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Description:
625-629 Yonge Street is a 3-storey building located near the southeast corner of Yonge Street and Isabella Street in Toronto. 625-629 Yonge Street was constructed in 1920/1921 and was designed by Colonel William Craven Vaux Chadwick and/or Bryan Damer Seymour Chadwick. The building originally housed the Dominion Automobile Company showroom and repair shop.
625-629 Yonge Street was identified as a contributing property within the Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District and was listed on the City of Toronto Heritage Register in March 2016.
The Historic Yonge Street Heritage Conservation District Plan (DIALOG, 2016) has provided the following description of 625-629 Yonge Street:
"This building is designed in an Edwardian style and related to the adjoining corner building. It is clad in brick that has been painted. There is a stepped parapet with central stepped architrave atop a banding course forming a simplified entablature. The facade is organized into 3 bays by projecting pilasters. The end pilasters rise to the roof, the middle to the entablature and are capped by corbelled brick forming a capital expression."
The exterior of 625-629 Yonge Street has been painted entirely white, which is obscuring underlying architectural details. The storefront and windows have also been modernized. However, historical illustrations and photographs of the building provide valuable reference material for potentially reinstating these features in the future.
Architect(s) - Colonel William Craven Vaux Chadwick and/or Bryan Damer Seymour Chadwick:
The architect of 625-629 Yonge Street was Colonel William Craven Vaux Chadwick (1868-1941) and/or Bryan Damer Seymour Chadwick (1888-1965). The two Chadwicks were brothers who practiced architecture together during the 1910s and 1920s. Of the two, Colonel Chadwick had a more extensive and prominent portfolio.
Colonel Chadwick's obituary — published in The Globe and Mail on 3 May 1941 — provides the following biography:
"Semi-military honours will be accorded today to Col. William Craven Vaux Chadwick, 72, prominent in military circles, and for forty years an architect in Toronto. Funeral services will be held this afternoon in the Chapel of St. James the Less, with internment in St. James Cemetery. He died at his home, 54 South Drive. For many years, he was an officer commanding the Mississauga Horse.
Born in Toronto, Colonel Chadwick received his education at Jarvis Collegiate and Upper Canada College. He was articled in architecture to the late R. C. Windeyer. He first entered into partnership with C. Cassels and the late Colonel S. G. Beckett. Following seventeen years service with the 36th Peel Regiment, Colonel Chadwick was selected by General Sir William Otter to take over command of the Toronto Light Horse. Squadrons were located in Toronto, Barrie, and Oakville, and Colonel Chadwick was instrumental in having the name changed to Mississauga Horse. He retired to the reserve of officers in 1913.
At the outbreak of the first Great War in 1914, he raised the 4th C. M. R. for service overseas and was transferred to the 7th Overseas Brigade at Valcartier which was later disbanded. In 1915, he raised the 124th Battalion, C. E. F., and commanded this battalion in France until 1917. He was then transferred to Canadian Corps Headquarters where he continued service until the end of the war. In 1933, he was gazetted an honourary colonel in his old regiment.
Following the war, he engaged in practice as an architect with his brother, Bryan Chadwick, and was responsible for designing a number of commercial and industrial buildings downtown. Recently, he was elected an honourary member of the Ontario Association of Architects.
He was a member of St. Simon's Anglican Church and the Toronto Club and a former member of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club and the Toronto Hunt Club. Surviving are three brothers: Bryan of Toronto; George and Richard of Montreal; and one sister, Miss Louisa Chadwick of Toronto." (The Globe and Mail,3 May 1941, 5)
The Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: 1800-1950 has provided the following biography of Colonel Chadwick's brother, Bryan Damer Seymour Chadwick:
"Bryan Damer Seymour Chadwick, the younger brother of W.C. Vaux Chadwick, was born in Toronto on 24 June 1888 but had no formal education in architecture. Much of his knowledge of design and building was acquired from his training in his brother's office of Chadwick & Beckett where he was employed as a draftsman from 1909 to 1916. When his brother went overseas during WW1 in July 1915, Bryan continued to operate the Toronto office and he alone can be credited with the design of St. Edmund's Anglican Church, Dovercourt Road at Davenport Road, Toronto, in 1916. After the death of Beckett in 1917, Bryan worked briefly for Hynes, Feldman & Watson in early 1919, then formed a partnership with his brother in July of that year. Their firm was active until 1940. Bryan Chadwick died in Toronto on 22 May 1965."
First Use - Dominion Automobile Company:
Between its construction in 1920/1921 and 1930, 625-629 Yonge Street was home to the Dominion Automobile Company's showroom and repair shop. During this period, 625-629 Yonge Street had been consolidated with 631-637 Yonge Street to the immediate north.
The Dominion Automobile Company was one of multiple businesses along this section of Yonge Street and nearby Bay Street that constituted Toronto's Automobile Row during the early-to-mid 20th century.
