| Architect |
Ross and Macdonald |
| Date |
Opened November 1931 |
| Location |
60 Carlton
Street |
| Description |
|
Maple Leaf Gardens was built to
be home to the Toronto Maple Leafs
ice-hockey team. Amazingly,
construction on the building began on June 1
in 1931 and it opened on November 12
of the same year. The "Leafs" occupied
the building, known affectionately as the
"Grand Old Lady of Carlton Street"
from 1931 until 1999, when they moved to the
Air Canada Centre. Over the years the
building had been the venue for a wide
variety of sporting events, music concerts
and political rallies.  After the Leafs left
the building, it sat in limbo for a
number of years while an appropriate
solution was found to save it from
demolition but make sure that it had a
sustainable future. In January of
2010 work began on a project, funded by
Loblaws, Ryerson University and the
Canadian Government to give the building
a new lease on life.
The "Building Design + Construction" website described the venture as audacious since it aimed to, "... retain and restore the building’s historic exterior façade, including its steel-frame dome, while gutting the lion’s share of the interior spaces to make way for a new, four-level, multipurpose structure to house a grocery store and retail space at street level (85,000 sf) and the university’s sports complex on the three floors above (220,000 sf). Topping the new structure is a 2,800-seat, NHL-sized ice rink that emulates the original Gardens, with angled corners, rail seats, and its famous “corner blues” seats, which were restored. The $60 million project also added a level of below-grade parking. The iconic marquee was rebuilt and became the new entrance to the Ryerson University Athletic Facility."  The name of the Athletics Centre is explained in a National Post article written by Peter Kuittenbrouwer on November 29, 2011. He said that, "Peter Gilgan, chief executive of Mattamy Homes, Canada’s largest home builder, is the father of eight children. Two are graduates of Ryerson University and two are studying there right now, all of which made Mr. Gilgan a soft touch for Ryerson president Sheldon Levy, who needed a few bucks to put the finishing touches on his new gym and hockey rink at Maple Leaf Gardens. “When Sheldon calls I try to avoid it, but he is pretty persistent,” Mr. Gilgan joked. He was standing on the concrete floor of the future rink for the Ryerson Rams, a building to which he gave $15-million on Monday. The rink henceforth will bear the name Mattamy Home Ice, and the whole complex, which includes a gym for basketball and volleyball, and a fitness centre, will now be known as the Peter Gilgan Athletic Centre." It appears that since this article was written there has been a change of mind because when the image above was taken, in October of 2013, the athletics centre is now known as the Mattamy Athletic Centre      |
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Maple
Leaf Gardens - Carlton Street, Toronto, Canada
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