IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF
ONTARIO
18 PORTLAND STREET
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 18 Portland Street 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 18 Portland Street 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 the categories of
design/physical, historical/associative, and contextual values.
Description
The subject property at 18 Portland Street is
located near the southeast corner of Niagara Street and Portland Street just
south of Victoria Memorial Square within the King-Spadina neighbourhood. The
former Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Ltd. substation at 18 Portland Street, or
Portland Substation, was designed in 1924-25 by the public utility's in-house
architect Albert E. Salisbury (1887-1955) and completed in 1925. Similar to
others in a collection of more than twenty substations designed by Salisbury between
1921 and 1950, the Portland Substation was designed in the Beaux-Arts tradition
and features Edwardian Classical influences. Within that collection, it is
recognizable as a two-storey, brick, factory/warehouse type building as well as
for its metal entablature and sign band.
Design and Physical Value
18 Portland Street holds significant design
value as a representative example of a 1920s-era Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems
Ltd. substation in the Beaux-Arts style with Edwardian Classical influences. Distinctive
features include the two-storey scale, form and massing of the property, its
common bond brick exterior with decorative stone detailing, fenestration
openings with stone sills and multi-paned, metal factory type windows,
terracotta coping along the parapet of the flat roof, and the metal entablature
containing the name band sign reading: "TORONTO HYDRO-ELECTRIC
SYSTEM." The sign band held within the metal entablature is composed of
projecting, stamped, metal lettering with distinctive font common to
other contemporary Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Ltd. substations.
The principal (east) elevation, true to the
principles of the Beaux-Arts tradition, features a largely symmetrical façade,
its two-over-two configuration composed by the pairings of the first-storey
window and principal entryway and the two second-storey windows above.
Historical and Associative Value
The Portland Substation at 18 Portland Street
holds significant historical value for its century-long association with
Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Ltd. The Portland Substation forms part of the
public utility's collection of early twentieth-century substations which were
built across the city following its formation in 1911. This historical
association is clearly expressed by the metal entablature and name band sign,
with its distinctive typecast, identifying Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Ltd.
and referencing its former use.
The Portland Substation also holds significant
associative value as a reflection of the work of architect Albert E. Salisbury
(1887-1955), who designed more than twenty substations between 1921 and 1950 as
Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Ltd.'s Supervisor of Architecture. Salisbury is considered an architect of
significance to Toronto's early twentieth-century history. The Portland
Substation is architecturally similar to others designed by Salisbury in the
1920s and 1930s, including its near-twin at 281 Cherry Street. It is
representative of Salisbury's expressive use of the Beaux-Arts tradition,
adapted with Edwardian Classical influences.
Contextual Value
18 Portland Street has significant contextual
value related to its importance in maintaining and supporting the early
twentieth-century industrial character of the King-Spadina neighbourhood. Built
within an industrial setting as the face of the public utility, the
substation's Edwardian Classical details bring further contextual value to the
property both for its association with the larger network of substations across
the city and for its connection to its immediate surroundings. Featuring
red-brick masonry, fenestration openings with stone sills and multi-light,
metal, factory type windows, terracotta coping, metal entablature with name
band, and symmetrical façade, the two-storey Portland Substation is visually
linked to nearby former-industrial buildings, including the Copp Clark
Publishing Co complex at 517 Wellington Street West.
Additionally, the Portland Substation is
functionally and historically linked to its surroundings as a structure that
was built in 1925 to support the increasing electric power requirements of the
King-Spadina neighbourhood.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
Attributes that contribute to the design and
physical cultural heritage value of the Portland Substation at 18 Portland
Street:
·
The scale, form, and
massing, of the two-storey, early twentieth-century, factory/warehouse type
building expressive of the Beaux-Arts tradition with Edwardian Classical
influences
·
The property's
material palette, consisting of a common bond brick exterior with stone
detailing
·
The symmetrical
façade of the principal (east) elevation with its two-over-two configuration
created by the pairing of the window and principal entryway (since altered) at
street level and the two second-storey windows above
·
The factory type,
metal windows on the first and second floors of the principal (east) elevation
and side (south) elevation with stone sills and brick headers
·
The terracotta tile
coping on the parapet of the flat roof.
·
The metal entablature
on the principal (east) elevation with sign band reading: "TORONTO
HYDRO-ELECTRIC SYSTEM," supported by slightly projecting brick pilasters
at the north and south edges of the facade
·
The sign band's
projecting, stamped, metal lettering with distinctive font common to other
contemporary Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems Ltd. substations
·
The decorative,
rectilinear courses of brick stretchers and headers which frame the façade of
the principal (east) elevation
Associative and Historical Value
The following attributes contribute to the
associative and historical cultural heritage value of the Portland Substation
at 18 Portland Street as a representative work of architect Albert E.
Salisbury's (1887-1955) portfolio, spanning from 1921 to 1950, as an important element
of the Toronto Hydro-Electric Systems early city-wide infrastructure:
·
The former Portland
Substation's defining Beaux-Arts styling with Edwardian Classical influences,
including the symmetrical principal (east) façade with its red-brick exterior with
stone detailing, fenestration openings, and flat roof with terracotta coping
·
The metal entablature
with sign band reading: "TORONTO HYDRO-ELECTRIC SYSTEM"
Contextual Value
The following attributes contribute to the
contextual cultural heritage value of the Portland Toronto Hydro-Electric
Substation at 18 Portland Street:
·
The property's
Beaux-Arts styling with Edwardian Classical influences, including its material
palette of brick with stone detailing, that supports and maintains an
understanding of the historic industrial character of the King-Spadina
neighbourhood.
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 October 3, 2022, which is November 2, 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.CC50.10
Dated at the City of Toronto on October 3, 2022.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk