Toronto Star Story 1
Architect John Lyle's style is evident in the Runnymede Public Library, on Bloor St. W.
Had the Group of Seven been made up of architects, not artists, John Lyle would have been a member. Lyle, who died in 1945, practised at a time when cultural nationalism was alive and well in the Great White North. He and his cohorts took .....LINK
Toronto Star Story 2
The library is not the only building the great Canadian architect John Lyle designed in the Junction, though it is his best.
ReplyDeleteHe also designed:
2945 DUNDAS ST W
3351 DUNDAS ST W
Both were CIBC branches, I believe.
Partial list of Lyle's properties in Toronto: http://app.toronto.ca/heritage/search.do?number=&street=&ward=&district=&details=lyle&details2=&type=
ReplyDeleteThe Runnymede Library is designated under the OHA (and has received both its own stamp as well as a Heritage Toronto plaque), whereas the two banks along Dundas are simply listed on the heritage inventory.
3351 Dundas (at Runnymede) was a CIBC for many years, but according to the inventory, both Dundas banks - along with a few other Lyle buildings throughout the city - were originally Dominion Banks, the forerunner of TD.
what a shame about the inept and hamfisted "renovation"
ReplyDeletestuck on to it
*cringe* every time I see it
It does look like a cheap renovation, but I don't find it that remarkable because of the building seems to have been quite modest originally.
ReplyDeleteActually, looking at maps, I thought that Lyle designed the building which that business "The Treasury" occupied space in, which was a CIBC. The actual Lyle building still has a "TD" logo from its days as a bank, though strangely, it's the modern backlit logo.