Looking southeast towards the corner of Front St E and Scott St, in the St Lawrence neighbourhood of Toronto.
The archive photo shows the National Grocers Co. Limited building, which was constructed around 1899. Designed by architect Edgar B. Jarvis, the five-storey building originally served as the offices and warehouse for the Eby-Blain Company, a wholesale importer and grocery manufacturer. In 1925, the company merged with over 30 other historic wholesale grocery businesses to form the National Grocers. As a result, the building at Front St E and Scott St became the headquarters for National Grocers.
Fast forward four decades, and the grand office and warehouse structure was last mentioned in the 1967 Toronto City Directory before it was demolished to make way for the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.
The centre officially opened in February 1970. Although it was initially expected to be completed three years earlier as part of Toronto’s contribution to the country’s Centennial celebrations, the project became a political football and experienced delays. Designed in the Brutalist style by the architecture firm Gordon S. Adamson & Associates, the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts cost over $5 million to construct and originally featured an 863-seat theatre and a 483-seat town hall auditorium.
Then and Now
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register
- Heritage Toronto
- Ontario Heritage Trust
- Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada
- Photo: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photo: City of Toronto Archives
- City of Toronto: Maps
- Toronto City Directory courtesy of Toronto Public Library