David O. Hayward has provided the following history of the Dominion Automobile Company in General Motors in Canada: The Early Years to 1919:
"The history of this company goes back to the formation of the Canadian Motor Syndicate in Toronto in 1898. William Still then went on to form the Still Motor Company Limited who started operations in May 1899 at 710-724 Yonge Street, Toronto. The company ran out of money in 1900, and was re-organised as The Canadian Motors Limited at 710 Yonge Street, Toronto, though this company closed down in 1902. By 1903, the Canada Cycle & Motor Company leased the old premises at 710 Yonge Street for two years to produce little runabouts, bearing the name "Ivanhoe" as per Still’s 1899 machine with William Gray & Sons Limited body. The Canadian Motors Syndicate was reformed as The Canadian Motors Limited, and Alexander M. Thompson was the key man who linked these companies with the Dominion Automobile Company [D.A.C.] as explained below.
The corporate records show that Dominion Automobile Company Limited was incorporated as a Dominion company on 8 August 1905, under the Companies Act 1902 and was headquartered at 146-154 Bay Street in Toronto, and wound-up by November 1934 lately handling Hupmobile, previously Distributors for Essex, Hudson, Peerless, and Republic Trucks. The company was incorporated as a Dominion Company, and immediately ran into trouble as a Mr. T. P. Butler of the Dominion Motor Car Company Limited objected to the name in 1906. The Dominion Motor Car Company was incorporated in Quebec as it had its head office in Montreal, 4 April 1905. However, the lawyers for the Automobile Company stated that the earlier company traded locally in Montreal. In reply, the Car Company’s lawyers argued that although the Automobile Company had a large head office in Toronto, it also operated in Montreal. The counter to this was that the Automobile Company was a much grander affair than the paltry Car Company! There were branches not just in Montreal but also Winnipeg, Ottawa, London [Ontario], and Hamilton. The D.A.C. had a capital of $100,000, which it proposed to expand to $200,000 at an early date. The D.C.C. was practically a one-man company, whereas the D.A.C. had stocks of demonstration cars in every branch. The D.A.C. was incorporated with a $100,000 Share Capital comprised of 1,000 $100 Shares. The Capital was issued: Alexander Hector Beaton, Barrister-at-law, $6,000; Charles Lewis Wilson, Manager, $1,000; John McArthur, Manager, $1,000; James Barber, Agent, $1,000 and Charlotte Eveline Holland, Stenographer, $1,000. The company according to Cars of Canada sold U.S. Packard and Peerless, Canadian Ford, British Napier and French Clement-Bayard cars. There is no evidence at all that they were Buick agents so far.
This company became one of the country’s main dealers, with main premises at Bay and Temperance Streets, Toronto, and branches in Montreal and Winnipeg. In 1919 the address for postal purposes was 146-154 Bay Street, Toronto. The corporate records show that firstly the Capital remained at $100,000 and that 955 Shares had been taken up out of the 1,000 by then. The directors were: Noel Marshall, 58 King Street, Toronto, Alexander M. Thompson, the former manager of The Canadian Motors Limited, Vice-president and Managing Director, of 150 Bay Street, Toronto [in 1923 his address was 159 Glen Road, Toronto]; Noel C. Marshall, President, 58 King Street East, and James Glover, also of 58 King Street East. Edward Robb Alison was the Secretary and Treasurer. In 1920, the 58 King Street East addresses became 79 King Street East. By then the Company were distributors for Peerless and Hudson, though in the spring of 1920 they were Distributors for Hudson, Essex, Peerless and Republic Trucks.
In 1919/20 D.A.C. re-located to 625-629 Yonge Street, Toronto, as well as having premises at 131 King Street West, Hamilton, Ontario. In 1923 they were at 625-629 Yonge Street, still with an authorised capital of $100,000 divided into 1,000 $100 Shares. It is interesting to note that the McLaughlin Carriage Company Limited also had a Toronto office, though in a different location., went on to manage and then eventually own, becoming President, The Dominion Automobile Company Limited."
The showroom at 625-629 Yonge Street opened in early 1921. A detailed description was provided in Dominion Automobile Company Opens Handsome New Home, an article published in The Globe (Toronto) in February 1921:
"The Dominion Automobile Company, Ltd. is now installed in its new and commodious sales and service plant at the corner of Isabella and Yonge Streets. The show salon is one of the largest, finest, and brightest in Canada, finished in ivory, with old gold and emerald stenciled borders to the panels. The lighting fixtures are of the semi-indirect type. The floor is done in terrazzo mosaic. The show salon was designed by Chadwick, architect, after the finest and latest Parisian style. Transient services will be taken care of on the main floor. For the nonce, the second floor is devoted to storage and supplies, while on the top floor, with unexcelled arrangements, are located the heavy repair shop, paint, and trim rooms, and machine shop. The latter is very completely equipped with the fixtures, including lathes, drill presses, shaper, forge and anvil, power press, power actuated hack saw, power pump, and so forth.
The Dominion Automobile Company have thus placed at the disposal of their wide clientele of Hudson, Essex, and Peerless owners better and more pleasing service and merchandising facilities that were possible in either of their former premises on Bay Street.
