The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in its 990,000 square feet (92,000 m2) exhibition space to display examples of technology developed in the Industrial Revolution. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Great Exhibition building was 1,851 feet (564 m) long, with an interior height of 128 feet (39 m), and was three times the size of St Paul's Cathedral.
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, the first Monday in September. With approximately 1.5 million visitors each year, the CNE is Canada's largest annual fair and the sixth largest in North America. The first Canadian National Exhibition took place in 1879, largely to promote agriculture and technology in Canada. Agriculturists, engineers, and scientists exhibited their discoveries and inventions at the CNE to showcase the work and talent of the nation. As Canada has grown as a nation, the CNE has reflected the growth in diversity and innovation, though agriculture and technology remain a large part of the CNE. For many people in the Greater Toronto Area and the surrounding communities, the CNE is an annual family tradition.
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees. Very large venues, suitable for major trade shows, are sometimes known as exhibition halls. Convention centers typically have at least one auditorium and may also contain concert halls, lecture halls, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. Some large resort area hotels include a convention center.
Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197-acre (80 ha) site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial, and national historic sites. The district's facilities are used year-round for exhibitions, trade shows, public and private functions, and sporting events.
Canadian National Exhibition Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium that formerly stood on the Exhibition Place grounds, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally built for Canadian National Exhibition events, the stadium served as the home of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, from 1959–1988, the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball from 1977–1989, and the Toronto Blizzard of the North American Soccer League from 1979–1983. The stadium hosted the Grey Cup game 12 times over a 24-year period.
New Fort York, later the Stanley Barracks, is a former British and Canadian military base in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It was built in 1840–1841 to replace Toronto's original Fort York at the mouth of Garrison Creek as the primary military base for the settlement. Unlike the older fort, many of the new fort buildings were made with limestone instead of wood. A protective wall was planned for the new fort but was never built. The fort was used by the British army until 1870, and the Canadian military subsequently used the fort to train troops for the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. It also trained one of the first regiments of the North-West Mounted Police. The Canadian military stopped using it after World War II and the fort was demolished in the 1950s. Only the Officers' Quarters building remains on the site.
Coca-Cola Coliseum is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. It was built for the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 1921. Commonly known as the Coliseum, it was formerly known as the CNE Coliseum and Ricoh Coliseum, and since 1997 it has been part of the Enercare Centre exhibition complex. It serves as the home arena of the Toronto Marlies ice hockey team, the American Hockey League farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. For the 2015 Pan American Games the venue hosted the gymnastics competitions and was known as the Toronto Coliseum.
Eaton Hall is a large house in King City, Ontario, Canada, built in the Norman style for Lady Eaton in 1938–39 on a 700-acre (2.8 km²) parcel of land. Lady Eaton and her husband, Sir John Craig Eaton acquired the land in 1920 and 1922 on recommendation from their friend Sir Henry Pellatt, who owned the nearby Mary Lake property. Lady Eaton moved into Eaton Hall three years after selling her city mansion, Ardwold. The house is adjacent to a body of water named Lake Jonda, and nestled within the temperate forests of King Township. Upon completion, it contained 72 rooms. It became a beloved gathering place for the Eaton Family, owners of the Eaton's department stores based in Toronto.
The Automotive Building is a heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, containing event and conference space. In the 1920s, as a result of burgeoning interest in automobiles, additional exhibition space for automotive exhibits during the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) was needed. A design competition was held, and the winning design was submitted by Toronto architect Douglas Kertland. The building opened in 1929, and the "National Motor Show" exhibit of automobiles was held in the building until 1967. It was also used for trade shows. When it opened, it was claimed to be "the largest structure in North America designed exclusively to display passenger vehicles". During World War II, the building was used by the Royal Canadian Navy and named HMCS York. After the end of automotive exhibits at the CNE, the building was used for other CNE exhibits and continued to be used for trade shows.
The Horse Palace is a heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, containing stables, a horse ring and various agencies. It was constructed to support the equestrian events of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The ornamentation of the building is considered a fine example of Art Deco. It is a listed heritage building.
Built in 1936, the Bandshell is an open-air concert venue located at Exhibition Place on the shores of Lake Ontario. It hosts the annual music program of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and is also used for festivals and picnic events, for which the "Bandshell Park" can be rented from the City of Toronto.
Old Toronto is that part of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that corresponds to the original City of Toronto which existed from 1834 to 1998. It was first incorporated as a city in 1834, after being known as the town of York, and being part of York County. Toronto periodically grew in size by annexing adjacent land and municipalities.
The Enercare Centre, formerly known as the Direct Energy Centre and originally the National Trade Centre, is an exhibition complex located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is used by the Canadian National Exhibition and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, as well as by various trade shows. In 2015, it hosted several sport competitions and the broadcasting centre for the 2015 Pan American Games.
George Wallace Gouinlock was a prominent Canadian architect. Gouinlock practiced mostly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, including several designated buildings at Exhibition Place.
E.B. Cox (1914–2003) was an internationally known sculptor from Toronto, Canada. He was part of a generation of sculptors such as Charles Daudelin who preferred to carve rather than model their work. Cox carved in wood, stone and even on metal, ceramics, glass and gemstones.
The Ontario Government Building, housing the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex since 2001, is a heritage building located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built in 1926 to provide exhibit space for the Government of Ontario during the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), that function later moved to the Ontario Place complex. After a period of disuse, Toronto City Council approved a long-term lease with the Liberty Entertainment Group to use the building for private events.
The Government Building, also known as the Arts, Crafts and Hobbies Building, is a heritage exhibition building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built in 1911 for the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), the building has been used since 1993 as the Toronto location of the Medieval Times chain of dinner theatres.
The OVO Athletic Centre, formerly the BioSteel Centre and the Toronto Raptors Training Centre, is a basketball practice facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened on February 10, 2016, the facility is home to the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and owned by the team's owner, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). It is located on leased public land in Exhibition Place, near Dufferin Street and the Gardiner Expressway, west of downtown. It is named for OVO Sound, a Canadian subsidiary of Warner Records.
Hotel X Toronto is a hotel and sports club complex on the grounds of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hotel, part of the Library Hotel Collection, is intended to serve visitors attending conventions, meetings, and trade shows booked at the adjacent Enercare Centre and the Beanfield Centre. Hotel X Toronto is divided into three parts: the hotel tower, the Ten X Toronto (10XTO) athletic facility and the historic Stanley Barracks Officers' Quarters and foundations.
