IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
630 SPADINA AVENUE
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 630 Spadina Avenue 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
Description
The property at 630 Spadina Avenue (Knox
Presbyterian Church) is located on the west side of Spadina Avenue,
approximately 30 metres south of Harbord Street, at the eastern edge of the
Harbord Village neighbourhood. The property contains a 1909 neo-Gothic style
Church with a 1907 Sunday school wing at the rear, a 1961 modernist-style
church hall (Fellowship Centre), and 1961 modernist-style chapel.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Design Value
Designed in the neo-Gothic style, the combined
church and Sunday school has design value as a fine and representative example
of an ecclesiastical building that displays a high degree of craftsmanship.
Following the turn of the 20th century, the neo-Gothic style was popular for
religious and educational buildings. With its monochromatic surfaces, overall
balance, and less ostentatious medieval details including sparse religious
symbolism, the style differs from the more elaborate Gothic Revival designs of
the 19th century. This can be seen in the church's pointed arch fenestration,
triple entrance portal, buttresses, bell tower, and restrained use of
ornamentation found at the entrance portals, window hood molds, and corbels in
the gables.
The sanctuary and vestibule are also
representative of the neo-Gothic style, featuring pointed vault ceilings
supported by quatrefoil columns with corbelled capitals, carved woodwork, and
stained-glass windows with tracery.
The Sunday school at the west end of the church
continues the neo-Gothic styling with its segmentally pointed arch windows,
pointed arch entrances and cross gables featuring lancet openings.
The chapel, located south of the main church
building, has design value as a unique example of a modernist ecclesiastical
building from the mid-20th century, distinguished by its small scale, atypical
square plan, low slung brick clad walls and curved roof.
The adjacent exterior cross also has design
value as part of John B. Parkin Associates design intent for the Fellowship
Wing and chapel. The artistry of the cross is fully experienced when it is
flood lit at night, projecting an enlarged image of the cross onto the
intentionally blank wall of the Fellowship Wing.
The church has value for its high degree of
craftsmanship and artistic merit. While more restrained in its use of
ornamentation than churches constructed in the Gothic Revival style, the
high-quality rock-faced limestone cladding, carved stone details, and east
(principal) elevation featuring large central tripartite stepped stained-glass
windows above triple entrance portals with ornamental gables, archivolts and
colonettes, exhibit a high degree of craftsmanship. The high degree of
craftsmanship extends to the interior where Gothic elements are expressed
through finely wrought plasterwork, carved woodwork, and stained glass.
The interior of the Sunday school wing also
features north and south staircases featuring finely carved woodwork with
Gothic motifs.
Historical and Associative Value
The property has value for its direct
association with the Presbyterian Church in Canada, as the church is home to
Toronto’s oldest Presbyterian congregation. Established in 1820, it was
originally known as the Presbyterian Church of York. In 1904, the church sold
its original property on Queen Street between Yonge and Bay Streets to purchase
the property at 630 Spadina Avenue, which was located closer to the residential
areas where its congregants resided.
Designed by architect and Knox Church member
James Wilson Gray, the church that exists today was constructed between 1906
and 1909. Since its construction in 1961, the chapel has hosted and been used
in the seeding of new and emerging congregations throughout Toronto.
The church is valued for its association with
architect James Wilson Gray (1864-1922) who designed many prominent
residential, institutional, and ecclesiastical buildings in Toronto during his
nearly four-decade career. Among these works were Heintzman Hall (1910) at 195
Yonge Street, St. Andrew’s College (1903) in Rosedale, the Riverdale
Presbyterian Church (1921) at Pape Avenue and Harcourt Street, and the Scottish
Memorial Cairn and Monument (1891) in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. Gray was also
responsible for designing the 1912 Confederation Life Building in Winnipeg
which is a National Historic Site. Completed in 1909, the church exemplifies
Gray’s restrained application of ornamentation in his revivalist designs.
James Wilson Gray was also a prominent member of
Knox Presbyterian Church where, during his lifetime, he was an active member of
the congregation where he served as a church elder. A stained-glass window
honoring James Wilson Gray is located in the north transept of the church.
