Exploring 1 Spadina Crescent
While I was playing around with geotagging the other day, I found some photos I had taken while exploring 1 Spadina Crescent. The building sits in the middle of Spadina Avenue, just north of College and has since 1875. It got me thinking about the building where I worked for one year, often late into the night. I still remember the haunting atmosphere of the place. It's a building that smells of lives already lived and you can feel it breathing with history. It is also quite beautiful.
Marc Gotlieb argues that "by virtue of its dedicated circle and soaring tower, it is hard to imagine a more impressive gateway to the university." Toronto philanthropist Bernard Herman obviously agrees with Marc. In 2005, Harman donated "$1 million to help restore the University of Toronto's heritage property at 1 Spadina Crescent."
"People give money to the poor, the sick and the aged to satisfy their conscience," says Herman, a U of T alumnus and avid art collector. "A person gives to the Faculty of Arts and Science to satisfy his or her intellect."
The building became home to the university's fine art department. In January of 2001, fine art senior lecturer David Buller was stabbed to death in his office in 1 Spadina. The tragic murder is unsolved to this day.
The building also houses the Eye Bank of Ontario. I still laugh about the cabbies who would sporadically arrive with small coolers -- eye donations.
