August 24, 2006
Presenting: Toronto's Distillery District
- A Unique Vision And 13 Acres Of Historic Victorian Industrial
Architecture Create One Of North America's Hottest Entertainment
Districts
As a European immigrant, historical districts always hold a great
fascination to me. Over the last few years, Toronto has been enriched
by the revitalization of an entire district: the
Distillery District, a complex of 13 acres composed of 44 buildings,
made a stunning transformation from outdated industrial relics to
becoming one of Toronto’s hottest entertainment areas. I have
visited the Distillery District several times over the last year,
but I realized a more indepth introduction to this unique area was
in order. After all, this complex is Toronto’s only pedestrian
neighbourhood; it is the largest and best preserved collection of
Victorian industrial heritage buildings in all of North America,
a designated National Heritage site and winner of numerous awards.
I knew that, as an architecture and history buff, I would be in
my element and was looking forward to discovering this unique Toronto
neighbourhood.
Exploring the Distillery Distric on a Segway Tour
I requested a meeting with Mathew Rosenblatt who handles media
relations for the Distillery District and was excited to find out
that he is actually one of the co-owners of Cityscape who together
with Dundee Realty are the developers of this unique heritage area.
Mathew offered to give me a personal tour of the entire complex
and I was extremely excited to learn about this unique project from
one of the key people behind this vision.
Gooderham & Worts - Fine Whiskeys Since 1832
We started at the foot of Trinity Street and Mathew explained that
about 150 years ago the Lake Ontario shoreline was located right
at the bottom of this street. The area to the south, which today
includes the Gardiner Expressway, the Via Railway corridor and the
new waterfront, was not filled in until much later. In 1832 the
first windmill was built in this location when Toronto was home
to only about 10,000 people. Mathew explained that these were vastly
different times: local residents would leave dead animals on the
ice over the winter, which would then contaminate the lake water
when the ice melted. As a result, the demand for distilled spirits
was born.
Balzac's Coffee Shop, one of Toronto's favourite coffee houses
Originally the distillery was named “Worts and Gooderham”,
after the two brothers-in-law that started this business. But after
James Wart’s wife died in childbirth, her husband was so distressed
he committed suicide, so William Gooderham continued the business
by himself. As a result the name “Worts” was deleted
from the company’s official name. James Wort’s ghost
is still rumoured to haunt the complex and the Distillery Complex
is an official haunted site in Toronto. His oldest son, one of 13
children, later joined William Gooderham in the distillery business,
and his name was added back in, but this time after the name Gooderham.
The immense Stone Distillery Complex
In the middle of the 19th century the Gooderham and Worts Distillery
was the largest distillery in the world and provided up to 50% of
tax collected by the Canadian government. The oldest remaining building
is the Stone Distillery Complex, a large, limestone building dating
back to 1859. All the buildings still have names that allude to
their original industrial function, for example the “Boiler
House Complex”, “The Case Goods Warehouse”, “The
Cooperage”, The Maltings”, “The Smoke House”
etc., illustrating their original function in this industrial complex.
Gooderham & Worts manufactured whiskey and various hard liquors
as well as industrial alcohols and antifreeze, used in both World
Wars. During WWI it manufactured acetone used for hardening the
fabric wings of by-planes. Gooderham & Worts was sold to Hiram
Walker in the 1920s and then sold to Allied Domecq in the 1980s
as part of a corporate takeover. In 1990 production shut down and
this transformed the complex into the largest film production location
in North America. Among countless other big screen productions,
TV and music video productions, blockbuster movies such as “X-Men”,
Chicago”, “Cinderella Man” and “The Recruit”
have all been shot at the Distillery
District. Hollywood stars such as Al Pacino, Meg Ryan, Richard
Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rene Zellweger and Colin Farrell and
many more have been immortalized here.
