Venue
The Carlu
444 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M5B 2H4
Telephone: 416-597-1931
The Carlu, with its extraordinary wealth of historical and architectural significance, embodies the collective memory of style and elegance that graced Toronto. Originally intended to be a 36-storey office tower and retail complex, the 1930 Eaton's flagship store, built by Sir John Craig Eaton, fell well short of its intended grandeur due to the depressed economy that befell much of North America. The building was constructed to its present height of seven floors. Eaton, the third descendant of retail patriarch, Timothy T. Eaton, christened the new structure Eaton's College Park, a title he successfully fought to preserve when the City of Toronto changed Carlton Street to College Street east of Yonge. Despite the drastic reduction of floors, Eaton's College Park prospered, due in large part to the opening of its impeccably designed entertainment complex. Interestingly, it is believed to be one of the first models of a concert hall incorporated into a retail shopping centre. Designed by famed French architect Jacque Carlu, the 7th floor is believed to be one of the world's best surviving examples of the Art Moderne Period. Eaton's College Park boasted some of the most modern and luxurious materials such as Tyndall stone from Eaton's own quarries near Garrison, Manitoba, limestone and granite. The Concert Hall, which was known for having the finest acoustics in North America, played host to such notable performers as Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington. The Round Room, the inspiration for the Rockefeller Centre's Rainbow Room (designed by Carlu several years after the Round Room's opening), features an original Lalique fountain designed by Carlu. The surrounding mural was painted by Carlu's wife Natacha, a famous Parisian artist of that era. Closed in the late 1970s, the seventh floor (as it was then known), the Concert Hall and Round Room were saved from the wrecking ball by citizens' groups and a Provincial court order. Today, entreprenuers Jeff Roick and Mark Robert have embarked on one of the most ambitious and historically significant restoration projects of its kind. The Carlu, named after its famed architect, has been restored to exactly what Lady Eaton had envisioned when it opened in 1931. Having now been re-opened for 4 years, The Carlu has become the premier multi-functional special events facility in Toronto and has been awarded numerous awards and distinctions, including the Ontario Architecture Association’s 2004 Award for Architectural Excellence.