Toronto Hydro Building - 14 Carlton

[goodboys]

I just heard on Rogers' "Structures" show tonight that the Toronto Hydro Building at 14 Carlton was never fully built. Apparently the original plans called for a building three times the height of what's there now. What we see is actually the base of what would have been a stepped back tower - I'm imagining something like the original Toronto Star building (same architect). Does anyone have any more info on this?

 

[wyliepoon]

No surprise really, considering that College Park suffered the same fate.

The late 1920s and the early 1930s was the golden age of skyscrapers in North America. It was a period when anything and everything in skyscraper building seemed possible. Unfortunately the Great Depression killed or downsized many projects. I wonder how much different Toronto and many North American cities might have looked liked if the Great Depression never happened, or even delayed by 5 or 10 years.

 

[luggee]

Speaking of Toronto Hydro, check out the Globe and Mail's Real Estate section Friday March 26th. Not 100% sure if it'll be in that day, but I just finished writing an article for them on Hydro's residential-style substations (you know the ones, they are fake 3-sided houses with all those scary transformers in back). If it's not published that Friday then it'll be in the following week.

I don't have anything in there on 14 Carlton, but I do have some interesting things like years of construction on a few of the residential substations and some interesting facts about them in general.

Yes, I know it's a shameless plug but a struggling freelance writer has to do what he has to do!

 

[marksimpson7843]

I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Ed007Toronto]

Just saw the show. Very interesting. We coould have had two towers in the area.

There's some pictures of the current building here.

www.artdecotoronto.com/Gallery.html