"Bronze Tree Root" sculpture
In the narrow passageway between the Cooperage Building and the
Stone Distillery Complex Mathew pointed out a sculpture called “Bronze
Tree Root”, one of many traveling exhibits of artwork that
find a temporary home at the Distillery District. Along the way
Mathew pointed out “Sport”, a retail shop focused on
the rich history and tradition of sports, often frequented by women
who are looking for the perfect gift for their husbands. We also
saw "AutoGrotto", a retailer specializing in automobile
and motorcycle memorabilia and collectibles. Our stroll continued
to the Cooperage Building and we entered the "Sandra Ainsley
Gallery", a gallery representing the works of major contemporary
Canadian, American and internationally recognized artists working
in glass and mixed media. The backdrop of exposed industrial brick,
wooden beams and strategically placed lighting provides a perfect
setting for hundreds of unique sculptures and art pieces that range
in price from several thousand to about a million dollars. The beauty
and innovative design of these items is striking and discerning
art collectors from all over the world visit Toronto’s Distillery
District because of its 14 galleries and its dozens of artists studios.
Outdoor patio of the Boiler House Restaurant
Among other tenants, the Maltings Building houses an unconventional
clothing retailer called "Lileo", featuring some of the
most original names in denim, apparel for men, women and children,
as well as footwear, accessories, books and much more. We turned
eastwards and strolled up Tank House Lane. Mathew introduced me
to the “Boiler House”, one of Toronto’s finest
restaurants. With several restaurants, cafes and bakeries, the Distillery
District offers a broad range of fine dining, casual fare and very
affordable bakery food. Diverse culinary pleasures are available
at every price point. Just down the street is “Archeo’,
a restaurant featuring Italian cuisine where no dish costs more
than C$14. Mathew and his partners made a commitment to ensuring
that affordable dining options would be available to all visitors.
In addition to exceptional, reasonably priced Italian cuisine, Archeo
offers unique design features: oversize archival photos of the distillery
are used as partitions between the tables, acting as unusual aesthetic
and innovative room dividers.
Interior of Archeo
During our stroll up Tank House Lane, Mathew informed me that the
cobble-stoned streets of the Distillery District are real brick
pavers from the 1850s that used to be located in Cleveland. When
Cityscape bought this complex, there were only dirt roads that had
to be dug up to install modern gas, sewer and electrical lines.
When it came to repaving the developers were looking for historically
authentic material and found it when the City of Cleveland was selling
off its unused stock of brick pavers. The developers wanted to use
authentic historic paving material which had to come from another
northern city in order to provide sufficient durability. So they
went all the way to Cleveland to secure this batch of historic brick
pavers.
To give me a real taste of the Distillery
District, Mathew took me into “Soma”, manufacturers
of some of the best chocolate, handmade truffles, praline, cookies
and fresh churned gelato in Toronto. Soma’s craftsmanship
and dedication to quality has made them winners of the “Toronto
Choice Awards” for best chocolate. Mathew invited me to taste
a “Mayan Chocolate Shot”, which was an espresso-size
cup full of the most aromatic medium-brown liquid chocolate I have
ever tasted. The intriguing taste is derived from a blend of authentic
Mayan chocolate, spiced with Australian ginger, Madagascar Vanilla,
orange peel, chili and Soma’s unique blend of spices.
Soma - chocolate artisans
Further down Tank House Lane is the "Young Centre for the
Performing Arts", a 50,000 square foot state of the art, brand
new performing arts facility and the result of a unique partnership
between George Brown College and the Soulpepper Theatre Company.
Performing arts are big in the Distillery District: it just hosted
a Dance Festival and also is the venue for an annual Opera Ballet
Festival. The district’s three indoor and one outdoor theatres
delight performing arts aficionados with their diverse offerings.
We turned onto Brewery Lane and walked through the "Pure Spirits
Oyster House and Grill", one of Toronto’s most popular
fresh fish and seafood restaurants. The Barrel Shipping Room
is a magnificent setting for dining or after work drinks and even
in the middle of the afternoon this restaurant was very busy. The
100-seat outdoor patio was positively packed with people enjoying
the sunny afternoon.
