Jan 27, 2013

King Edward Hotel


I have always loved the subject of history, which well includes architectural history.  It was an honor to be a part of a celebration at the King Edward Hotel.  The "King Eddy" as it has been known to local Torontonians for decades resides at 37 King Street East, on the south side, west of Church Street and occupies the entire second block east of Yonge Street.

It has lived here since the structure opened in 1903 and housed 400 rooms and several ballrooms as well as the grand lobby.  The King Edward Hotel was designed by two famous architects.  Chicago's Henry Ives Cobb and Toronto's E.J. Lennox and was granted his namesake by King Edward VII.  
Since then, there have been several revisions made to the original hotel which included 530 additional rooms and an 18 storey tower added to the original eight-storey structure to the east of the hotel.  In the late 50's the two top floors occupied the Crystal Ballroom, which since has been permanently closed due to stricter fire codes and was not included in the restoration project in the early 80's.  
Throughout the years, the hotel has seen a number of hands pass ownership, one of which in 2009 was retained by ' Le Meridien to manage it.  They closed the hotel to perform a major restoration which included 140 condominiums from the third to the fifth floors.  These floors have been unused for a number of years, and there have been rumours of 'hauntings'.  Historically, there are always rumours that emerge that involve the closure or ruins of historical places.  It alludes mystery.

Last year, in 2012 saw the most recent ownership from "Skyline Hotels" .  We were all happy to enjoy wonderful food, good music and dance to celebrate a successful year.  I hope that 2013 will finish off better than it has started.  This was a good way to begin.



The King Edward welcomes visitors to view and take pictures of many paintings and the historical architecture and furnishings that adorn the building.   You may even get a chance to visit the 4th floor...