St. Lawrence Hall

A third storey section of the building was known as St. Patrick Hall, an important meeting place for the Irish Catholic Benevolent Union.

By the 1870s the growing city had a number of larger and more suitable performance venues and the Hall entered a long decline.

The City of Toronto government fully restored the hall in 1967 to mark the Centennial of Confederation (and rebuilt the east wing which had completely collapsed).

A remote detonated explosion, standing in for the groundbreaking of Canada's Wonderland theme park in the York Region town of Maple, took place from the Hall.

The Renaissance Revival was a clear goal of William Thomas, but the Hall reinterpreted the Italination in a vernacular and contemporary manner.

St. Lawrence Hall is designed in a Victorian composition with a French mansard roof due to abundant snowfall in Ontario.

St. Lawrence Hall, c. 1860. The building was erected in 1850—51, following the Great Fire of Toronto in 1849.
Interior of St. Lawrence Hall. The building was designed by architect William Thomas .
St. Lawrence Hall from St. James Park November, 2021