The new plant is by far the largest on the Yonge Street Automobile Row. According to A. M. Thompson, Vice-President and General Manager of the Company, its clients in common with its officials and employees, are more pleased with the new home to the pioneer Dominion Automobile Company, Ltd." (The Globe (Toronto), 26 February 1921, 11)
An additional description was provided in Extend Invitation to Exhibition Visitors: Dominion Automobile Company, 625 Yonge Street, Invites Your Presence, an article published in The Globe (Toronto) several months later in August 1921:
"The new premises of the Dominion Automobile Company, Limited, local distributors of Hudson, Essex, and Peerless automobiles, located at 625 to 629 Yonge Street, at the corner of Isabella, is well worth a visit, whether you are an automobile owner or not. The salesroom proper is conceded by everyone to be the finest in Toronto, if not in Canada. The architect who designed it copies it from the finest sales salons in Paris. Exhibition visitors are cordially invited to inspect our salesrooms.
The accessories department is located on the main floor at the back of the salesroom and is also conveniently located on the driveway. The stock room in connection with the accessories department is located in the basement, where a stock valued at approximately $80 000 is carried. This firm have a reputation for giving real service on the cars they handle, and carry parts for all Hudson models, even as far back as 1910, and also a full stock of parts for Essex and Peerless cars.
The repair and service departments occupy the two upper floors in a space of 28 000 square feet and a yard at the end of the building which has accommodation for from forty to fifty cars, together with a fully equipped machine shop and battery room. This accommodation with all the latest appliances for handling cars, puts them in a position to give quick service on any repair work they are called upon to do. They also maintain a fully equipped paint shop, under the direction of a first-class automobile painter, and are therefore in a position not only to do all repairs on a car; but also to paint it, if the owner so wishes.
The gasoline and oil service station is located on the Isabella Street side, and a wash rack capable of holding two cars at a time is reached through a separate entrance, also from Isabella Street. This firm are opening a branch at 131 King Street West, Hamilton, Ontario which will look after their customers in that city and the surrounding country, and will be so equipped as to give automobile owners the same kind of service for which the Dominion Automobile Company has made a reputation in Toronto." (The Globe (Toronto), 27 August 1921, 10)
In 1930, the Dominion Automobile Company moved back to Bay Street (near St. Joseph Street, on the former site of St. Luke's Anglican Church) to a new premises. This new premises was designed by Douglas Kertland, the same architect who had designed Exhibition Place's Automotive Building the year before.
Later Uses:
1930 to mid-1950s:
Between 1930 and the mid-1950s, 625-629 Yonge Street was home to various automotive-related businesses, including: one of the earliest locations of Canadian Tire (early-to-mid 1930s); Hudson's Motors of Canada (late 1930s to mid-to-late 1940s); and Century Motor Sales (late 1940s to early 1950s). 625-629 Yonge Street and 631-637 Yonge Street appear to have been consolidated together as of this point in time.
Mid-to-Late 1950s and 1960s:
In 1958, 625 Yonge Street housed the American Radio and Television Supply Company. Later, during the 1960s, 625-629 Yonge Street housed Parr's Print and Litho Ltd. As of 1969, Parr's was the oldest and largest front cover printer and jacket maker in Canada.
1970s-1980s:
By the late 1970s and/or early-to-mid 1980s, the ground floor of 625-629 Yonge Street housed Rock Variety and Mykonos Greek Cuisine. Rock Variety is still in business as of early 2022.
By 1974, Pavlychenko Studio was based upstairs at 625 Yonge Street. Pavlychenko Studio was a modern dance studio established by Nadia Pavlychenko in 1962. Pavlychenko — who was originally from Saskatoon — studied under Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in New York City and believed "the survival of contemporary dance depended on its ability to integrate with other disciplines, such as the visual arts, theatre, and music" (Kelly 1986, 23). She was married to architect and designer George Buchan. Following the death of Nadia Pavlychenko in 1980, the dance studio was operated by her sister Larissa (who was also the wife of artist Graham Coughtry). As of 1986, the studio was still based at 625 Yonge Street and was then considered Canada's longest running modern dance studio. Please note that the studio space based upstairs of 625 Yonge Street may have been consolidated with the upstairs of 623 Yonge Street to the south.
Present Day (May 2022):
625-629 Yonge Street presently houses Rock Variety and Gadgets Plus Cellphone Repair Center on its ground floor. The upstairs appears to be consolidated with 631-637 Yonge Street to the north and houses a component of the Hone Fitness gym.
Redevelopment Application:
In November 2021, YI Developments Ltd. (Rabba's) proposed redevelopment of 619-637 Yonge Street and 1-9 Isabella Street with a 57-storey mixed use building. YI Developments Ltd. (Rabba's) are presently — as of the November 2021 redevelopment application — proposing demolition of 625-629 Yonge Street. Please note that there was also an earlier redevelopment application for this site in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
(Research by Adam Wynne)
