Wed, Jul 8 2009 - ROM Walk: Jarvis Street (View Original Event Details)
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Wow! There were masses of people waiting at Bloor and Church for the start of the walk. I had a makeshift TOC sign so hopefully managed to attract the attention of any TOCers (as well as a few others who inquired about the club). We departed with the second group and our first stop was at Bloor and Jarvis to hear about the history of St. Paul's Anglican Church. Our guide was knowledgeable but at times it could be difficult to hear her, as we were on busy streets most of the time and our group was large.
We then proceeded down Jarvis and had a look at the Rogers building, which is a modern building incorporating granite and glass, and a Michael Snow steel sculpture. It was interesting to see the way different buildings were joined by walkways over the streets. Further down Jarvis, we stopped to look at some original houses with Romanesque influence and lots of carved decoration in the sandstone. One of these was built for one of the Gooderham family (of distillery fame). Another house was not in great shape but showed the last remaining piece of retaining wall and fancy iron fencing left on Jarvis. We took a short detour west to see Cawthra Park, where there is an AIDS memorial and the Massey Houses - a group of rowhouses, and the former site of the Granite club's ice rink. Back on Jarvis, and then west on Wellesley, where we heard about the history of a large Tudor-style house that was built for the Warren family, and the mansion that is now the Keg. Further down Jarvis, we stopped at Jarvis Collegiate, founded as the first public school in Toronto. Across the street are grand old houses now incorporated with glassy modern additions into the National Ballet School. A short row of original middle-class Victorian rowhouses stands just a bit south of the ballet school. Our tour ended at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, south of Allen Park, where the greenhouse that used to stand at College and University now resides. A few of us went to the Red Lion Pub afterwards to sample local fare.
It was an interesting walk and a chance to give a second look to structures that most of us have never seen or just passed by quickly. Jarvis St. was originally a grand street of upper-class homes and churches, and if we squinted really, really hard, we could almost see it in some places.
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