Walnut Hall was a row of four

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

-style terraced homes 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 ...

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. Constructed in 1856, it was recognized by both the

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Report to Toronto East York Community Council from Joe Halstead, Commissioner Economic Development, Culture and Tourism, re. 102 – 110 Shuter Street – Walnut Hall – Authority to Enter into an Heritage Easement Agreement (HEA).
June 5, 2002. Retrieved 2008-04-29. and the City of Toronto''A by-law to designate the property at 102-108 Shuter Street as being of architectural value or interest''. City of Toronto By-law No. 1997-0219. Enacted May 12, 1997. as being of historic significance, but portions of it collapsed and it had to be demolished in 2007 due to neglect. At the time of its demolition, it was Toronto's last remaining complete row of 19th century Georgian townhomes.Kyonka, Nick. ''Historic building dies of neglect.''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

. May 20, 2007.

O'Donohoe Row

John O'Donohoe, a local politician, auctioneer and land speculator, purchased a lot on Shuter Street in Toronto in 1853. A four-unit terrace, known as ''O'Donohoe Row'', was designed by architect John Tully and completed on the lot in 1856. At three and half storeys, the building featured

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with decorative brickwork and stone detailing, a symmetrical façade, a

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d roof and

dormer windows A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

. At the time, Shuter Street was located in a prestigious residential neighbourhood. Given its location and the quality of its construction, O'Donohoe Row was intended to cater to the affluent middle class, and was representative of the Georgian-style brick row houses which flourished in Toronto in the 1850s. The character of the neighbourhood changed, and the building was renamed ''Walnut Hall Apartment House'' in 1903. In 1949, the interior was converted to a rooming house, and a number of changes were made to the exterior, including the conversion of the southeast corner to a storefront. The

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purchased the building in the 1970s, as part of a land assembly for a new Ontario Division headquarters building.Goddard, John. ''Historic Building in Ruins.''

. May 21, 2007. In 1983, the

designated it as a Recognized Federal Heritage Building. It was also during the 1980s that Walnut Hall was vacated, left unheated and boarded up. The building was sold to a private developer in 1996. Once it was privately owned, the City designated Walnut Hall under the ''

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...

'' in 1997.

Demolition

Walnut Hall was the subject of a number of demolition proposals and redevelopment schemes from the 1970s onwards, ranging from a proposed parking lot to residential developments that would have incorporated the heritage building. None of the proposals was achieved, however, and Walnut Hall remained vacant and unheated. In 1999, the City of Toronto issued an order to the landowner to correct a number of growing structural deficiencies in the building. In 2004, Walnut Hall appeared in the film

Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penn ...

when the derelict building was used to portray a 1930s

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-streetscape. In March 2007, Trisan Realty Corp. purchased the property with the intention of restoring Walnut Hall. On May 19, 2007, however, police and fire officials were called to the site when pedestrians noticed bricks falling from the second and third storeys. By the end of the afternoon, parts of the rear walls had begun to cave in. That evening, a city building inspector recommended that Walnut Hall be demolished for safety reasons, and the demolition was undertaken that night. In 2008,

Heritage Canada The National Trust for Canada (french: La Fiducie nationale du Canada; formerly known as the Heritage Canada Foundation) is a national registered charity in Canada with the mandate to inspire and lead action to save historic places, and promot ...

included Walnut Hall in its annual list of "Worst Losses", referring to the building's neglect and demolition as "a case of architectural

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

". Michael McClelland, a heritage architect and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants, described the loss of Walnut Hall as being emblematic of a "broken" heritage preservation system in Toronto.

References

{{coord, 43.655691, N, 79.373099, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Demolished buildings and structures in Toronto Georgian architecture in Canada Houses in Toronto Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Residential buildings completed in 1856