Toronto intending to issue heritage designation for property at 309 Cherry St.

By AMARACHI AMADIKE, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Toronto City Council is intending to designate a former bank at 309 Cherry St. in the Port Lands as a heritage building.

The city issued a notice of its intention earlier this month, and anyone objecting the heritage designation has until March 11 to make their feelings known.

Located at the southeast corner of Cherry Street and Villiers Street, the site was first built on in 1920 and is comprised of two detached buildings.

In 1920, the first building – designed by Darling & Pearson – was constructed and would become home to the Bank of Montreal until 1926.

About 15 years later, a second building was constructed. The two-to-four-storey industrial building which was designed by the architect N. A. Armstrong was used by Canadian Oil Companies Ltd. as an oil storage warehouse.

The industrial building’s transition from a two-storey wing in the north to a four-storey tower in its rear is a clear signal of the property’s history as it was built with “a deferential awareness of and reaction to the nearby Bank of Montreal to the north, which predates the warehouse”, according to City Clerk John D. Elvidge in the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property.

Soon after its operations began, Canadian Oil Companies Ltd. then leased the former Bank of Montreal building and converted the space into its offices.This was before Shell Oil bought both buildings for its own operations which lasted at this site from the middle 1960s until 1987.

On the historical front, the buildings hold much value in helping to understand the Port Lands and its relationship with the post First World War industrial culture An economic boom after the First World War sparked competition between banks who hoped to expand at a quicker pace than their rivals. This expansionist mentality wasn’t exclusive to financial institutions as energy companies were also keen on having a footprint in the Port Lands.

This is evident in another Port Lands site, The Sun Oil Company building, which received heritage status last October. Located at 29 Basin St., The Sun Oil Company building was used as an oil refinery and storage facility during this same period of an economic upswing after the First World War.

Like the Sun Oil Company building, the bank building at 309 Cherry St. showcases the historic classical revival style of architecture that was popular in Toronto between the end of the 19th century and the 1930s.

Through this period, many institutional buildings were constructed in this manner – particularly banks. This was largely due to the image of stability and security that these buildings depicted.

With the limestone and buff brick masonry construction style that many modern buildings are lacking today, this northern building’s exterior sends a clear message of strength, said the city’s notice.

Coupled with the iron, copper, and wood details; symmetrical façades; and its Greek Order portico with triangular pediment, entablature, and doric columns, Toronto Council is intending to protect this structure in an attempt to maintain the character and historical significance of the Port lands.

To the south of the bank building, the style of architecture is one described as an Art Moderne most noticeable in the low-height and flat roof of the Canadian Oil Company Ltd building.

Constructed with brown brick masonry and metal detailing, this style was popular in Toronto in the mid 20th century.

There is also a “lack of ornamentation, rounded corners on the north elevation, and an emphasis on horizontality achieved through its wraparound and flat-headed fenestration, uninterrupted stone coping and courses, and the mullion patterns,” according to the Notice of Intention to Designate the Property.

Anyone who objects to the heritage designation of 309 Cherry St. can submit a notice of an objection to the City Clerk’s Office at Toronto City Hall (100 Queen St. W., Toronto, ON, M5H 2N2) or by emailing registrarCCO@toronto.ca before Monday, Mar. 11.

— Amarachi Amadike is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter for Beach Metro Community News. His reporting is funded by the Government of Canada through its Local Journalism Initiative.