Kerr Hall is a series of four buildings in a square, surrounding Ryerson Community Park, on the
campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...
of
Toronto Metropolitan University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
(formerly Ryerson University) in
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 ...
, Canada. Kerr Hall is on the site of the former
Toronto Normal School
The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the Normal School was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto (after 1852), and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for St ...
. All but a portion of the Normal School's front façade was demolished in the late 1950s to enable the construction of:
* Kerr Hall East: 340 Church Street and 60 Gould Street.
* Kerr Hall West: 379 Victoria Street.
* Kerr Hall North: 31 and 43 Gerrard Street East.
* Kerr Hall South: 40 and 50 Gould Street.
The current building was built from the early 1960s to 1969 and designed by architect
Burwell R. Coon. Until 1963, Kerr Hall surrounded the site of the
Toronto Normal School
The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the Normal School was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto (after 1852), and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for St ...
.
![Ry athletic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Ry_athletic.jpg)
The middle of Kerr Hall is the tree-lined Ryerson Community Park, also known as the ''Quad''.
Kerr Hall is named for Ryerson's first principal,
Howard Hillen Kerr
Howard Hillen Kerr (December 25, 1900 - June 16, 1984) was the first principal of the Ryerson Institute of Technology (now Toronto Metropolitan University).
Kerr was born on a farm near Seaforth, Ontario. He graduated from the University of Toront ...
.
The Theatre at The Creative School
The northwest corner of Kerr Hall North houses The Theatre at The Creative School, formerly Ryerson Theatre. The 1,237-seat auditorium is used for "live productions, lectures, product launches, convocations, fashion shows and film shoots".
It also hosts screenings of films during the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
.
The Theatre has hosted
* film premieres including ''
The Princess Bride The Princess Bride may refer to:
* ''The Princess Bride'' (novel), 1973 fantasy romance novel by American writer William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He ...
'' in 1987 and ''
Borat
''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'' (Kazakh language, Kazakh / Russian language, Russian: ''Борат'') (also stylized as ''BORДT'', or simply ''Borat'') is a 2006 mockumentary black come ...
'' (2006)
* the 1976
Juno Awards
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
* the
28th Canadian Film Awards
The 28th Canadian Film Awards were held on November 20, 1977 to honour achievements in Canadian film."Ceremony dominated by two feature films: NFB Triumphs at Film Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 21, 1977. The ceremony was hosted by Gordo ...
(1977)
* the Atkinson Lecture Series.
Source:
Toronto Metropolitan University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
Dance performances have included:
* ''Fall for Dance North'' series - Indigenous Enterprise program "Indigenous Liberation" October 2022
Musical concerts have included:
*
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
- November 1979
* CJRT Festival Series
Theatre performances by the Ryerson Theatre Company have included:
*
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
, November 1977
Floor plans and navigation
Not all four of Kerr Hall's buildings connect to each other on all floors. You cannot pass through the Theatre.
Google Maps offers indoor maps for all four floors of Kerr Hall, plus the basement. Many room numbers are omitted from the map, and the entire 100 level of Kerr Hall West is also missing.
Google indoor maps provide static floor plans; they can also provide spoken walking directions to selected rooms inside a building. Google Maps can use Wi-Fi trilateration in order to determine a user's position; it can achieve an indoor accuracy of between 5–15 meters
in many commercial and institutional buildings.
References
{{coord, 43.658713, N, 79.379289, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title
Toronto Metropolitan University buildings
Clock towers in Canada
Towers in Ontario
Cinemas and movie theatres in Toronto