Broadview Hotel (Toronto)
| Broadview Hotel | |
|---|---|
 New Broadview Hotel and Jilly's in 2007 before conversion to a boutique hotel | |
 | |
| Former names |
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| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Town or city | Toronto |
| Country | Canada |
| Completed | 1893 |
| Renovated |
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| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) |
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The Broadview Hotel is a 58 room boutique hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Broadview Avenue and Queen Street East in Toronto's Riverdale neighbourhood. Built in 1893, the building was originally a hall with retail and office space and later converted into a hotel. Until 2014, the establishment was occupied by the New Broadview House Hotel, a hotel and boarding house with a strip club named Jilly's on its ground level. The newly renovated hotel is scheduled to open on July 27, 2017.[2]
History
Built in 1891, the Richardsonian Romanesque style structure was built for Archibald Dingman and designed by Robert Ogilvie as a commercial hub and public hall (Dingman's Hall). The building originally had the Canadian Bank of Commerce as a tenant on the ground floor and doctors' and lawyers' offices on the middle floors. Atop the building were two public halls which acted as a venue for concerts and assemblies.[3][4]
In 1907, the building was sold to Thomas J. Edwards who hired architect George Gouinlock to transform Dingman’s Hall into The Broadview Hotel, which let rooms for $1.50 or more a night.[3] It was known as the Lincoln Hotel for a time in the 1930s before reverting to its original name in the 1940s.[5] By the 1970s, it was the Broadview House, a boarding house renting rooms by the week, with a strip club (later known as Jilly's) on the main floor.[6]
On May 13, 2014, Streetcar Developments announced its purchase of the Hotel,[7] and subsequently evicted the tenants, including the strip club and several long term rooming house boarders. The 45 long-term tenants, many of whom were living on disability or social assistance were rehoused through a partnership between Streetcar Developments, the city, and WoodGreen Community Services in which the developer paid WoodGreen to hire two staff persons to assist the tenants in finding new homes with Streetcar paying for the tenants' first and last months' rent and moving costs.[8]
In late 2014, the developers sought the city's permission to renovate the building into a 58-room boutique hotel with a ground floor restaurant and a rooftop bar.[9] The hotel redevelopment is part of an ongoing gentrification of the neighbourhood.[9]
In late 2016, the exterior of the building had completed renovations which were unveiled and the renovation has also garnered a Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Excellence in Conservation.[1] With the renovations, the hotel is renamed from the "New Broadview Hotel" to "The Broadview Hotel".[10]
Architecture
The building features arched windows and a tower characteristic of Romanesque Revival.[10] The south-east vertical edge of the building is rounded using curved, elongated bricks. The building's grey lintels above the windows were likely carved from Credit Valley sandstone, popularly used during Toronto's Victorian era.[1] The east and south exterior walls feature 21 terracotta relief sculptures each with a unique image, often including a human face.[2]
A major addition during the renovation of 2015-2017 was the addition of a glassed-in rooftop restaurant on the building's north side. While the bulk of the building is four stories high, the rooftop restaurant and the hotel tower are on higher levels.[10] Black cornices that were removed in prior years were recreated based on period photos.[2]
Current facilities
With the completion of the renovations of 2015-2017, the Broadview Hotel facilities:[10]
- 58 guest rooms some of which feature prints of pinup girls, a reminder of the former Jilly’s.
- A ground floor café and bar which doubles a cocktail and champagne bar by night. The café's wallpaper is a replica of the original, a sample of which was found in the walls during renovation.
- The Civic, a formal 80-seat restaurant near the lobby.[2]
- Lincoln Hall and Terrace, a 4,000 square-foot space above the formal restaurant, for hosting events.
- A casual rooftop restaurant housed in a newly constructed glass box on the north side of the building with surrounding rooftop views.
- Hotel tower for hosting small private events featuring exposed brick and wood, arched windows and a vaulted ceiling.
- A space to display memorabilia from Jilly’s such as posters, dancing poles and entertainers’ lockers.[2]
See also
- East Chinatown
- The Edwin, formerly the New Edwin Hotel
References
- ^ a b c Hall, Joseph (March 10, 2017). "Why the former Jilly's is an architectural showstopper |". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Moore, Oliver (June 29, 2017). "The Broadview Hotel celebrates its own history". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
- ^ a b "Historian-architect Angus Skene reveals the Jilly's backstory". Toronto Star. May 13, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
- ^ http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2014/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-69516.pdf
- ^ "Historic Toronto photos - Broadview Hotel". Wholemap.com. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ "Jilly's strip club to vacate historic hotel". CBC News. July 13, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- ^ Streetcar Developments (May 13, 2014). "Streetcar Developments Announces Purchase of Toronto's Historic Broadview Hotel". Newswire.ca. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ "From strip club to community partnership as Jilly's closes". Toronto Star. July 12, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "Former Jilly's strip club site to become boutique hotel". Toronto Star. November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Da Silva, Michelle (April 21, 2017). "Inside the newly restored Broadview Hotel, opening in June". Now. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
