The Pierce Arrow Showroom Is Leaking

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You know that I’m immediately going to pick up a book with that title as I browse through a used book store. It turns out that the book really has nothing to do with Pierce Arrows, it’s about the history of CBC (Canadian Broadcasing Company), but does yield some interesting information about the former Pierce Arrow showroom in Toronto. The building, which was located at Yonge and Marlborough Streets (1140 Yonge Street) in Toronto, was used as Studio 4 by the CBC for some of their mid sized productions. It started life in 1927 as the local Pierce Arrow dealership, an elegant design by architect William Sparling. After Pierce ceased operations in 1938, it was used by car dealer H.E. Givan Limted until 1943, then a succession of tenants including RCA Victor until the CBC bought the building in 1954. I don’t know when the CBC vacated the building, but it appears the original building is now a Staples store, painted white, but with the original elegant arches still very prominent on the facade.

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Any pictures of the building as it was or as it stands today?

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The Toronto Star published an article in 2013: CBC vacated the premises around 1993

See: https://pressreader.com/@nickname11654475/csb__0D_NGZDGf6iwu_6O9XrUBffVtOFatcRRfQCwI7akammuaM8UvPPFnlr6xSlfFDm

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Thanks for the article.

Good to see that the building’s origins are still appreciated.

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I saw elsewhere that the site (which includes land around the building for parking) sold for an enormous price some time ago – perfect location for yet another condo tower in central Toronto. Sure enough, there is now a condo development selling pre-construction units. Not sure how the site will be developed as the showroom itself is designated as a historical site so it can’t just be demolished.

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here are some photos and articles….

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Another…

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What it looks like today…

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