Unveiled in 1922, it was crafted by Robert McCausland Limited.
The property is also valued for its association
with the architectural firm of John B. Parkin Associates who designed the
chapel. One of Canada's leading and most prolific modernist firms in the 1950s
and 1960s, it contributed to the construction of many significant buildings in
Toronto during this period. Constructed in 1961, the Chapel exemplifies the
firm's work at this time which was chiefly aligned with International Style
modernism with its square form, ribbon windows and balance of vertical and horizontal
lines.
The property is further valued for its
association with the stained-glass makers N.T. Lyon Company and Robert
McCausland Limited which produced the church’s intricate stained-glass windows.
Both firm's works are widely recognized as among the finest in Canada, gracing
historic landmarks throughout the country including Canada's Parliament
Buildings as well as Toronto's Saint Michael's Cathedral Basilica, Saint James
Cathedral, and Old City Hall.
Contextual Value
Knox Presbyterian Church has value as a landmark
on Spadina Avenue. Constructed in 1909, the church, with its grand scale and
neo-Gothic architecture, stands out among the surrounding mix of late-19th
century residences and modern institutional structures and high-rises. Knox
Presbyterian Church also has value as a landmark for the greater Toronto area
as an active place of worship serving Toronto's oldest Presbyterian community,
which today serves members from throughout the greater Toronto area.
Heritage Attributes
Design or Physical Value
The following heritage attributes contribute to
the design and physical value of the
property.
All heritage attributes located within the
interior of the church, Sunday school, and chapel have been identified as
"liturgical elements".
Church
Exterior
·
The scale, form, and
massing of the church, with cruciform plan, corner tower, and cross-gabled roof
with slate shingles
·
The pointed arch
window and entrance openings with stone voussoirs, sills, and hood moulds
·
The quarry-faced,
random ashlar sandstone cladding and buttresses with smooth faced ashlar
sandstone accents
·
The carved stone
elements including hood mouldings, corbels, pinnacles, and buttress caps
·
The raised triple
portal entrance with pointed arch openings featuring carved stone colonnettes,
archivolts, tracery, and gables with gargoyles, quatrefoils, and finials on the
principal (east) elevation
Interior
·
The pointed arch
window and door openings with wood tracery
·
The pointed arch
groin vaults with decorative plaster work supported by quatrefoil columns with
corbeled capitals
·
The one storey volume
of the narthex with finely carved north and south
balcony staircases
·
The triple height
volume of the church including nave, transept, apse, arcaded side aisles, and
balcony
·
The pipe organ with
decorative front pipes and carved wooden organ case
·
The tripartite
stained-glass windows located at the east wall of the nave and the south wall
of the transept
·
The tripartite
stained and coloured glass windows at the north wall of the transept
·
The stained-glass
clerestory windows in the apse
·
The stained and
coloured glass windows in the north and south aisles
Sunday School
Exterior
·
The form, scale, and
massing of the wing with rectangular plan, hipped roof, and prominent gabled dormers
with chimneys
·
Buff brick cladding
and voussoirs
·
Smooth faced ashlar
sandstone quoining, lintels, and sills
·
Pointed arch and flat
headed window and entrance openings
Interior
·
North and south
staircases with carved oak newel posts, turned balusters, balustrades, and
decorative handrails
·
First floor hallway
with oak millwork and perpendicular pointed arch entrance to Winchester room
with oak doors, tracery, and plaster hood mold with decorative label stops
Chapel
Exterior
·
Scale, form, and massing
with its atypical square plan, corner buttresses, dark brick cladding and
horizontal expanses of uninterrupted wall surface.
·
Curved metal roof and
finial of steel beams, topped with cylindrical light fixtures
Interior
·
Vertical and
horizontal ribbon windows fitted with coloured glass
·
Wood panelled ceiling
and exposed curved steel beams
·
Dark brick cladding
Grounds
·
Stone Celtic cross
designed by John B. Parkin Associates
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:
Registrar Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor West,
100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: RegistrarCCO@toronto.ca within thirty (30) days of November 18, 2024, which is December 18, 2024.
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:
https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2024.PH16.11
Dated at the City of Toronto on November 18,
2024.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk