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TRADITIONAL CUT STONE LTD.Hand Crafted Masterpieces in Natural Stone
A Stone Age Revival TCS Article 006
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National Post
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Craftsmen using traditional tools are helping to bring Toronto’s
Old City Hall back to its Romanesque glory - even if it means
tapping and English quarry.
The bell on the tower at Old City Hall strikes six o’clock. The
courts have shut, the accused have been returned to prison, the
judges and lawyers have gone home. Height above where
traffic and people stream along Bay and Queen streets, James
Young, a fresh-faced Newfoundlander, is leading me on a
scramble up and down the maze of scaffolding erected for the
conservation of this Romanesque Revival masterpiece.
Abruptly, Mr. Young, the construction supervisor, stops and
points to a decoration on a dormer, five stories up on the south
side. There, among leaves, branches, and flowers etched into
the red sandstone, is a new carving of a man’s face.
“Lawrence [Voaides, master stone carver at Traditional Cut
Stone Ltd.] did that”, says Mr. Young, “I don’t know who it is. He
carved his own face, too, and a third face, though I’m not sure
where they are.”
Well, what the heck. If you’re going to embark on a gargantuan
restoration of Old City Hall that takes longer - and costs at least
15 times as much - as building the behemoth in the first place,
then you might as well have some fun while you’re at it.
Photos: Above right, Grigore Rotaru ofTraditional Cut Stone works a slab of red
sandstone that will be used to replace agingstonework on the Old City Hall in Toronto
TRADITIONAL CUT STONE LTD.Hand Crafted Masterpieces in Natural Stone
A Stone Age Revival TCS Article 006
After all, Mr. Voaides is in good company. Edward james
Lennox, the Toronto architect who built this place, showed his
own mischievous side in 1899. City Hall was years late and way
over budget and Mr. Lennox was taking flak. Just before the
ribbon-cutting, his team carved satirical portraits of
meddlesome city councillors - and a flattering portrait of himself
- visible to this day, right over the main entrance. (The city also
refused to pay his whole bill and forbade a plaque with his
name; in retaliation he carved “E.J. Lennox Architect A.D. 1898”
in foot-high letters in the bracket at the eaves that wrap the
building).
If you’re like me or any of the other accused with business (in
my case, a traffic ticket) at Old City Hall, you blow by the
scaffolds, wrapped in green netting against sandstone dust,
and wonder “When the heck are they going to be done with the
restoration work?” City councillors have roughly the same
assessment of the job. But I stopped for a closer look and
discovered one of Toronto’s most remarkable undertakings: the
loving and painstaking job, involving 1,500 pieces of stone, of
restoring the city’s architectural masterpiece.
E.J. Lennox, also architect of Casa Loma and the King Edward
Hotel, won the commission for what we now call Old City Hall in
1886. The city put aside $1.6-million. Costs soared; Torontonians
voted in two plebiscites to continue the job. Sandstone came
from New Brunswick and the Forks of the Credit in Caledon;
granite came from Orangeville. Then years later Mayor John
Shaw opened the still-unfinished building, by then costing $2.5-
million.
“Great buildings symbolize a people’s deeds and aspirations,”
the mayor said then.
Sandstone, though, deteriorates
with age. On March 9, 1921, the jaw
of a gargoyle on the clock tower
crashed through the roof, narrowly
missing a draftsman in the Works
department on the attic floor.
Fearing for public safety, the city
removed the four clock tower
gargoyles, leaving eight other gargoyles in place. Things were okay
for about 75 years (aside from that little problem in the 1960s when a
popular uprising saved Old City Hall from demolition for the Eaton
Centre).
Then, in 1996, a chunk of sandstone fell off by the main entrance,
“narrowly missing a member of the public,” recalls George
Parcalidis, project manager in the City of Toronto’s Facilities and Real
Estate division. “It was a close call. It was a blessing in disguise,
allowing us to address the serious deterioration.”
In 1997, the city began restoration. They hired The Ventin Group as
architects, who put Peter Burton in charge of the job. It was a poetic
choice: Mr. Berton’s father, author Pierre Berton, had fought to save
Old City Hall in the 1960s. Restorers ran into a small problem, though:
the quarries of Mr. Lennox’s day have shut down.
“Look at this country!” exclaims Mr. Parcalidis. “All kinds of natural
resources and no active quarry here in Ontario that produces red
sandstone.” Which leads us to the bizarre spectacle of Toronto
importing 25 containerloads from the quarries of Hulberton, N.Y.
So far, along with spending $15-million on a new copper roof, the city
Photos: The tools of the trade.
TRADITIONAL CUT STONE LTD.Hand Crafted Masterpieces in Natural Stone
A Stone Age Revival TCS Article 006
has spent $23-million on the masonry restoration. In phase I,
they replaced selected stones on the main entrance. In 2000, as
that job ended, another 20 kg gargoyle jaw fell off on the north
side. It was timely; “We were seeking funding for the second
phase,” says Mr. Parcalidis. Council approved it. In phase II,
they restored the west and north entrances. In phase III, the 79-
metre high clock tower - for which four 3- metre bronze
gargoyles were cast - was restored. Now they’re on phase IV,
restoring the Queen and Bay Street sides, and repointing every
stone. It is a dusty, hot and tricky job, and there is an additional
danger: incurring the wrath of a judge.
“A guy with a little airgun was cleaning out mortar joints and
the sound was going right down into the courtroom,” recalls Mr.
Young, the supervisor.
“I got hauled in front of a judge in J court. She made me wait
half an hour and then threatened to hold me in contempt of
court.”
That would not be good, so Mr. Young switched the job to nights
for the past two weeks. Once the old stone is gone he can
resume working days, he says, to install new stone for the rest
of the summer.
Photos: Side, a mystery face amid thegallery of gargoyles.
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