The Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion is located at 1755 Lake Shore Blvd W, west of Parkside Dr, in the Sunnyside neighbourhood of Toronto. It was once home to Sunnyside Amusement Park, one of the city’s most popular attractions.
The name Sunnyside is thought to have been coined by John Howard in the mid-1800s. In what’s known today as High Park, Mr Howard built Colborne Lodge near the sunny ridge overlooking the shore of Lake Ontario.
Before the Park
In the late 1800s, the area near the beach at Sunnyside was somewhat industrial. Just north of the beach was the railway corridor, and by the early 1900s, to the south, there were large hydro towers on cement supports in Lake Ontario.
An Ambitious Waterfront Plan
In the early 1910s, the Toronto Harbour Commission released plans to develop the waterfront, including Sunnyside. Over the next decade, several acres of Toronto’s western waterfront were reclaimed from Lake Ontario. Fill was dredged from its watery depths to create a proper beach and the park.
The Harbour Commission hired the architectural firm of Chapman, Oxley & Bishop to design the park and its buildings, including pavilions, public shelters, amusement ticket offices, and kiosks.
The Toronto Harbour Commission opened the attraction in 1922. Set on the beautiful backdrop of Lake Ontario, the park had it all—exciting midway rides, fun food, games of chance, concert stages, daredevil performances, a boardwalk nicknamed “Strutters Walk,” swimming, restaurants, a dancing hall, and more.
Sunnyside Amusements
The amusement park opened with seven rides, nine games, and ten food concessions. Midway rides included a hand-carved merry-go-round, the Derby Racer, Dodgem, and more. A year later, they added the wooden “Sunnyside Flyer” roller coaster. The scent of popcorn, hot dogs, and cotton candy filled the air, while pleasure-seekers could hear the sounds of hoarse barkers voicing their appeals, the calliope, and happy crowds.
The amusement park was situated on what is now a park median dividing traffic on Lake Shore Blvd W and a parking lot across from Budapest Park. Parkside Dr would have been the amusement park’s western boundary, and the Roncesvalles Pedestrian Bridge near Palais Royale, its eastern boundary.
Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion & “The Tank”
On the south side of Lake Shore Blvd W at the foot of Parkside Dr are the bathing pavilion and beach. Completed in 1922, the Beaux-Arts open-air changing structure features a grand archway and panel flanked by Classical columns. There’s also an upper observation deck on the south side. When the pavilion opened, there was locker space for 7,700 bathers.
The lake was so cold for a few summers that it kept bathers from swimming. So, in 1925, the Sunnyside Outdoor Natatorium was opened. Located east of the bathing pavilion, the Olympic-sized pool was dubbed “The Tank.” It was 91 m long by 23 m wide and had a 3.4 million litre capacity. The shallow end was .75 m, and the deep end was 2.75 m. It could hold 2,000 people and cost $75,000 to construct. The grand opening fee was 35¢. It was thought to be the world’s largest pool for a time.
Opening day ceremonies included speeches and festivities under a cobalt-blue sky. Canadian high-diving champion Laura Little gracefully made the first splash into the pool, diving from the 12 m tower while draped in a Union Jack.
Tommy Church, chairman of the Toronto Harbour Commission (and also Toronto’s mayor from 1915 to 1921), said, “When the lake is too cold for bathing, we now have a pool with heated, chlorinated water, which will make it possible for every day to be bathing day at Sunnyside.”
Later that day, 3,000 swimmers filled “the tank.” An additional 25,000 people outside had not arrived early enough for a dip in the pool. With the most up-to-date technology, each drop of the pool’s water was filtered every 10 hours.
Free Bathing & the Sunnyside Bathing Cars
At Sunnyside Beach, free swimming with changing houses had been available for many years before the 1922 opening of Sunnyside Amusement Park development. The ramshackle changing houses along the beach became dilapidated and were replaced in 1929.
From the early 1920s until 1950, the TTC operated the crowded and noisy Sunnyside Bathing Cars during the summer. The service was free for Toronto children with a bathing suit and towel, taking them to and from the bathing area at Sunnyside.
