The Ontario Government Building, housing the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex since 2001, is a heritage building located at

Exhibition Place Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Built in 1926 to provide exhibit space for the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

during the annual

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

(CNE), that function later moved to the

Ontario Place Ontario Place is an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toronto. ...

complex. After a period of disuse,

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...

approved a long-term lease with the Liberty Entertainment Group to use the building for private events.

Description

The one-storey building has a triangular layout, fronting on

Lake Shore Boulevard Lake Shore Boulevard (often incorrectly compounded as Lakeshore Boulevard) is a major arterial road running along more than half of the Lake Ontario waterfront in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Prior to 1998, two segments of Lake Shore ...

on the southwest, British Columbia Road on the north and Alberta Circle on the east. The building has a central open triangular courtyard with the three wings surrounding it. Along the property facing Lake Shore Boulevard is a large concrete plaza leading down to the road, originally to the lake. Beside the steps leading down are two carved stone lions. Each lion's pedestal bears a historical plaque. The reinforced concrete Beaux-Arts building was designed by the architectural firm of

Chapman and Oxley Chapman and Oxley was a Toronto-based architectural firm that was responsible for designing a number of prominent buildings in the city during the 1920s and 1930s. Even with the departure of Chapman, the firm's last projects appeared to be in the l ...

, which designed several other public buildings in the area. The structure was built between November 1925 and August 1926 by contractors Sullivan and Fried Limited of Toronto. It was originally called the "New Ontario Government Buildings". The exterior was very ornate, but the interior (used for exhibit space) was originally not decorated, much like a warehouse. File:Ontario Government Building Aerial View 1929.jpg , Aerial view of the building in 1929 File:Ontario Govt Building Lions 1936.jpg , View of the stone lions on the grounds File:Liberty Grand.JPG , Entrance to the building in 2005

History

The building was built to display Government of Ontario exhibits during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). In 1971, the Government of Ontario opened

on new artificial islands on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border sp ...

, just south of the site as a permanent exhibit of Ontario. Ontario discontinued its use of the building, which then became the site of general exhibits during the CNE. In 2000, the City of Toronto released a "Request for Proposals" for long-term development of the building. Of five proposals, Toronto City Council approved the Liberty Grand Proposal for a 20-year lease of the building. Liberty Entertainment Group agreed to spend 4.95 million on renovations and pay $3.76 million in rent for the 20 years to use the building as a private ballroom venue. The company refinished the interior with decorations and furnishings to match the exterior, and the building re-opened in 2001. The building now houses multiple ballrooms and can accommodate up to 3,000 guests.

Liberty Grand

The Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex has several areas for banquets and balls, including three grand ballrooms decorated in a traditional style, and one contemporary open-concept room

Governors Room

This is the largest ballroom of the complex, with a capacity of up to 1500 people. With a spacious entrance and foyer, this room incorporates a grand oak staircase to the upper mezzanine level, which overlooks the courtyard and main room. Traditional French doors open the main ballroom onto the courtyard with a view of the building's ''duomo''.

Renaissance Room and Centennial Room

These two banquet rooms are a mirror image of one another. Each has a private entrance reception area with polished Italian marble floors, Renaissance-style columns and French doors into each ballroom. Floor-to-ceiling arched windows line the south wall of each room to exhibit a lakefront view from all angles.

References

External links

Liberty Grand website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Toronto Exhibition Place 1926 establishments in Ontario City of Toronto Heritage Properties Chapman and Oxley buildings Government buildings completed in 1926