Dominion Hotel, Toronto

The Dominion Hotel is a restaurant and former hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed in the late nineteenth century in the Corktown neighbourhood,[2] it is a heritage hotel structure that has not been torn down and replaced with a modern structure.[3] The structure is a designated heritage property.[4]

Dominion Hotel
General information
Address498 Queen Street East
Town or cityToronto
CountryCanada
Coordinates43°39′25″N 79°21′33″W
Completed1889
Design and construction
ArchitectDavid Roberts Jr.[1]

The hotel was constructed in 1889.[5] Its first owner was Robert T. Davies, who founded the Dominion Brewery to the west of the building (now Dominion Square) in 1877. Davies had previously been the manager of the nearby Don Brewery, owned by his relative Thomas Davies.[6]

As originally constructed, the hotel was four stories tall, had a mansard roof, and a small tower.[4][7] The top floor, once "boasted an elegant performance space".[6] Sometime after 1945, the structure lost its fourth floor, mansard roof and tower. The hotel re-opened in 1998 as a bar.[6]

The bar closed in 2014 for renovation work. In mid-2015, FAB Restaurant Concepts purchased the bar and on November 31, 2015 it was re-opened as the Dominion Pub & Kitchen. The upper floors are used as a rooming house of 25 units.[8]

The Dominion Hotel on the northwest corner of Queen Street East and Sumach Street.
This is as the building appeared in 1945, with the fourth floor and its mansard roof and corner tower still intact. The building now has a flat roof.

References
  1. "Roberts, David Jr". Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada. Retrieved March 2013. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. Shelly Sanders Greer (2007-04-28). "Corktown bubbles up". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2013-03-25. Corktown also had Toronto's first Roman Catholic church, the Dominion Hotel, and was one of the entry points for some slaves escaping the United States by boat via the Underground Railroad.
  3. Derek Flack (2011-01-05). "The lost hotels of Toronto". Blog TO. Archived from the original on 2013-03-25.
  4. "Dominion Hotel". TO Built. Archived from the original on 2013-03-25.
  5. "Dominion on Queen". Beeradvocate. Archived from the original on 2013-03-25.
  6. David Kidd. "19th Century Toronto: Labour History Walking Tour". Labour Council of Ontario. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-25. The Dominion Hotel, which originally boasted an elegant performance space on its top floor, reopened in 1998 as a bar.
  7. "Dominion Hotel on Queen". Then and Now Toronto. 2011-05-13. Archived from the original on 2013-03-25.
  8. "New pub moving into Dominion on Queen space". blogTO. June 30, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
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