When I go on an excursion to look-up Toronto’s heritage buildings, I take one of two approaches. It is either planned as a precision military-like operation with a map of addresses strategically laid out, … or I wing it.
Today’s featured building was found while utilizing method #2 as I strolled down random streets that looked like they might be interesting. I had no idea what I might find and this building – without any signage – was a complete mystery. I eventually had to ask.
Welcome to Central Technical High School.
Completed in 1915, this is the main building of a campus that is now one of the largest high school complexes in the country. This was a time when Canada’s industrial base was growing and there was increasing need for skilled technicians in all the trades.
This is still a very busy school with a student population of almost 1,600.
The third floor was originally reserved for women and in keeping with the segregation of the sexes at the time, certain doors and staircases were designated for females only.
The crest over the main doors is the City of Toronto Coat of Arms and this is the only school which has that privilege since it was built entirely with city funds.
The ribbon under the crest has the words “Industry, Intelligence, Integrity” which I thought was the school motto. I later discovered that it’s actually “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield“. That’s a motto I could really relate to!
The two gnomes gracing the tops of the columns represent both the academic and technical components of the school. The gnome on the left is dressed as an academic writing in a book, while his partner on the right is dressed as a journeyman with a hammer and chisel.
The doors look a little battered, but I was happy to discover that they hadn’t been replaced by plain utilitarian doors.
… and I couldn’t help but smile at the energy-efficient light bulb in the large light fixture over the door. I’m glad they didn’t replace that either.
This post is part of Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors weekly photo feature.
Great find to stumble upon! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love it when that happens 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I chuckled at your varied approach my friend. I’m often a planner but winging it can be fun. I’m pushing myself to be more flexible that way. I think the City of Toronto should hire you since you are putting together so many great explorations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I KNOW!! I keep waiting but my phone doesn’t ring! 😉
LikeLike
Love that light bulb! I’ve been thinking about you Joanne, over Easter I painted four internal doors and four wardrobe doors back and front. All a lovely shade of ‘Vivid White’. I also went running around Launceston and looked at the old buildings hoping to find an awesome door photograph and I couldn’t find one that I thought was worth sharing with you – you find the most awesome doors ever!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so sorry you’ve been in door hell 😉
It’s not exactly stimulating work, is it?
The thing is … a new coat of paint looks amazing anywhere 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoy my doors. It’s starting to become somewhat of an addiction!
LikeLike
She’s a beauty. Thanks for this, Joanne!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks 🙂
LikeLike
Wonderful shots! But no “like” button?? My high school looked NOTHING like this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mine didn’t look like that either
What do you mean no ‘like’ button? It’s still there.
LikeLike
Hi Joanne, lovely post and pictures. I have taken a couple of evening courses at this school and never got to see it in such good light. So it just felt imposing and dark. I think they used to have a sign on the Bathurst St side on the field – a long time ago. Unless I imagined it. I was trying to locate the school for a yoga class for my Mom. That is some really good information to know! Have you been inside? It is labyrinthine!!! Trying to get to a washroom from class was an exercise in itself. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
No, I didn’t go inside. Schools frown on strangers off the street walking into the building … especially during school hours. I’m picturing it with high ceilings and I guess I’m not surprised you are describing it as a maze.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m impressed that you find magnificent buildings like this one just like that. Sounds like Rome. 🙂
LikeLike
Oh goodness, no. Rome is in a category all of her own!! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a find! Winging it, or getting lost almost always yields something of interest. Good one Joanne!
Peta
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, hopefully never lost! I don’t handle the feeling of *lost* very well. Call it a quirk 😉
LikeLike
Wow, that’s like no other high school I’ve attended. So grand! So beautiful! That’s a nice find, Joanne. I think method #2 works well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I wouldn’t always bet on method 2, but it can produce interesting results!
LikeLike
The older I get, the more I realize that “winging it” is the best way to go. You came up with a winner on this “flight” – gorgeous building with a neat educational (pun) history.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Winging it can have its advantages and disadvantages … but this day it was all good 🙂
LikeLike
I love that motto too! What a grand school, and beautiful building! You found another gem!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks. As you know, it’s fun to discover something you weren’t expecting 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gorgeous! Those time-battered doors are the only ones we can even imagine, am I right? Great winging, Joanne! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly. It would just be wrong to put a plain glass door on a treasure like this one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely find. The doors are magnificent and intrigued by the gnomes. Not the sort of gnomes I am used to!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I too thought the gnomes were an interesting add-on. Apparently, the stonemasons who worked on this building, added the gnomes as *their contribution* to the structure. Other contributions were also made on the interior of the building by other contractors. I can’t imagine these kinds of freebies happening in today’s world.