Miss Toronto Beauty Pageant
The first Miss Toronto beauty contest took place in the summer of 1926. Arranged by the Harbour Commission and Sunnyside Concessionaires, the pageant was open to any female between the ages of 16 and 25, unmarried, and a resident of Toronto.
On August 13, 1926, Toronto was wild with excitement and hysteria over the contest. That day, five contestants were selected, which was later whittled down to the final two. The winner was Miss Jean Ford Tolmie.
Miss Toronto was also invited to represent the City in the 1926 Miss Atlantic City beauty pageant. According to information from the Atlantic City contest committee, “Past winners have been untouched by the lipstick and powder puff. Natural beauty is desired by the judges, and any girl attempting to gild the lily with cosmetics has no chance.”
The Miss Toronto beauty pageant was held at Sunnyside until 1937, when the Toronto Police Department took over and moved it to CNE grounds.
1936 Heatwave
In July 1936, Toronto experienced a heatwave. Temperatures topped out at 41° C, and during the eight-day hot spell, more than 225 Torontonians died. There was no air conditioning back then, so people sought relief from the heat at Toronto’s beaches, including Sunnyside and Balmy, as well as Toronto Island. Over 22,200 passengers were ferried to the Island on July 7, 1936, compared to 13,300 on the same day a year before.
The Fall of a Bygone Era
The park opened every year in May and closed on Labour Day. When the Canadian National Exhibition started each year, things quieted down at Sunnyside.
After World War II, attendance at the amusement park began to decline. Not only that, the volume of traffic was becoming an issue on Lake Shore Blvd, so plans were put into motion to construct the Gardiner Expressway. All of this spelled the end of the Sunnyside Amusement Park, and it closed in 1955.
In November of that year, there were three separate fires at Sunnyside Amusement Park. In the third fire, the concession building under the rollercoaster and the supports for the ride were gutted. The fires only hastened the demolition of the amusement area. One by one, the amusement buildings came down that winter to make way for the Gardiner.
Sunnyside Park Today
In 1975, the bathing pavilion, which was being threatened with demolition, received heritage status from the City. In 1980, the pavilion underwent a renovation. That year, the pool was renamed Gus Ryder Outdoor Pool to honour Marilyn Bell‘s swimming coach. At the age of 16, Ms Bell was the first person to swim across Lake Ontario.
The Sunnyside attraction played a significant part in the development of Toronto’s park system and in the lives of many who lived there. Part of a series of parks along the waterfront, pedestrians enjoy the boardwalk while cyclists ride along Martin Goodman Trail. The park’s east side is home to the Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion and Gus Ryder Outdoor Pool, with Sir Casimir Gzowski Park to the west.
Did You Know?
- The Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion is one of two buildings left from the Sunnyside Amusement Park complex. The other building is the Palais Royale, which was initially home to Deans Sunnyside Pleasure Boats as well as the dance hall. Also designed by Chapman, Oxley & Bishop, Palais Royale is located 750 m to the east of the Bathing Pavilion, along Lake Shore Blvd W. It received heritage status in 1974.
- In 1921, a breakwater from the Humber to the western channel was constructed off the shore of Lake Ontario. It was said to warm the water inside it by 8 to 11° C to make it more desirable for swimming. However, due to poor circulation, it left the water between it murky and stagnant.
- Bathing suits in the 1920s were made of wool.
- On Sundays, the amusements at Sunnyside were closed; however, bands would take to the stage.
- “Boat Burnings,” which consisted of retired Great Lakes vessels being set ablaze in the lake, were staged at night to attract people to the park.
- In 1934, the Toronto Harbour Commission passed a bylaw requiring men to wear shirts while on a public beach. However, by the early 1940s, shops were mainly selling swimming trunks, so the bylaw was repealed.
- Patty Conklin, who operated the rides at the CNE, also controlled most of the Sunnyside amusements.
- A few of the rides went on to life beyond Sunnyside. The Derby Racer went to CNE, while the ageing merry-go-round, which had been striking many off-key notes, went to Disneyland (which opened in 1955).
- In 1963, there was talk of closing the pool permanently. The following year, the City Council approved the $165,000 renovation slated for completion in the summer of 1965.
- In the late 1980s, the Sunnyside Pavilion Committee raised $2 million for renovations to the pool and Spanish Garden.
