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The corner of Bathurst and Bloor will never be the same, but a piece of the Honest Ed's sign—and of Toronto history—could live on around the corner from Yonge-Dundas Square, if it receives approvals from the City that is. Cutting short the eulogies for an uncommonly iconic piece of signage, David Mirvish recently announced that a 30-by-60 foot segment of the wrap-around installation will find a new home at the Ed Mirvish Theatre on Victoria Street.
Once the signage is disassembled and the store demolished, the sign would be assembled on a new frame, refurbished, and then installed above the theatre's back doors on Victoria Street. Requiring new structural work to hold it up, the move would add a bright, eye-catching element just around the corner from a part of the city devoted to spectacle. Westbank, the developer of Mirvish Village is said to be paying a third the cost of the move, which David Mirvish has indicated would cost "in the six figures."
Located just south of Yonge-Dundas Square on the west side of Victoria Street, the Ed Mirvish Theatre frontage has long been occupied by signs at street level, though none as flashy as the red, white, and yellow of Honest Ed's. Appropriately, the theatre bearing Ed Mirvish's name will host the unmistakable sign bearing his nickname. As noted by the Toronto Star's Edward Keenan, the theatre is also a good fit for a sign that's "always been a whole lot of showbiz, sort of a tribute to Las Vegas or Broadway."
While this stretch of Victoria is actually fairly quiet, the extension of Yonge-Dundas style programming further south could—at least superficially—animate the site, sliding an element of the square's frenetic character into its surroundings.
While the sign itself would be located slightly south of Yonge-Dundas Square, the installation would become part of an increasingly busy signage program that surrounds the square. Already decked out in all manner of billboards, the square's declaratively brash, commercial character is only set to be amplified.
Introduced last month, a proposal by Outfront Media calls for intensified signage throughout the square itself. The privately funded $3.8 million project envisions seven new video screens—the largest of which would be 34 square metres in area—along with five new digital signs, and some minor adjustments to the square's configuration. Appointed by Kramer Design Associates, the installations would display a combination of advertising and free public programming, potentially making Yonge-Dundas Square a more prominent public gathering space. (The broadcast of major sporting events has been cited as a possible public use).
City Council approved the program last week, despite concerns around allowing a privately-run ad-supported signage program on public land. Broadly speaking, the use of public space to broadcast (predominantly) private-sector advertising is inherently somewhat contentious, while more specific concerns about sightlines—namely impeded views of other ads—have been voiced by the square's competing private advertisers whose signs are affixed to surrounding buildings.
Meanwhile, another famous storefront sign should soon be returning to the public eye, overlooking the square to its west from the roof of 277 Victoria Street. Dismantled to make way for Ryerson University's Student Learning Centre, the sign will bring back part of another iconic 20th century Toronto retailer. Ryerson is gradually moving forward with plans to re-install Sam Sniderman's endlessly spinning records, with the school currently in the process of choosing a vendor to carry out the operation. Once a proponent is chosen, a timeline for the project is expected to take shape.
For the Honest Ed's sign, meanwhile, the re-installation requires City Council approval. While Honest Ed's early (and more modest) signage programs date back to 1948, the current sign at Bathurst and Bloor was installed just under 33 years ago, in 1984. With that in mind, it's not a piece of history in the same way as 19th century buildings, or most of the sites adorned with plaques and distant memories, but it's a piece of Toronto's heritage all the same. Not because it's old, but because it helped define a place that will not soon be forgotten.
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We will keep you updated as more information becomes available, and plans for the future of Yonge-Dundas Sqaure and its surroundings continue to take shape. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