The Pure Spirits Building
Mathew pointed out that each business inside the Distillery District
has one or two artifacts from the original distillery operations,
and the "Pure Spirits Oyster House and Grill" features
an original wooden armoire and a wooden hatch from the pre-restoration
era. In a hallway behind the restaurant I saw a colourful ornate
safe that Mathew informed me was once owned by William Gooderham
himself, who incidentally also founded the Bank of Toronto which
later became the Toronto Dominion Bank. Throughout the entire district,
the integration of historical elements and the modern adaptation
of the original architecture is a phenomenal example of architectural
revitalization. I enjoyed the historical setting without ever feeling
like I was in a museum.
Right opposite this restaurant is the home of the "Mill Street
Brewery", Toronto’s most award-winning micro-brewery,
which is just adding a brew pub to its facility. Walking further
south the laneway opens up into large square that is used for various
outdoor performances throughout the year. Then heading back west
we walked down Case Goods Lane which on the right hand side features
"Grand Piano Pastries", a café with exposed brick
walls and an Old World atmosphere. Next door is "Pikto",
a gallery featuring internationally renowned and emerging photographers
that holds monthly photo contests.
Interior of the Grand Piano Pastries Café
On the south side of Case Good Lane the “Case Goods Warehouse”,
which houses "Artscape", a collective of artists and artists’
studios, many of whom provide live demonstrations of their crafts,
from hat making to ceramics to clothes design. Many of the working
studios in the district are open to the public and Mathew explained
that many of these artists demonstrate their crafts and actual processes
to interested onlookers.
As we were completing our loop Mathew showed me the original millstone,
imported originally from England in 1832, which was part of the
first mill in the district. We walked by the sales office for the
Pure Spirits Condominiums which are going up just west of the historic
Distillery
District. Mathew indicated that this project is helping offset
the costs of redeveloping this historic district and the majority
of the condos were sold out within a week, simply because of the
desirability of their location, right next to door to one of Toronto’s
most vibrant and diverse entertainment districts.
The original millstone from 1832
Talking about real estate and architecture, I was particularly
interested in the rehabilitation process that turned 44 run-down,
outdated industrial buildings into one of the hippest entertainment
districts in all of North America. Mathew said that the revitalization
project was difficult and very costly, but in just about 18 months
they turned 13 acres of obsolete unused industrial carcasses and
more than 40 buildings into a visionary project that has become
the trendsetter for industrial rehabilitation all throughout North
America.
The smokestack of the Boiler House
Mathew explained that the more than 100 tenants at the Distillery
represent every field of arts, culture and entertainment, including
the various restaurants and eateries, galleries, retailers, performance
theatres and even educational institutions which include a day care
centre, the Distillery Early Learning Centre, George Brown College
and the Voice Intermediate School. What motivated him and his partners
to even to consider this project were his visits to other international
destinations where he wanted to explore the city not as a tourist,
but to experience it as the locals do. And when you go to the Distillery
District you will not see any touristy shops or souvenir or t-shirt
vendors. Instead you will find top notch arts, culture and entertainment
at every price point, and you can enjoy a whole day in this venue,
even on a shoestring budget.
Pure Spirits Building
Cityscape selected their tenants very carefully. They did not want
chain stores and franchises in their complex and decided to forego
some often lucrative leasing offers. Instead they deliberately set
out to attract high quality tenants with unique products or service
offerings and a real passion for their craft. Mathew added that
they wanted to combine big city sophistication with small town charm
and likens the end product to the SOHO of the 1960s. He and his
partners wanted this place to be a melting pot of disciplines and
an incubator of new ideas.
Wildhagen Hats - Cold Weather Perfect
According to Mathew, key to the success of this project was the
fact that Cityscape and Dundee Realty are able to retain control
of this project and carry out a consistent vision from start to
finish. What distinguishes this project from other neighbourhoods
is the conscious choice of tenants that reflect the developers’
dreams of creating a one-of-a-kind centre of culture, arts and entertainment
in a unique historic setting. The Distillery
District has definitely succeeded and become the trailblazer
for industrial revitalization projects all through North America.
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