- Outside of Sunnyside Amusement Park, it also went by a few other names, including the Sunnyside Amusement Area, Sunnyside Beach Park and Sunnyside Amusement Beach.
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Sunnyside Amusement Park Photos
Sunnyside Amusement Area
“From 1922 until 1955, few summer attractions in Toronto were more popular than the Sunnyside Amusement Area. Located to the east of the bathing pavilion, the park was created by extending the shoreline with fill dredged from the bottom of Lake Ontario. The Toronto Harbour Commission appointed the firm Chapman, Oxley & Bishop to design both the park and its buildings as part of a larger waterfront plan.
Established as a summer destination, Sunnyside was modelled after English and American resorts. Most visitors arrived by streetcar, drawn to the midway rides, the games of chance, and the large outdoor swimming pool. Other attractions included the Miss Toronto beauty pageant, daredevil performers, and musical acts of the Seabreeze dance hall.
Following the Second World War, attendance at Sunnyside Amusement Area declined. Plans for roadway development along the lakeshore contributed to its uncertain future. In November 1955, while closed for the winter, Sunnyside suffered three fires; most of its buildings were demolished in the following months.”
Heritage Toronto 2014
The plaque is located at 1755 Lake Shore
Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion, 1922
“Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion has been a lakefront landmark since it opened in 1922. Built as part of an ambitious Toronto Harbour Commission waterfront plan under the leadership of businessman Robert Home Smith, the pavilion was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by the firm Chapman, Oxley & Bishop. It features a highly visible front façade accented by an impressive archway with a decorative panel, as well as by Classical columns and pilasters.
Inspired by a bathing pavilion at Lynn Beach in Massachusetts, Sunnyside had enough room for 7,700 bathers at one time. Following a brisk swim in the lake, visitors could retire to the terrace garden for refreshments. After two unseasonably cold summers, a heated outdoor pool, known as the “Sunnyside Tank,” was opened in 1925. With a capacity for 2,000 swimmers, it was reputed to be one of the largest outdoor pools in the world.
In 1980, when the pavilion was refurbished, the pool was dedicated in honour of swimming coach Gus Ryder.”
Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, 1975
Heritage Toronto 2014
The plaque is located at 1755 Lake Shore
SOURCE
- City of Toronto Heritage Register: 1755 Lake Shore Blvd W
- Ontario Heritage Trust: 1755 Lake Shore Blvd W
- Ontario Heritage Trust: Marilyn Bell
- PortsToronto: History
- Heritage Toronto
- City of Toronto: Sunnyside Park
- Sunnyside Pavilion: About Us
- Vintage Dancer: 1920s Swimsuits
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Nov 4, 1922, pg 15
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Jul 29, 1925, pg 10
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Jul 30, 1925, pg 10
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: Jul 31, 1926, pg 17
- The Globe Newspaper Archives: May 15, 1936, pg 11
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Nov 26, 1952, pg 1
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Nov 25, 1955, pg 5
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Feb 2, 1956, pg 25
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Jun 16, 1956, pg 25
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Apr 10, 1963, pg 1
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: May 21, 1964, pg 5
- The Globe and Mail Newspaper Archives: Aug 7, 1989, pg A10
- Toronto Star Newspaper Archives: Jun 7, 2015, pg A9
- Toronto Star Newspaper Archives: Jul 17, 2016, pg IN7
- I Remember Sunnyside: The Rise and Fall of a Magical Era by Mike Filey
- Photos: Denise Marie for TorontoJourney416
- Vintage Photos: City of Toronto Archives, Toronto Public Library, Library and Archives Canada & PortsToronto Archives (photographer Arthur Beales)
- Street Photo: Google Maps
In the notes above, it is mentioned that the Derby Racer ride that was at Sunnyside Amusement Park went to the CNE. I do not believe that is entirely correct. The ride at the CNE had a much greater diameter than the one at Sunnyside. As a young boy, I spent many hour watching them build the CNE Derby Racer and it appeared to me at the time, that it was built, entirely, from the ground up from new materials, not reassembled from pieces from somewhere else. However, that may not be true of the horses. They may have come from Sunnyside. Is there anyone out there who may confirm this?
