Palais Royale

That summer, staff at the Palais Royale intervened to prevent a Black man and a white woman from dancing together, humiliating them and ejecting them onto the street.

According to author Ernie Tate: "The couple had openly breached Toronto's unofficial form of segregation under which very little social mixing took place between blacks and whites.

[7] Broderick attempted to negotiate a further lease in 1965 but he was not successful and he sold his rights to the Polish National Union in January 1966.

By this time the land had been transferred to the City of Toronto, which had placed the Palais Royale on its list of properties for demolition in 1965.

From Stan Kenton, Benny Louis, Woody Herman, The Carlton Show Band, The Specials, Joe Jackson and Rough Trade around 1980 to concerts by The Pogues, Blur, Blue Rodeo, Sigur Rós, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Sadies, Constantines, Sloan and a The Rolling Stones concert on August 16, 2002.

[10] In June 1987, the City began legal action to retain control of the property, a process which ended with a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal on March 28, 1994 which terminated the lease on April 16, 1999.

Described by Den Farnworth of Goldsmith Borgal Architects as "it's not a true restoration, it's more an adaptive reuse",[16] the renovations attracted some controversy.

City officials and the lead architect for the renovations were in attendance for this celebration and public dance which was promoted heavily by JazzFM 91.1.

Critics of the renovation denounced the new design for its destruction of major architectural elements and inept approximation of historical stylings.

Supporters tout the security of its contemporized design, one more likely to attract paying customers and ensure future maintenance, and ultimately, the existence of the structure.

After public consultations, the City of Toronto has since paved a new parking lot for the hall across the street on former Amusement Park lands between the east and west lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard, and provided a set of stoplights for customers to cross the street to the hall, but preserving the willow trees of the old lot.