Joy Gas Stations
Joy Gas Stations operated uniquely designed stations in Toronto, Ontario, in the 1930s for the Joy Oil Company Limited. The stations are examples of the Château style of architecture, a style that was promoted as a uniquely Canadian architectural form in the 1930s.
Of the 16 stations built in the Greater Toronto Area, only one station survives today, at Lake Shore Boulevard West and Windermere Avenue built in 1937. In April 2007, the City of Toronto moved part of the station from the site to a location across the street at Sir Casimir Gzowski Park. The station was restored and will be repurposed as an eatery and tourist information centre once the current contract with the nearby vendor expires after 2016.[1]
Lost stations
The Joy Gas Station at 1947 Bloor Street West was built in 1937 on the north-west corner of High Park. It was demolished in 1986 to make way for a commercial complex by developer Zenon Greszta, a development which sparked opposition by local residents. It had been designated as a historic building, but its protection expired in July 1986.[2]
A station existed on Kingston Road in Scarborough has since been demolished.
A station at 910 Lake Shore Boulevard West was demolished in 1977 and replaced with the current Esso station.
A station in Scarborough was demolished in the 1990s.
Other locations included:
- Danforth Avenue at Donlands Avenue
- 429 Roncesvalles Avenue
- 789 St. Clair Avenue West
- 317 Parliament Street
- Queen Street East near Pape Avenue
- 3169 Yonge Street, north of Lawrence Avenue
- Bedford and Davenport
- Eglinton and Avenue Road (NW corner)
- 5675 Decarie Boulevard, Montreal, Quebec (circa 1950) Later demolished to make way for a drive-in branch of the Bank of Montreal (itself later closed)
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See also
Media related to Joy Gas Stations at Wikimedia Commons
References
- ^ http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-32962.pdf
- ^ Flavelle, Dana (May 18, 1986). "High Park residents fail to stop developer from felling trees". Toronto Star. p. A3.
- City of Toronto Staff Report
- Kalman, Harold D. A History of Canadian Architecture. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994.