For the past few years, the hundreds of thousands of motorists and pedestrians who make their way through the busy Lake Shore Blvd.-Bathurst St. intersection on the city’s central waterfront have been treated to views of the rebirth of one of the city’s most iconic industrial structures — the 1928 Loblaws warehouse.
Architect’s sketch of the proposed new Loblaws warehouse planned for the northeast corner of Fleet (now Lake Shore W.) and Bathurst St. It’s dated Jan. 27, 1927. The project architects were Messrs Sparling, Martin and Forbes. Interestingly at the very same time partner William Sparling was working on the design of the Loblaws warehouse, he was also involved in another project. He hoped to acquire Sir Henry Pellatt’s Casa Loma residence on the escarpment, which Sir Henry had vacated after non-payment of city property tax, and convert it into an apartment hotel. While working on the Loblaws specifications, Sparling was also designing an addition to the castle that would increase the number of rentable rooms in the unique structure making this project a viable business opportunity outside his day-to-day architectural dealings. However, the onset of serious financial difficulties with the arrival of the Great Depression as well as the castle’s boisterous neighbours (including Casa Loma’s architect E. J. Lennox who lived across the street) fearing the increase in pedestrian and motorized traffic plus the almost daily arrival of heavy trucks delivering bags and bags of coal to feed the castle’s massive boiler resulted in Sparling’s project going absolutely nowhere.
One of the most informative of the free websites available, especially for those interested in the ongoing changes to the physical look of our city, can be found at urbantoronto.ca. Featured on this site for the past several years is the redevelopment of the old Loblaws warehouse at the northeast corner of Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Bathurst St. The project will be identified officially as West Block Est. 1928 and will consist of the original four-storey 1928 warehouse capped by a three-storey office addition plus two condominium towers — The LakeShore with 41 floors and The LakeFront. with 37 floors. Of particular interest is the fact the developers insisted that in addition to modernization the old warehouse be clad in the original 100,000 bricks that made up its facade more than 90 years ago. (Image courtesy of Loblaw/Choice/Wittington/Concord)
The earliest reference to Theodore Pringle Loblaw and his connection with the grocery business can be found in this Globe newspaper ad (third name, second column) dated May 31, 1900. His store and residence were located at 459-461 College St. Twenty years later Loblaw’s four stores were established under the Loblaw Groceterias Limited banner. In 1947 George Weston Limited acquired control of the Loblaws business.
In 2008 an Ontario Heritage Trust plaque recognizing T. P. Loblaw was unveiled on the farm of his maternal grandparents with whom he lived following the deaths of his parents. The farm is located near Alliston, Ontario.
