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Doors Open, One Person's Perspective
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
by Deborah Stiff, HH Toronto Field Consultant

So… how many buildings did you get to see? Any of them strike you as disconcerting?

I can now tell you MANY of them are spook spots (Royal Alexandra Theatre, Fort York, and Mackenzie House to name a few). Aside from the better known haunts you recognize, there are many you probably don't (such as Humber College Lakeshore Campus - formerly Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital, the Christie Mansion (former residence of William Christie, of Christie cookie fame) and Soldier's Memorial Tower (on University of Toronto campus), to name a few.

My itinerary was a mix of buildings I just wanted to see, and ones I heard that were frequented by phantoms. Regardless of residents (visible or no), all of the buildings were fascinating of their own right - both historically and architecturally.

One of the most engaging places I visited Saturday, was the Redpath Sugar Museum (95 Queen's Quay East). Built because of the St. Lawrence Seaway, it informs you of everything you ever wanted to know about the history and processing of sugar. For instance, did you know sugar was also processed commercially from beets for a time? Or that in England in 1350, a pound of sugar cost as much as 29 pounds of butter or 360 eggs? How about the fact sugar was introduced to northern Europe in the 11th century by the Crusaders (no, not a mediaeval hockey team, knights who went to conquer the Holy Land). Even the outside is interesting. There is a gorgeous, free hand drawn and painted mural on the wall. It is an under-sea scene, featuring whales and other sea creatures.

But I digress. You probably want to know about the spook spots.

One that I went to on Saturday was the Assembly Hall at the foot of Kipling at Lakeshore Blvd. It is currently in use as a Lakeshore neighbourhood community centre, and is quite a lively, creative place. This Hall was built in 1898 and used by the patients at the Mimico Lunatic Asylum (as the hospital grounds were then known) as a place of worship and as a recreation centre. It has been renovated extensively (needed it apparently - it had fallen into serious disrepair).

I didn't notice anything "unusual" here. Afterwards, I decided to walk around the grounds and see what I could see. I didn't get far - it was much too cold (more importantly, I wasn't dressed for it). I was intrigued by what I saw and I will return to this lovely park when the temperature is more amenable.

As far as the buildings still in existence on the grounds, they are being spiffed up by Humber College to act as their new campus. I understand 3 or 4 of the buildings are already in use by the college. There are a couple of buildings that caught my eye, and I would love to get inside and scope them out, but, alas, I have no authority or reasonable premise to do so. I understand there have been mysterious goings-on in some of the buildings.

Another spot - the Royal York Hotel. The chap that led us on the tour of the place (including behind-the-scenes areas like the kitchen and the laundry), did tell us about the ghost of a former steward (the steward is like an over-seer of what goes on in the day-to-day running of a hotel). There is a storage area in the basement that a number of employees refuse to enter, because of this spirit. Our guide told us of this ghost as we passed the door to the area in question (oh, how I wanted to slip in there and check it out!!).

The Ontario Legislative Building is another spot. Commonly known as "Queen's Park" (College Street & University Avenue in Queen's Park Crescent), this is actually a misnomer. Queen's Park is the park area BEHIND the building.

Anyway, the complex sits on a site that was formerly occupied by the University Hospital for the Insane. Apparently, there are some former residents that are still to be seen in the Legislative Buildings (no, not former politicians).

There are evidently four phantom tenants here - three former occupants of the asylum, and an angry looking soldier in full dress uniform. Seeing as this is a building of politics, I guess it was "politically correct" not to mention any of the aforementioned information (re the asylum or the ghosts) on the tour.

The building itself is quite sumptuous and elegant, all carved oak and mahogany, marble and sandstone. The Legislative Building's west wing was designed by the flamboyant (to my mind) architect, Edward James Lennox.
The west wing of the building looks much different from the east wing. That is due to the fact the original west wing was destroyed in a fire in the early 1900s. When they rebuilt it, they decided to do so in stone would be better, so it is done in white marble.

For my money though, I found Old City Hall (60 Queen Street West) has more ambience. Also designed by Mr. Lennox, this site is home to at least 3 spirits (again, not alluded to during the tour).

Deborah Stiff

(click here to read Deborah's bio)

NEWS YOU CAN USE

The Redpath Sugar Museum is open to the public the rest of the year.
For information call: 416-366-3561, or toll-free: 1-800-267-1517.
Their URL is: http://www.tlna.com/products/sugar/museum.asp

The Ontario Legislative Building also has free tours.
Call the Interparliamentary and Public Relations office at: 416-325-7500.

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