Looking at the southwest corner of University Ave and Dundas St W in downtown Toronto.
The archive photo shows the Ontario Veterinary College. Designed by architect F.R. Heakes, the five-storey building featured grey freestone on the ground floor, with the upper storeys clad in 1.5 million red Don Valley bricks. When it opened in 1914, this veterinary teaching facility was the largest of its kind in North America. The building included four laboratories, each accommodating 120 students, along with classrooms, a museum, a 500-seat assembly hall, faculty offices, and an extensive stable for a horse infirmary accessible from Simcoe Street. It was affiliated with the University of Toronto.
In 1922, the veterinary college relocated to Guelph, and the building later housed various provincial government offices, including the Ontario Savings Office, the Department of Highways, Children’s Aid, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, and the Ministry of Citizenship & Culture. The building was demolished in the late 1980s, and in 1992, the present-day office building was completed at the site.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada
- Engineering and Contract Record: Apr 1914, Volume 28, Number 13, pgs 401-402
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