BTW – Is there anyone out there that may have photos of the Auto Ride? It was one of my favourite rides and there is hardly a mention of it anywhere.
Hi Leo,
Thank you for your comment and the information. That must have been a lot fun to watch at the CNE!
I found the information about the Derby Racer in an article published in The Globe and Mail on August 17, 1968, on page 23. In it, Patty Conklin, whose company supplied and operated the CNE’s midway rides and games, was interviewed, and he mentioned, “See that Derby Racer? It’s 60 years old. It used to be at Sunnyside. There are only four of them in the world.”
I also found a July 9, 1957, article in the Globe and Mail on page 15 about a new $60,000 building being constructed for the Derby Racer.
For your question about the Auto Ride, could you be referring to the Racing Car Ride? If so, we have two photographs from 1955 of the Racing Car Ride featured in our CNE Rides article at https://www.torontojourney416.com/cne-midway-rides/. The photos are located about halfway down the page and showcase an orange car. The ride shown next to The Flyer.
Kind Regards,
Denise Marie
Thank you so much for the reply. I honestly never expected anyone to do so.
The fact that Patty Conklin said that “It used to be at Sunnyside.” does not mean that the statement was entirely true. You went on to say that a “new $60,000 building” was built for the Derby Racer. That was the building that I spent many hours watching them build. It was a huge building, probably twice the diameter of the one at Sunnyside. The spacing between the horses was greater as well. At Sunnyside, the horses were only about three or four feet; nose to tail, from one another whereas they were ten to fifteen feet apart at the CNE. I never rode the Sunnyside Derby Racer, but I remember it well. It never appeared to be operational whenever I was there. I, however, did ride the CNE’s Derby Racer and I know it was not the same ride.
Until the horses were installed, I never saw anything other than new materials being used for construction. Even the drive mechanics appeared to be new. As for the horses; as I said, they may have come from Sunnyside. Since you found the article in which Patty Conklin stated that it had come from Sunnyside, I have now been convinced that the horsed were from there, but only the horses.
Regarding the Auto Ride; the cars in the article you referenced are not the same as those used at Sunnyside. The cars at Sunnyside were smaller and held only the driver. I have been able to fine a photo on the Internet that is very close to the cars used at Sunnyside. The cars at Sunnyside had full perimeter bumpers and no headlights (that I recall). I tried to attach a copy of the photo of that car, but it appears that that is not possible.
Again, thank you for replying. It is good to see that there are others interested in the little things.
Leo Darmitz
Hi Leo, Thanks for sharing those details. Yes, it sounds like only the horses came from Sunnyside. If I come across any photos of the Sunnyside Auto Ride, I’ll be sure to let you know.
I received a reply to a posting that I placed on another site regarding the Auto Ride. The reply directed me to the City of Toronto Archives and a group of photos taken by the Globe and Mail in August of 1945. Among the photos is one in which a service man is sitting with a child in one of the cars in the Auto Ride. I was right; they had no headlights. It would be great to be able to post that photo on this site. I would love to share it with you if you would send me contact information.
Hi Leo, Good find! Yes, that would be great if you could share the it with me and I’ll add it to the article.
Hi Denise:
I hit the jackpot regarding the Auto Ride. It was NOT built and supplied by Traver Engineering as was first believed. It was built and supplied by Custer Specialty Co. of Dayton, Ohio. I actually have a copy of the sales flyer that the company used to promote the car. A picture of the car is on the flyer along with complete specifications. I am currently revising my memoirs to include all of the new information. It would be great if I could share it with everyone.
Hi Leo, That’s great that you found more info on the Auto Ride!
As I recall, the Auto Ride was unique in that you got only two circuits of the track then the cars would automatically come to a stop when you reached the end of the second circuit. I have actually been able to acquire a copy of the Patent that Luzern Custer received in 1928 that was for the control of the cars. Luzern Custer was the principal at Custer Specialty Co. and the fabricator of the entire ride (i.e. AUTO RIDE).
Hi Leo, Great research and information! The patent is nearly a century old.
The Patent was granted June 26, 1928, but was submitted September 14, 1925, so the application will be 100 years old in three months.
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