Heritage Application for Commemorative Plaques

Submitted by the McCormick Playground Arena Board of Management

May 28, 2021 The following heritage topics were approved on May 26, 2021 by the McCormick Playground Arena Board of Management:

1. Mary Virginia McCormick (1861-1941) - Combines her biography with the history of the 1911 playground. - Board selected the enamel plaque with images and text. - Cost of the selected plaque is $7,500.

2. McCormick Recreation Centre - Combines the histories of the 1912 and 1964 buildings. - Board selected the bronze plaque with text only. - Cost of the selected plaque is $3,250.

3. McCormick Playground Arena and the Grand National Rink - Combines the histories of the 1896 rink and the 1972 arena. - Board selected the bronze plaque with text only. - Cost of the selected plaque is $3,250.

2 Budget for the 3 selected Heritage Toronto plaques: $14,000 - $7,500 for 1 enamel plaque; and - $6,500 for 2 bronze plaques ($3,250 + $3,250).

City Councillor’s Office notified the board on May 26, 2021 that the City of Toronto can allocate $14,000 in funding for the project.

The board would be financially responsible for any cost beyond the allocated $14,000 budget.

The board plans to have the plaques unveiled at a public ceremony in 2022, on a date scheduled between March and September.

Key dates for a commemoration in 2022 include the following: - March 14: 50th anniversary of McCormick Playground Arena; - May 5: 161st anniversary of Mary Virginia McCormick’s birth; - July 1: 111th anniversary of McCormick Playground; and - September 21: 110th anniversary of McCormick Recreation Centre.

3 Prospective locations for the 3 selected Heritage Toronto plaques:

1. Mary Virginia McCormick (1861-1941) - Enamel plaque at McCormick Park, 66 Sheridan Avenue. - Park area along Brock Avenue is easily accessible to the public. - Placement requires the consent of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division.

2. McCormick Recreation Centre - Bronze plaque near the main entrance of the Mary McCormick Recreation Centre at 66 Sheridan Avenue. - Placement requires the consent of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division.

3. McCormick Playground Arena and the Grand National Rink - Bronze plaque close to the main entrance of the McCormick Playground Arena at 179 Brock Avenue.

4 Application for an enamel plaque Mary Virginia McCormick (1861-1941)

5 MARY VIRGINIA McCORMICK 1861-1941 Mary Virginia McCormick was an American philanthropist and an accomplished pianist whose father, Cyrus Hall McCormick, founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company.

A Toronto resident at 131 Farnham Avenue from 1908 to 1924, Mary McCormick held social gatherings for charities and elaborate springtime Mary McCormick visited Toronto in 1904 and bought the estate at garden parties for families at her estate, and, in 1910, she offered a 131 Farnham Avenue in 1905. She lived there from 1908 to generous contribution to the Toronto Playgrounds Association. Her gift 1924, and sold it in 1931. Library and Archives Canada of $25,000 was used to build, on the site of the Grand National Rink, the PA119996. largest supervised children’s playground with a community recreation centre on City of Toronto property.

Mary McCormick, who held annual Christmas parties for families at the Mary Virginia McCormick in 1901. recreation centre, is the namesake of the McCormick Playground, which McCormick Playground at 163 Photo by W.C. Gray, Wisconsin Brock Avenue, circa 1916. Historical Society. opened on July 1, 1911 at 163 Brock Avenue, the subsequent McCormick City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 372, Subseries 52, Item Park, and its adjoining buildings. 602.

HERITAGE TORONTO 2022

Content in the sample enamel plaque is subject to change 6 Application for a bronze plaque McCormick Recreation Centre

7 McCORMICK RECREATION CENTRE

Opened on September 21, 1912, the McCormick Recreation Centre at 163 Brock Avenue, a Georgian Revival-style building, was the first community recreation centre with a supervised children’s playground on City of Toronto property. During the first 15 years, it was the largest community recreation centre in Toronto, attracting 120,000 people a year, until it was closed in 1964 and rebuilt as an indoor skating arena. On October 29, 1964, the McCormick Recreation Centre at 66 Sheridan Avenue, a larger and modernist- style building, was opened. It was here, on March 21, 1966, where made a surprise visit and refereed the Toronto Junior Boxing Championships, just eight days before his historic World Boxing Championship title match against Toronto-born boxer George Chuvalo at . The building was renamed the Mary McCormick Recreation Centre on January 23, 2003.

HERITAGE TORONTO 2022

Content in the sample bronze plaque is subject to change 8 Application for a bronze plaque McCormick Playground Arena and the Grand National Rink

9 McCORMICK PLAYGROUND ARENA AND THE GRAND NATIONAL RINK Opened in December 1896, and managed by owner Andrew Wheeler Green, the Grand National Rink at 153 Brock Avenue was the largest open-air rink in Toronto. It was here, in February 1902, where the Canadian Amateur Skating Association held the championship races, and two Toronto speed skaters, Frederick James Robson and Lot Roe, before becoming world record-holders, won the provincial championships. After its closure in March 1902, two brief re-openings, and an unsuccessful bid in November 1909 to build the first home arena for the professional hockey franchise that became the Toronto Maple Leafs, the site became the McCormick Playground in 1911. The McCormick Playground Arena at 179 Brock Avenue, a modernist-style building with two ice rinks, was opened on March 14, 1972, where the Grand National Rink once existed, as an indoor City of Toronto skating arena.

HERITAGE TORONTO 2022

Content in the sample bronze plaque is subject to change 10 Contact Information

McCormick Playground Arena Board of Management Address: 179 Brock Avenue, Toronto, ON M6K 2L7 Telephone: 416-392-0647 Fax: 416-392-1395 Email: [email protected]

Luis Silva Justin Gagné Board Chair General Manager

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