IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
1 ST. CLAIR AVENUE WEST
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE
THE PROPERTY
TAKE NOTICE that Council for the
City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings
and structures thereon known municipally as 1 St. Clair Avenue West under Part
IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as amended, as
a property of cultural heritage value or interest.
Reasons for Designation
The property at 1 St. Clair Avenue West is
worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for
its cultural heritage value and meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria
prescribed for municipal designation under all three categories of design,
associative and contextual value.
Description
Located on the southwest corner of St. Clair
Avenue West and Yonge Street in the city’s Deer Park neighbourhood, the
property at 1 St. Clair Avenue West contains a twelve-storey commercial
building completed in 1968. At the time of its completion, the ground floor
continued to be occupied by the CIBC branch, and the remaining floors leased
out to various commercial tenants. A decade later, the building was identified
as “Ontario Government Building” in the City Directory, and tenants included a
range of Ontario ministries. In 1992, exterior alterations were carried out on
the CIBC bank branch fronting onto Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West. In
2016, an eight-storey mural was commissioned for the building’s west elevation
by owner, Slate Asset Management, in collaboration with STEPS Public Art, to
the design of renowned British street artist, Phlegm.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Physical and Design Value
The property has design and physical value as a
significant and unique representative example of architectural precast concrete
in Toronto. Constructed in 1967-1968, to a design largely conceived by 1963,
this prominently sited modernist office building anchoring the southwest corner
of the Yonge and St. Clair intersection in midtown is characterized by the
treatment of its principal north, east and south elevations. These principal
elevations were constructed as a unitized curtain wall system entirely composed
of non-structural prefabricated panels on the exterior. Each is distinguished
by a uniform arrangement of narrow precast concrete panels with rectangular
openings with rounded corners, and the visual contrast between the slender
concrete elements and the large inset windows creates a vibrant pattern of
light and shadow. This distinctive and elegant design is characteristic of the
versatility of precast concrete, and of the range of buildings associated with
this material and construction method during the Modern period in Toronto.
Historical and Associative Value
The property at 1 St. Clair Avenue West is also
valued as a unique and prominent example of the physical and design evolution
of St. Clair Avenue in the Deer Park neighbourhood from a mainly low-rise,
residential community in the early-20th century to the high-rise, commercial
canyon that developed along this stretch in the 1950s-1970s and continues to
define the east-west axis of this important midtown intersection
today.
Contextual Value
The property has contextual value in supporting
the character of St. Clair Avenue within Deer Park. Completed in 1968, the
building on the property is the first of the four corners at the Yonge and St.
Clair intersection and among a larger wave of modern office buildings which
transformed and established the area’s character during its post-war intensification
in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to its present-day character as a mixed-use and
commercial hub. Occupying a visible site at the intersection of Yonge Street
and St. Clair Avenue, the building contributes to the canyon form of St. Clair
Avenue created by surrounding buildings between Avenue Road and the Vale of
Avoca. The commercial building at 1 St. Clair Avenue West is historically,
visually and physically linked to its setting in the Deer Park neighbourhood
where it anchors the southwest corner of St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street.
Heritage Attributes
Attributes that contribute to the value of the
commercial high-rise building at 1 St. Clair Avenue West being a significant
and unique representative example of modernism in Toronto:
·
The setback,
placement and orientation of the building on the southwest corner of St. Clair
Avenue and Yonge Street
·
The existing
twelve-storey scale, form and massing on a rectangular plan with a flat
roof
·
The materials, with
the concrete, brick and glass cladding
·
On the north, east
and south elevations, the curtain wall system of precast concrete panels above
the first storey and rising to the flat roof, with their modular and uniform
arrangement, deep profile and rectangular openings with rounded corners
·
The precast concrete
panels at the corners, parapet and ground floor fascia which frame the north,
east and south elevations
·
The original entrance
to the building fronting onto St. Clair Avenue
Attributes that contribute to the value of the
subject building for its association with the mid-20th century transformation
of St. Clair Avenue from a low-rise, residential street to a significant
commercial and transportation hub in midtown Toronto:
·
The existing
twelve-storey scale, form and massing on a rectangular plan with a flat
roof
Attributes that contribute to the value of the
commercial high-rise building at 1 St. Clair Avenue West as defining,
supporting and maintain the historic character of the area and being
historically, visually, functionally and physically linked to its
setting:
·
The setback,
placement and orientation of the building on its prominent lot anchoring the
southwest corner of St. Clair Avenue and Yonge Street and with its main
entrance fronting onto St. Clair Avenue West
Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate
Notice of an objection to the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention:
Administrator, Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor
West, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: hertpb@toronto.ca within thirty days of July 26, 2022, which is August 25, 2022. The
notice of objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property must
set out the reason(s) for the objection and all relevant facts.
Getting Additional Information:
Further information in respect of the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2022.CC47.37
Dated at the City of Toronto on July 26, 2022.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk