The Hotel Waverly was a four-storey low-rise hotel in downtown Toronto. Opened in 1900, the hotel was built for J.J. Powell. It was one of the oldest Toronto hotels in continuous operation. [1]
The Hotel Waverly was a four-storey low-rise hotel in downtown Toronto. Opened in 1900, the hotel was built for J.J. Powell. It was one of the oldest Toronto hotels in continuous operation. [1]
Hotel Waverly was at 484 Spadina Avenue on the northwest corner of Spadina Avenue and College Street, adjacent to Toronto's Chinatown. It was adjacent to The Silver Dollar Room, which was added to the hotel in 1958. The Scott Mission was next door.
The hotel's central location was close to major attractions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, Queen's Park, The Royal Ontario Museum and Kensington Market, making it a prime target for redevelopment.
The Waverly's interior rooms were modest but comfortable. This accommodation provided low-cost housing benefiting Toronto's transient community as well as monthly residents. Its proximity to the mission kept rental rates low, attracting customers who were looking for a deal in downtown. The hotel offered 24-hour laundry facilities, free parking and a snack counter.
Though he denied it, evidence points towards James Earl Ray staying at the Waverly while hiding out in Toronto after shooting Martin Luther King Jr. [2] It was also the longtime home of poet Milton Acorn; several of his most acclaimed works depict the life in the neighbourhood. [3] In popular culture the hotel was the setting for the opening scene of the Elmore Leonard novel Killshot and was also featured in the film version. [4] In the 1995 Due South episode Bird in the Hand, [5] the hotel was used as a hiding place by Gerrard after his escape during a prisoner transfer. The hotel is also briefly pictured in the music video for "Games for Days" by Julian Plenti (a.k.a. Paul Banks), [6] and the music video for "Man I Used to Be," by Canadian musician k-os. [7] Also used in the Canadian movie "Code 8" written by Jeff Chan and starring Robbie and Stephen Amell. It was also featured in the song "Devil's Eyes" by Buck 65. [8]
The Wynn Group, a Toronto-based rental group and building developer, have proposed to construct a 20-storey building with 202 rental units aimed at Toronto's university students. [9] The Silver Dollar Room would be reopened on the first floor. [10]
The hotel permanently closed in 2017. [11] In March 2018, Fitzrovia Real Estate acquired the approved plans and site, confirming that the new purpose-built rental tower would be called "The Waverley" [12] The hotel was demolished that summer. [13]
Spadina Museum, also known as Spadina House, is a historic mansion at 285 Spadina Road in Toronto, Ontario, which is now a historic house museum operated by the City of Toronto's Economic Development & Culture division. The museum preserves the house much as it existed and developed historically. The art, decor and architecture of the house used to reflect the contemporary styles of the 1860s through the 1930s, including Victorian, Edwardian, Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Colonial Revival styles. The museum closed for a year for extensive interior and exterior renovations. When it re-opened to the public on October 24, 2010, it was decorated in the style of the inter-war era of the 1920s and 1930s. The estate's gardens reflect the landscape during the Austin family's occupation of the house.
Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east–west avenues of Toronto's and York County's grid pattern of major roads. The western section of Queen is a centre for Canadian broadcasting, music, fashion, performance, and the visual arts. Over the past twenty-five years, Queen West has become an international arts centre and a tourist attraction in Toronto.
Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Toronto waterfront, Harbourfront extends from Bathurst Street in the west, along Queens Quay, with its ill-defined eastern boundary being either Yonge Street or York Street. Its northern boundary is the Gardiner Expressway. Much of the district was former water lots filled in during the early 1900s to create a larger harbour district. After shipping patterns changed and the use of the Toronto harbour declined, the area was converted from industrial uses to a mixed-use district that is mostly residential and leisure.
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods.
The cancelled expressways in Toronto were a planned series of expressways in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that were only partially built or cancelled due to public opposition. The system of expressways was intended to spur or handle growth in the suburbs of Toronto, but were opposed by citizens within the city of Toronto proper, citing the demolition of homes and park lands, air pollution, noise and the high cost of construction. The Spadina Expressway, planned since the 1940s, was cancelled in 1971 after being only partially constructed. After the Spadina cancellation, other expressway plans, intended to create a 'ring' around the central core, were abandoned.
