The
Old Maple Leaf Gardens
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This page thanks to "churchlady"
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 Post-deco early thirties style windows. A bit brutalist but very much of the period. Shame about window panes being let go. |
 The Old Lady of Carlton Street. View of front awning. |
 More brickwork. You can see all the windows have been papered over. Closed set! |
 A few of these on the east side. Very much period. Amazing they have survived. |
 The rear side of building. |
The last surviving building of the "Original Six," Hockey Arenas, Maple Leaf Gardens, is an hockey shrine in the city of Toronto. Built in 1931 with Conn Smythe's leadership and influence, the Gardens was an architectural wonder of its time, being built in less than six months in 1931. Since then it has seen 11 Stanley Cup victories by the Leafs and has played host to some of the world's biggest music acts. Whole generations of Toronto teenagers have seen their first concert and their best concerts at the Gardens. The Gardens has demonstrated its multi-use capability since its completion. Many activities held here over the years includes: track and field, speed skating, boxing, wrestling, political meetings and church services. Maple Leafs owner Conn Smythe persuaded large local businesses such as Eaton's (department store) and Sun Life Assurance, to invest in the venture. Eaton's eventually agreed to sell the plot of land on which the Gardens now stands to Smythe's group for $350,000. Construction costs were minimized as a result of agreements made with labour unions to provide the workers with Gardens' stock in place of a portion (20%) of their regular earnings. Material cost 20 to 30% less than the pre-depression period due to extremely low demand. On April 1st, 1931, demolition began at the corner of Church and Carlton streets. Over 1,200 labourers were employed on the project. The 350ft by 282ft (106m by 86m) building extended thirteen stories (40m) above street level. Opening night, November 12, 1931, saw the Maple Leafs lose 2-1 to the Chicago Black Hawks. The Gardens originally included a six-lane bowling alley, a billiards room and a gymnasium. These areas were transformed over the years into carpenter and electrician workshops and storage areas. Seating capacity was steadily increased to 15,646 after various renovations over the years. The last Leafs game was played Feb 13, 1999. It now sits empty and abandoned on Carlton Street. The seats and other interior fixtures were sold off two years ago and now it is only occasionally. Both Cher and the Rolling Stones have used it recently for preparation for their concert tours. The plan to sell it to a large supermarket chain here fell through in the winter of 2003 and it’s future is very uncertain. There are many developers who would love to tear it down and build condo apartments. There is a campaign to save it but it’s future is very uncertain. Ron Howard bring the movie to the Gardens has been helpful to the campaign to save this important city landmark. Maybe this will mean it can be saved it if could be used for further movie shoots. |