LikeLike
They are like the gargoyles on medieval buildings where too sometimes they were a caricature of the stonemason.
LikeLike
Who knew those stonemasons were such fun-sters? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
BTW, I just asked you to Post A Day…https://dlhorbaly.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/song-a-day-day-3/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the heads-up. I’ve been out for most of the past 2 weeks and my backlog of posts to read is looooong.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome back….
LikeLiked by 2 people
Love these kind of brick buildings, but it seems they’re found more often in the Northern states! Once a beautiful door, but I wonder what happened to the bottom of it:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can appreciate that comment after recently visiting Florida. You’re right, the architecture in the north is different … *heavier* seems the best word to describe it. I suspect the materials for brick making weren’t available in many areas.
I’m guessing the bottom of those doors got kicked – a lot 🙂
LikeLike
Smile, I guess I forgot what teens are capable of:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not that you or I would EVER do that 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Actually looks like my junior high – which unfortunately was torn down to make way for a Circus Circus.
LikeLike
Awww – that’s sad when a beautiful old building gets demolished. What’s a Circus Circus?
There were 2 old iconic schools in my hometown which were demolished. I had heard the problem was asbestos and mold … both of which are troublesome to get rid of.
LikeLike
I bet the view from the top is breathtaking. Beautiful, old building. I wouldn’t mind going to school there.
LikeLike
I suspect most young people don’t really appreciate the beauty of their schools until much later. I agree with you, this is a building that would make me feel inspired each time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bet those doors have had some kicks, Joanne.
LikeLike
Oh, just a few I’m sure 😉
LikeLike
What a building for a high school. It looks like a castle. I couldn’t help but notice that energy saving bulb, it looks so out of place but in the interests of lowering the carbon footprint I can see the practicality of it.
LikeLike
The school DOES look like a castle! Probably not an unusual sight in your corner of the world, but it’s definitely different in mine 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are quite a lot of schools here in old buildings, no castles come to mind though, but I might be wrong. I’ll have to check that one out, Joanne.
LikeLiked by 1 person
oooo – I can hardly wait to see what you’ve found. You have lots of material to work with!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It will be hard to beat that ‘castle’ of yours, though. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So rare these days to see a beautiful old building like this high school, still being used as a school. I too, went to an old high school, built in 1930. There have been a few additions to the building but the original parts remains in tact.
LikeLike
It is a beauty of a building. I would have happily gone to a school like that one.
I think additions became the norm during the 60s and 70s as all we boomers started hitting school age.
The opposite appears to be happening now as schools are rationalized and closed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Although I am admittedly and over-planner, I love your #2 approach to finding interesting old buildings and doors. Love the door and the history!
LikeLike
My tendency is to plan, plan, plan too … but sometimes it’s really liberating to just – not 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Impressive doors post, Joanne! What a stately building. I’d say your winging it resulted in a great find. 🎼Christine
LikeLike
Thanks Christine. Sometimes no plan is a great plan 🙂
LikeLike
I am currently in a place with very slow wifi, but the wait for your pictures to download was well worth it! What a gorgeous old building! Beautiful doors, but I have to admit that I loved the gnomes the best.
LikeLike
Ugh – slow wifi!! Thank you for your patience to load a fat packet full of photos!!
The gnomes are quite unusual, aren’t they? Apparently they were added by the stonemasons as their *contribution* to the school. Can you imagine a freebie like that being done today?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I noticed that light bulb too, Joanne! But only after that gorgeous door…
LikeLike
It was one of those details I didn’t notice until afterwards when I loaded my photos onto my computer. There was just something very incongruent about it that made me smile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed.
LikeLike
Such rich history in a beautiful building.
LikeLike
I’m grateful that these pieces of history aren’t disappearing. It’s interesting to know … at least I think so 🙂
LikeLike
Wow, what an amazing building and a great place to go to school!
LikeLike
What a great focus on a building many of us have seen passing by so many times, and yet it takes on a whole new dimension with these photos. Thank you!
LikeLike
Thank you! That’s really appreciated.
I had heard of Central Tech, but really had no clue where exactly it was.