Front Street is an east–west road in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. First laid out in 1796, the street is one of the original streets of the Town of York. The street was laid out along the shoreline of Lake Ontario as it existed during that time. It remains an important street, with many important uses located along it, including the St. Lawrence Market, Meridian Hall, Union Station and the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The eastern section of Front Street, in the West Don Lands, east of Cherry Street, is being rebuilt as a broad tree-lined boulevard, intended to be the pedestrian-friendly commercial spine of the new neighbourhood.
Government House was the official residence of the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada and Ontario, Canada. Four buildings were used for this purpose, none of which exist today, making Ontario one of four provinces not to have an official vice-regal residence.
The Arcade Building is a ten-storey office building with ground-floor retail in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for the colourful LED lighting that has adorned its facade since 2008. The site was previously an indoor shopping arcade.
The Spadina Hotel was one of the names of the hotels operated at 460 King Street West, in Toronto, at the corner of Spadina Avenue and King Street. The hotel was built in late 1873, the three storey Victorian building featuring a small clock on the east facade. A four-storey annex was later built to the north of the hotel. It has been known by at least half dozen names, and has had many proprietors. It is now a commercial office building including a programming school.
The Fashion District is a commercial and residential district in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located between the intersection of Bathurst Street to the west, Spadina Avenue to the east, Queen Street West to the north and Front Street to the south. Google Maps extends the district further east of Spadina Avenue to Peter Street.
The Discovery District is one of the commercial districts in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has a high concentration of hospitals and research institutions, particularly those related to biotechnology. The district is roughly bounded by Bloor Street on the north, Bay Street on the east, Dundas Street on the south, and Spadina Avenue on the west.
The Royal Connaught Hotel is a 13-storey building in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. It was built by Harry Frost of Buffalo, New York in 1914, who also started up and owned the Frost Fence Company in Hamilton. It is located at the corner of King Street East and John Street South. From 2014-2018, it was converted to condominiums.
Trefann Court is a small neighbourhood in the eastern part of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north side of Queen Street between Parliament Street and River Street. It extends north only a short distance to Shuter St.
South Hill is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located north of downtown and covers the area west of Avenue Road, south of St. Clair Avenue, east of Spadina Road, and north of the Canadian Pacific railway tracks. The area is dominated by the steep hill of the Niagara escarpment. The Nordheimer Ravine also cuts through the area, which is surrounded by Sir Winston Churchill Park. This park covers the northwestern portion of South Hill.
The Toronto Waterfront Wavedecks are a series of wooden structures constructed on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as part of the revitalization of the central waterfront. Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique wooden wavedecks along the water's edge for the 3.5 km area running from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street. All the WaveDecks are accessible from the southside of Queens Quay.
Railway Lands is an area in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally a large railway switching yard near the Toronto waterfront, including the CNR Spadina Roundhouse and the CPR John Roundhouse, it has since been redeveloped and today is home to mostly mixed-used development, including the CN Tower and the Rogers Centre. The lands were owned and maintained by the Canadian National Railway and later transferred to the federal crown corporation Canada Lands Company. The area is bounded by Front Street, Yonge Street, Gardiner Expressway and Bathurst Street. The western portion of the Railway Lands is now part of the CityPlace neighbourhood and the eastern portion is now called South Core.
Turning loops of the Toronto streetcar system serve as termini and turnback points for streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The single-ended streetcars require track loops in order to reverse direction. Besides short off-street track loops these can also be larger interchange points, having shelters and driver facilities, or be part of a subway station structure for convenient passenger interchange.
Hotel Victoria is a historic boutique hotel located at 56 Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hotel opened in 1909 as the Hotel Mossop and was celebrated for being a fireproof building, constructed after Toronto's Great Fire of 1904. It has been designated a Heritage Building by the City of Toronto government.
The Silver Dollar Room was a live music venue located next to the main floor of the Hotel Waverly, a four-storey low-rise hotel located in downtown Toronto. Opened in 1900, the hotel was built for J.J. Powell. It was one of the oldest Toronto hotels in continuous operation.
Tricon Residential is a Canadian real estate company. The company invests in single-family rental and multi-family rental homes, and owns about 31,000 properties across the United States and Canada. As of February 2021, the company had about $8.2 billion of assets under management.