John Street, Toronto
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John Street is a
street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...
in
Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...
. It runs from Stephanie Street and Grange Park in the north to the
Metro Toronto Convention Centre Metro Toronto Convention Centre (originally and still colloquially Metro Convention Centre, and sometimes MTCC), is a convention complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Front Street (Toronto), Front Street West in the former Railway Lan ...
on Front Street in the south. It is home to a number of Toronto's cultural institutions, including buildings for the CBC, CTV,
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
. The ''National Post'' has described it as "Running directly through the entertainment district, its spine connects many great cultural institutions, popular retail outlets, restaurants and soon-to-be-built condos." The City of Toronto has dubbed the street a "Cultural Corridor" and a report calls it "the centrepiece of the
Entertainment District An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...
."


History

John, and other streets in the area, were named after
John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant-General (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British army officer, politician and colonial administrator who served as the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 u ...
, the founder of
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
(today Toronto) and the first Lieutenant Governor of
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...
. During the
typhus epidemic of 1847 The typhus epidemic of 1847 was an outbreak of epidemic typhus caused by a massive Irish emigration in 1847, during the Great Famine, aboard crowded and disease-ridden " coffin ships". In Canada, it is estimated that more than 20,000 people d ...
, 863 Irish immigrants died of
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
in
fever shed A pest house, plague house, pesthouse or fever shed was a type of building used for persons afflicted with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox or typhus. Often used for forcible quarantine, many towns and cities had one ...
s at the Toronto Hospital on the northwest corner of
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
and John Street.


Route description

John Street begins at Front Street. Just to the south is the
Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to t ...
and
CN Tower The CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...
, located on the former railway lands. John street used to extend further south, over the railway to Lake Shore Boulevard. Today a pedestrian mall begins at the terminus of John, connecting it to these structures and to Bremner Boulevard. South of Bremner what used to be John is now named Rees Street. The
John Street Roundhouse Roundhouse Park is a park in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is in the former Railway Lands. It features the John Street Roundhouse, a preserved locomotive roundhouse that houses the Toronto Railway Museum, Steam Whistle Bre ...
and John Street Pumping Station retain their original names, despite no longer being on John. From Front St to Queen St W John is a four lane road. Once an industrial area, the street it now lined by a series of office buildings and condominiums that have been built in recent decades. In the 1990s downtown expended westward as the first office towers were built along John. These include
Canadian Broadcasting Centre The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control centre for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporati ...
, headquarters of the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
, and
Metro Hall Metro Hall is a 27-storey Postmodern architecture, Postmodern-style office tower at the corner of Wellington and John Street (Toronto), John Street in the Downtown Toronto, downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It looks out onto Pecaut Squ ...
, the former headquarters of
Metro Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an Regional municipality, upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the Old Toronto, old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and vill ...
. In the 2000s condominiums began to be built throughout the Entertainment District, and the southern part of John is now home to a number of condo towers. North of Adelaide St, John narrows to three lanes and changes in character, becoming one of the central nodes of the entertainment district. The street in this section is mostly lined with low rise commercial buildings. These include a number of restaurants, the
Scotiabank Theatre Scotiabank Theatre (French: Cinémas Banque Scotia) is a Canadian banner of Multiplex (movie theater), multiplex cinemas owned by Cineplex Entertainment. The brand was established in 2007 as part of a wider partnership between Cineplex and Sco ...
, a bowling alley, CTV Queen Street, the
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
Mediatheque, and the former location of the Circa nightclub, once the largest of the clubs in the entertainment district. North of Queen Street, John Street narrows further to two lanes. The northernmost section of the street is mostly residential, lined with a series of mid-rise apartment buildings and condominiums, mostly dating from middle of the 20th century. John St reaches its northern terminus at Grange Park, which gives its name to the Grange Park neighbourhood. A path through the park follows the Axis of John Street, leading to The Grange, a heritage manor. The manor is now attached to the
Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...
and
OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public university, public art school, art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park (neighbourh ...
is also adjacent to the park.


Future

The ''Globe and Mail'' described John Street's current character as "a largely utilitarian stretch of broken pavement, parking lots, chain restaurants and media company headquarters." Plans are underway to turn John into the hub of Toronto's
Entertainment District An entertainment district is a type of arts district with a high concentration of movie theaters, theatres or other entertainment venues. Such areas may be officially designated by local governments with functional zoning regulations, as well as ...
by widening the sidewalks and creating a tree lined boulevard that would serve as a central access to the neighbourhood. In places where John is four lanes, it will be reduced to two to make more room for sidewalks and trees. The plan was developed by the local Business Improvement Association and the
City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its structure and powers are set out in the ''City of Toron ...
and is the current top planning priority for the Entertainment District.Donovan Vincent
Plan envisions John St. as 'spine' of cultural area"
''Toronto Star.'' June 17, 2009


Landmarks


See also

Weston, Ontario, a historic community in Toronto, also has a street named John Street


References

{{Streets in Toronto Streets in Toronto