Yonge-Eglinton

Robert Sprachman Art Installation
Kay Gardiner Beltline Trail & Yonge Street
'The Iron Horse' features 12 life size silhouettes of horses which draw attention to the nineteenth century defunct railroad bridge on which they stand. When steam locomotive first appeared, it was commonly referred to as 'The Iron Horse'. Just as horses were replaced by trains, the rail bridge is no longer used for its original intent. The silhouetted horses and the bridge, an artifact from our industrial heritage, are surrounded by more modern forms of transportation with Yonge Street below and the subway to the west. Originally installed in 1994, the new sculpture is made of 90% recycled fibreglass materials. A solar-powered LED lighting system will soon illuminate the horses and the pedestrian pathway and make the silhouettes more visible at night.

Neshama Playground & Oriole Park
201 Oriole Parkway
The newly revitalized 2.9 hectare park features play areas for children and preschoolers. There is also a clubhouse, baseball diamond, two tennis courts, sand pit and open space play areas. There are new washroom facilities and street parking is available around the park. The new Neshama Playground is Canada's first accessible playground and is part of a public-private partnership with the City of Toronto and a number of agencies servicing the disabled community. The playground promotes a zero rejection policy, where no child is excluded for reasons of a disability. It features a water park, sensory musical features, Braille panels, an enclosed merry-go-round and accessible swings

William McBrien Building (TTC Headquarters) & Canada's First Subway
1900 Yonge Street
*Note: Private property. Please observe the building from the sidewalk only. This building was designed by Charles Dolphin for the Toronto Transit Commission's (TTC) headquarters. It is named after former TTC Chairman William C. McBrien, who passed away in 1954 shortly after the opening of the Yonge subway. The Yonge subway was intended to help ease the massive traffic problems that had developed along the street by the time of the Second World War. It became obvious that any solution to the congestion on Yonge Street had to separate public transportation from other forms of traffic. Construction on Canada's first subway began on September 8, 1949 and utilized the 'cut and cover' method which involved digging deep trenches and then covering them with planks. The 7.4 km long, 12 station subway officially opened with a ceremony at Davisville station on March 30, 1954, and 206,000 passengers tried out the new line that day.

Eglinton Park and North Toronto Memorial Community Centre
200 Eglinton Avenue West
This 9 hectare park on Eglinton Avenue West just west of Yonge Street offers several features, including North Toronto Memorial Community Centre which is a multi-use complex. It offers programming for children, youth, adults and seniors. The Community Centre includes a family/universal change room as well as a number of wheelchair accessible features, including a chair-lift into the pool and mobile water chairs. The park is being considered to be renamed after Tom Longboat-Cogwagee. Tom Longboat was born at the First Nations in Grand River and was a member of the Onondaga Nation. He rose to international fame as a long-distance runner. Given that the area near the park was the former southern settlement of the people of the Huron-Wendat nation since the 1400s, renaming the park would not only honour the former Canadian athlete, but would also honour the Indigenous peoples of Toronto.

Jim Bravo, Lula Lunaj, Field House Mural
In Eglinton Park, just west of Tommy Flynn Playground
The murals by lead artist Jim Thierry Bravo with students from Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School revitalized the field house in Eglinton Park, a familiar historical landmark that had fallen into a state of disrepair due to weathering, structural damage, and recurring vandalism.

Ian Fleming and St. James Bond United Church
1055 Avenue Road
*Note: Private property. Please observe the building from the sidewalk only. Across the street is an old church which has been converted into apartments. This used to be St. James Bond United Church. The church was formed when two churches - St James Square Presbyterian Church and Bond Street Congregational Church - merged and joined the United Church of Canada. It is believed that this church is where author Ian Fleming got the name for his famous spy, James Bond. In 1942, Ian Fleming was training in Whitby at spy camp Camp X, and was living with a friend on Avenue Road, just across the street from the church. Ian Fleming went on to write his first James Bond novel, 'Casino Royale', in 1952.

Marshal McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
1107 Avenue Road
This school is named after Marshall McLuhan who is a celebrated Canadian educator, philosopher, English literature professor, communication theorist and devout Roman Catholic. McLuhan was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1911, and moved to Toronto to teach at the University of Toronto in 1946. McLuhan is responsible for coining the term global village and may have seemed to predict the World Wide Web decades before it was invented. The school which is named after him was founded in 1998 in order to replace De La Salle College Oaklands, which had reverted back to being a private school in the early 90s. The school property was originally built for the Toronto Hunt Club and was later used as the Canadian Forces Staff School until 1994

Eglinton Hunt Club and the RCAF Institute of Aviation Medicine
1111 Avenue Road
*Note: Private property. Please observe the building from the sidewalk only. Once surrounded by open fields, in 1919 this was home to the Eglinton Hunt Club (an extension of the Toronto Hunt Club). By 1929, the club included stables, arenas and an impressive club house. In 1939, the Royal Canadian Air Force purchased the property. At that time, Sir Dr. Frederick G. Banting (co-discoverer of insulin) conducted secret research on the physiological effects of combat flying with the help of Dr. Wilbur Franks. As part of their research, Franks secretly created the first anti-gravity flying suit and the first human centrifuge (anti-gravity training machine) in the allied countries. Ironically, Banting was killed in a plane crash on his way to England to test Franks' flying suit in 1942. Royal Canadian Air Force auxiliary squadrons were later based in this facility in the 1950s and 60s, in order to defend Toronto during the Cold War. The institute closed in 1994.

Montgomery's Tavern & Postal Station K
2388 Yonge Street
*Note: Private property. Please observe this building from the sidewalk only. This National Historic Site was the location of Montgomery's Tavern, the site from which William Lyon Mackenzie organized the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion. From the tavern, Mackenzie and a group of 400 rebels were set upon by a force of nearly 1500 militia and volunteers. The rebels were quickly defeated, and the tavern burned down as a result. While this rebellion failed, it was instrumental in the establishment of responsible government in Canada over a decade later. In 1936, nearly 100 years after the rebellion, Postal Station K was built on the site. This post office bears the rare insignia of King Edward VII. The Art Deco building has now been developed into a condominium overlooking Montgomery Square, which features a public art piece by Adad Hannah. The piece is dedicated to the tavern and the rebellion and consists of two stainless steel gates that represent the edges of Montgomery's Tavern and the granite blocks represent the rebels and loyalists.

Capitol Theatre
2492 Yonge Street
This over a century old theatre opened in 1918, showing vaudeville shows and silent films. Originally called the York Eglinton Theatre, it was considered large for the time. At 1300 seats it catered to mainly locals and others who rode the Yonge Streetcar past the theatre. Renovations were done in 1946-47, but no candy bar was ever added in order to avoid competing with the chocolate shop that was next door. The Capitol closed in 1998, and was saved from demolition after which it underwent a $2 million renovation that restored it to its original condition. The Capitol Theare is now an event space.

Former Consumers' Gas Showroom
2532 Yonge Street
This building was constructed in 1931 for the Consumer's Gas Company. Consumer's Gas was founded in Toronto in 1847, and used this location as a retail showroom and demonstration kitchen for gas appliances. The architect was Charles Dolphin who went on to design the Postal Delivery Building (now known as Scotiabank Arena), built from 1939-41. The two buildings have similar features in that they're both Art Deco and the facades are clad in limestone. The front entrance of this building is framed with steel and cast iron, which was considered modern at the time. Charles Dolphin designed many other buildings across the city, including the TTC Headquarters, Bloor-Yonge Subway Station and the Toronto Coach Terminal.