe. November 24, 1909. p. 9.
  35. ↑ "Toronto Out of the Pro. League". Toronto Daily Star. November 20, 1909. p. 25.
  36. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A Hockey Rink Under Canvas". Toronto Daily Star. November 24, 1909. p. 12.
  37. ↑ "A Rink in a Tent". Toronto Globe. November 25, 1909. p. 9.
  38. ↑ "The News of Sport". Toronto Globe. November 25, 1909. p. 9.
  39. 1 2 1688 to 1923: Geloso, Vincent, A Price Index for Canada, 1688 to 1850 (December 6, 2016). Afterwards, Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada tables 18-10-0005-01 (formerly CANSIM 326-0021) "Consumer Price Index, annual average, not seasonally adjusted". Statistics Canada. Retrieved April 17, 2021. and table 18-10-0004-13 "Consumer Price Index by product group, monthly, percentage change, not seasonally adjusted, Canada, provinces, Whitehorse, Yellowknife and Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  40. 1 2 Harper 2013, p. 209.
  41. ↑ "Brock Avenue". Toronto Daily Star. December 16, 1909. p. 14.
  42. ↑ Toronto City Directory, 1911 (PDF). Toronto: Might Directories, Limited. 1911. pp. 96, 431, 1434. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  43. ↑ "Boys' Union Hockey League". Toronto Daily Star. January 11, 1910. p. 13.
  44. ↑ "Brock Ave". Toronto Daily Star. January 10, 1910. p. 5.
  45. ↑ "Brock Avenue". Toronto Daily Star. January 24, 1910. p. 5.
  46. 1 2 "Jacobson Is a Good One". Toronto Daily Star. March 5, 1910. p. 25.
  47. 1 2 "New Pro. League Formed". Toronto Daily Star. January 17, 1910. p. 11.
  48. 1 2 "New Seven-Club League". Toronto Globe. January 17, 1910. p. 8.
  49. ↑ Harper 2013, p. 9.
  50. ↑ "Playground For the Brock Ave. District". Toronto Daily Star. November 10, 1910. p. 2.
  51. ↑ "Two Playgrounds in Western End of City". Toronto Daily Star. November 25, 1910. p. 11.
  52. ↑ "Who Shall Control the Playgrounds?". Toronto Daily Star. April 13, 1911. p. 2.
  53. 1 2 "Want $34,000 for Ground". Toronto Daily Star. December 8, 1910. p. 7.
  54. ↑ "May Buy Brock Ave. Site". Toronto Daily Star. December 16, 1910. p. 7.
  55. ↑ "New Playgrounds Opened". Toronto Globe. July 3, 1911. p. 8.
  56. ↑ "Miss McCormick, 80, of 'Oaklands,' Dies". Globe and Mail. May 27, 1941. p. 4.
  57. ↑ "Once Had Oaklands; Reaper Heiress Dies". Toronto Daily Star. May 27, 1941. p. 10.
  58. ↑ "Background Report: De La Salle College 'Oaklands' 131 Farnham Avenue" (PDF). City of Toronto. July 2015. p. 4. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  59. ↑ "For Children's Playground". Toronto Globe. August 15, 1910. p. 7.
  60. ↑ "A Check for $10,000 for Big Playground". Toronto Daily Star. September 7, 1910. p. 3.
  61. ↑ "The M'Cormick Playground". Toronto Globe. March 4, 1911. p. 9.
  62. ↑ "Came From Chicago to Give Playgrounds". Toronto Globe. September 23, 1912. p. 9.
  63. ↑ "Children Get New Playplace". Toronto World . September 23, 1912. p. 9.
  64. ↑ Toronto City Directory, 1914 (PDF). Toronto: Might Directories, Limited. 1914. pp. 119, 1083, 1826. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  65. ↑ Greater Toronto City Directory, 1963. Toronto: Might Directories, Limited. 1963. p. 78. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  66. ↑ "2 Reporters Evicted From Union Meeting". Globe and Mail. October 30, 1964. p. 5.
  67. ↑ "Busy Children Take Over $750,000 Recreation Centre". Globe and Mail. October 30, 1964. p. 39.
  68. ↑ Greater Toronto City Directory, 1965. Toronto: Might Directories, Limited. 1965. p. 78.
  69. 1 2 "McCormick Arena". McCormick Playground Arena Board of Management. Archived from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  70. ↑ "Toronto Municipal Code, Community and Recreation Centres" (PDF). City of Toronto. January 2019. p. 24. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  71. 1 2 "Champion Team of Toronto Skaters". Toronto Daily Star. February 16, 1900. p. 6.
  72. 1 2 "Speediest Lady Skater". Toronto Daily Star. February 7, 1901. p. 8.
  73. 1 2 "Toronto, 1902, Part 1 (Ontario Marriage Registrations, 1800-1927)". Ontario Vital Statistics Project. Archives of Ontario Microfilm MS 932, Reel 106, Volume A, 1902. Marriage Registration No. 002686-02, Toronto, September 17, 1902. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023.
  74. ↑ "World's Records Go by the Board at Montreal". Toronto Evening Star. February 4, 1895. p. 4.
  75. ↑ "New Records at Montreal". Toronto Globe. February 4, 1895. p. 6.
  76. 1 2 "Odds and Ends". Toronto Daily Star. February 16, 1901. p. 6.
  77. 1 2 "Skating Notes". Toronto Daily Star. February 18, 1901. p. 8.
  78. ↑ "Record Smashed". Toronto Evening Star. February 6, 1897. p. 2.
  79. ↑ "The Championship Meeting". Toronto Daily Star. February 5, 1900. p. 6.
  80. 1 2 "Toronto Skaters Came Home To-Day". Toronto Daily Star. February 18, 1901. p. 8.
  81. 1 2 "The Speed Championships". Toronto Globe. February 18, 1901. p. 8.
  82. 1 2 "Toronto Skaters Have No Excuses". Toronto Daily Star. February 3, 1902. p. 8.
  83. ↑ "Larry Piper". Toronto Daily Star. February 24, 1908. p. 11.
  84. ↑ "Toronto Man Won the 220 Yd. Championship". Toronto Daily Star. February 5, 1900. p. 6.
  85. ↑ "Champion Robson Returns". Toronto Globe. February 5, 1900. p. 10.
  86. ↑ "World's Record at Skating". New York Times . February 6, 1904. p. 7.
  87. ↑ "Two New Skating Records". New York Times. February 1, 1911. p. 9.
  88. ↑ "Robson Skated in Excellent Form". Toronto Daily Star. February 8, 1902. p. 9.
  89. ↑ "Roe Skating Champion". New York Times. January 30, 1910. p. 1.
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