The Balfour Building is located at the Northeast corner of Spadina Avenue and Adelaide Street in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, close to the Financial and Entertainment districts, Gardiner Expressway, and the LRT. It was named after Arthur J. Balfour, author of the "

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

" in 1917, whose goal was for the British government to support a Jewish homeland in

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. The high-rise was built originally for the Schiffer-Hillman Clothing Company; it was managed by numerous Jewish clothing companies in its early years. Presently, the Balfour Building is a historical tower

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

of Art Deco style in the 1930s. Elevators were installed by Otis-Fensom of Hamilton. The building has hardwood

flooring Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface ...

, a rooftop terrace and various recently added features, including forced air heating and centrally controlled

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

. The Balfour Building was listed as a Toronto Heritage Property in 2011 by the

City of Toronto Heritage Property Inventory The City of Toronto's Heritage Property Inventory is a list of buildings, structures, and properties in Toronto that are identified by the city, for the purposes of preserving their original facades and appearances. The inclusion of any property on ...

References

{{reflist Art Deco architecture in Canada Buildings and structures in Toronto City of Toronto Heritage Properties