The Horticulture Building, which houses the Toronto Event Centre, is a heritage building 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, Canada, containing event and conference space. It was built in 1907 for the display of

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

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), and it is a listed heritage building. Along with four other buildings at Exhibition Place designed by the same architect, George W. Gouinlock, it is a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

. In 2004, the building was leased to a private company for 20 years to use as a nightclub and for special events.

Description

The Horticulture Building was constructed in 1907 and was designed by local architect G. W. Gouinlock in the Beaux-Arts style. It is a one-storey building, in the layout of an "E", with a large glass dome at the intersection of the wings. The glass dome is the site of the main entrance facing south. The wings extend to the east and west to the north.

History

The site was previously the location of Toronto's Crystal Palace building, an exhibition hall fashioned after the design of

the Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...

in London, England. Toronto's Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire on October 18, 1906, spread by sparks from a fire in the grandstand building. The following year, the Horticulture Building was constructed. Between 1942 and 1946, when the CNE grounds were in use by the Canadian armed forces, the Horticulture Building became the Quartermaster Stores. In September 1949, when the S.S. Noronic passenger liner was destroyed by fire in Toronto Harbour, the Horticulture Building was turned into an emergency morgue. It temporarily housed as many as 104 casualties. In 1958, the building was used in the design competition for Toronto's City Hall. All of the models for the new city hall and square were put on display for public inspection. In 2004, Muzik Clubs Inc. won a competitive process to occupy the building and grounds from 2004 until 2024. It operated the upscale Muzik nightclub on Saturday nights and used the building for other private events. In 2013 the club proposed building swimming pools on the site in exchange for an extension of the lease until 2034. That proposal was turned down. Muzik Clubs Inc. is now known as Toronto Event Centre, and its focus is more on corporate events.

Gallery

File:Horticulture Building North View 1912.jpg , View of the building in 1912 File:Horticulture Building South View 1912.jpg , Main entrance in 1912 File:Horticultural Palace CNE 1927.jpg , The building in 1927

References

External links

Toronto Event Centre website
{{Exhibition Place Buildings and structures in Toronto City of Toronto Heritage Properties Exhibition Place 1907 establishments in Ontario Buildings and structures completed in 1907 National Historic Sites in Ontario