LikeLike
Lots of old schools were beautifully built like this and I’m glad many of them are still around. Hopefully they all have new or updated electrical systems for all technology of today. I’m with you; I’m glad they didn’t replace the doors and other “decorations.”
janet
LikeLike
That’s one of the thoughts I had too, Janet … the upgrades to make a very old building habitable.
I remember a couple of very old buildings on campus when I went to university. They were lovely to look at, but brutal to have classes in … unbearably hot in warm weather, and freezing in winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great building, Joanne. One of the things I like about old architecture, besides the beauty, is the symbolism – like the gnomes. Can you imagine a city building something like this these days? I can’t. 🙂
LikeLike
Wonderful photos! And it’s too bad they can’t make those energy efficient bulbs any uglier — we could all send them all to Washington, D.C. I won’t use the damned things. Others here do, but I’m not paying that big a price for ugly. I’m paying that big a price for real light bulbs, though, lol.
LikeLike
It’s a beautiful building…especially considering it’s a high school!
LikeLike
I agree that it looks very impressive for a high school … certainly nothing close to the one I went too!
LikeLike
Me neither!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wonderful building; especially grand for a high school. Here’s to winging it 🙂
I noticed the CFL light bulb too and I like that the original doors are still in use.
Great post!
LikeLike
Thanks Norm. Winging it produces inconsistent results, but this time was clearly a success in my books!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Unexpected discoveries are often the best. One of the joys of “street haunting”.
LikeLike
Winging it–my most favorite thing to do! This building is beautiful, Joanne. But it makes me wonder why the student population at this school flourishes while at the other school you posted, it does not.
LikeLike
I had the same thought when I was preparing this post. The only thing I could come up with is location.
This school is in the core of city which I’m assuming has a higher population density.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great share, Joanne. Enjoyed seeing twin gargoyles toiling away in respective spheres.
LikeLike
I guess they didn’t want to go the route of putting a gargoyle on a school, so they were modified into gnomes … which as far as I’m concerned, are cousins to the gargoyle 😉
LikeLike
beautiful building- it reminds me of the building where I went to High School- it was dubbed “the castle on the hill” built in 1928
LikeLike
It does resemble a castle which is what surprised me when I heard it was a high school.
I’m curious, did you appreciate at the time the splendor of the building where you were going to school?
LikeLiked by 1 person
We did love sitting out on the front steps and the view far below- but we did not notice the architectural beauty at the time. It was just “our castle on the hill” It still loos the same all these years later!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha that light bulb didn’t escape my attention either! And I agree – I’m glad they didn’t replace the light fixture!
And I’m with you on “winging it” – the process of discovery makes it all more fun 😀
Can’t believe this is a high school though! Jeez it’s impressive for a school
LikeLike
There’s a lot to be said for both methods and both work 🙂 Sometimes not knowing what I’ve found is part of the fun.
It explains why all the kids I saw walking on the streets looked so young!! I assumed they were all from the nearby university and that I was suffering from old-age-itis 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
A nice find. I have not sought out Central Tech, or any Toronto schools on my door quest. I may have to start. It’s so nice to see that original doors have not been replaced. I’ve seen several old schools forgo esthetics in favour of modern aluminum or steel doors, which seem so sterile and uninviting.
LikeLike
I can understand why they would want to do it though. I’m faced with the same dilemma with an old wooden door on my garage. In the winter, the inside of the door is crusted with frost.
I’m afraid it will be going in the direction of sterile and uninviting 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a great find, and a magnificent building. At that time, I would have loved attending school here and learning a trade, Even when I was in high school, I took a lot of “shop” and I was tempted by our technical schools. “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield“ seems like a motto you could work with.
I love the grans entrance and those large, well-worn doors. One can only imagine how many boys and girls have passed through them over time. Thanks for great doors and a nice bit of history.
LikeLike
I had wanted to take drafting when I was in high school, but I wasn’t allowed to. I was told that students classified as ‘academic’ couldn’t take ‘technical’ courses. In hindsight, I sometimes wonder if it was because I was female.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was in Junior high, guys couldn’t take sewing/cooking and girls couldn’t take wood/metal shop. Drafting was part of wood and metal shop, not offered on its own until 9th grade.
LikeLike
I’m glad that kind of myopic thinking has gone by the wayside.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield“. – Yup, that’s got your name all over it!
Another stellar “Doors” entry, my dear. Nicely done.
LikeLike
The ‘not to yield’ part hints at the stubborn nature perhaps? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Perhaps… but I prefer determination.
LikeLiked by 1 person