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entrance on
Dovercourt Road and is located on the ground floor. The space includes a balcony – part of what used to be the indoor running track. It has exposed brick walls and the original wood running track floor on the balcony. The Longboat Hall measures 5,000 sq ft (460 m) with capacity for 400 people.
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Steve
Metlitski and his firm Triangle Development acquired the building and completed a C$ 4-million restoration. For a few decades before its recent restoration, the building had gone into disrepair. The restoration took two years and included the installation of an elevator to allow accessibility
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From the mid-1980s, the building housed several artistic organizations. For a period in the 1990s, it was known as
Ceilidh Arts Centre before becoming known by its current name, The Great Hall. In the 1990s, it housed the Toronto Art School. Resident organizations during subsequent periods included
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S. J. Moore, chairman of the West End Y.M.C.A., laid the cornerstone for the building on
November 13, 1889, and the construction completed in less than a year. The building was dedicated on October 9, 1890, and served as a gymnasium featuring a bowling alley, running track and library on the lower
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on either side. The interior includes four event spaces. The Main Hall takes up much of the second and third floors and has an elevated stage and a horseshoe-shaped balcony. The Main Hall measures 10,000 square feet (930 m) with capacity for 460 people. Adjacent to the Main Hall on the second
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Above the
Conversation Room is the Drawing Room on the third floor which also features a rounded oriel window but does not have a dormer window like the Conversation Room. The Drawing Room measures 1,200 sq ft (110 m) and has capacity for 97 people. The Longboat Hall has its own
281:, Canada. The building is three-storeys high with a basement and attic, measuring 46 feet (14 m) high from ground to tip of the roof. The exterior facade is mostly made of red brick with coloured joints, with the sills and lintels of the windows and doors made of brown stone. It has a
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and
Dovercourt Road. Its former building on Queens Street West was sold to the Royal Templars of Temperance on May 20, 1912, for a price between C$ 30,000 and C$ 35,000. Soon after, the Royal Templars elected to consolidate their offices and move their headquarters from
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The Royal
Templars renovated the building into a convention hall with a banquet room and offices. Then known as the Royal Templar Hall, the building was the site of cultural and political events, such as lectures, entertainment, and a "well-baby" clinic. In 1920,
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floor is the
Conversation Room which includes the rounded oriel window in one corner and a dormer window in the middle which looks out over Queen Street. The Conversation Room is 1,200 sq ft (110 m) and has capacity for 117 people.
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window is located between the tower and ogee roof on the Queen Street side and a similar dormer window above the oriel windows can be found on the
Dovercourt Road side, flanked by two chimneys.
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14,000. Around the same timeframe, West End Y.M.C.A. acquired a lot measuring 50 by 130 ft (15 by 40 m) on the corner of Queen Street West and
Dovercourt Road, and engaged a firm,
293:. An oriel window on the second floor can also be found in the middle of the Queen Street front, and oriel windows on the second and third floor are located on the Dovercourt Road side. A
440:. After being renovated again, the building was rededicated as the IOF's headquarters in February 1933. The IOF eventually moved its headquarters to a different building on the corner of
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level with the main assembly hall on the upper level. The gymnasium is said to be the location of some of the earliest games of basketball. It was also a training facility used by
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in the Honourable Mention category reserved for smaller projects. Since its restoration, the venue has played host to number of cultural events in Toronto, including the
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began searching for a site to erect a building in 1887. The organization, founded in 1882, initiated a subscription fundraiser that, by late 1888, had raised
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460:, acquired the building in the early 1940s. It served as the headquarters of the organization and the publishing house for its weekly newspaper, the
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the Music Gallery, which featured experimental music, Theatre Centre, for staged productions, and YYZ Gallery, which exhibited visual arts.
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The building continued to host events for the Polish National Union until as late as 1971. It was designated a historic heritage site by
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In October 2017, the restoration of The Great Hall received the William Greer Architectural Conservation and Craftsmanship Award from
499:. It also serves as a venue for events such as concerts, weddings and corporate gatherings. In 2024 it provided as the venue for the
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and later a 25th anniversary celebration of the organization in 1955 when it had grown to a membership of more than 2,000 families.
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and a tower on the east end of the Queen Street front which is also slated and topped with a flagpole. The corner features rounded
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and a new cooling system. Following completion of the project in August 2016, the building was reopened the following month.
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The Polish National Union, an organization founded in 1930 and took in Polish refugees during the
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The Queen Street front features the main entrance which is 10 ft (3.0 m) wide with
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Patrick, Douglas (November 6, 1971). "Polish prisoner-of-war postage on display".
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On June 2, 1931, the Royal Templars of Temperance was merged into the
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at the venue. In 1929, the Royal Templar Hall hosted a debate between
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that project out on the second and third floors and are topped by an
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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436:(IOF) and the building came into the possession of the latter
583:"For Young Men: Opening of the West Y.M.C.A. Building".
760:"The Great Hall Warns It's in Danger of Shutting Down"
1108:"Heritage Toronto Hands Out 2017 Awards at The Carlu"
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Royal Templars and the Independent Order of Foresters
880:"Royal Templars Unite With I.O.F. Council Decides".
921:"New I.O.F. Beacon One of the Largest in Canada".
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945:"Polish National Union Holds 25th Anniversary".
861:"Royal Templars Make Toronto Headquarters".
925:. January 18, 1947. p. 26 – via
906:. February 15, 1933. p. 9 – via
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1132:Bilodeau, Michelle (September 12, 2017).
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902:"New Headquarters Are Opened By I.O.F.".
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