Location: Dundas Street east of River
Date photo taken: 29 April 2015
While this building may currently be called the Tannery Lofts, the building itself never housed a tannery. The name was inspired by an earlier business located slightly to the east. A one storey tannery building was built by H.B. Johnston in 1910, when this block of land still had a River Street address. In 1913, a new factory was built for the Adam Beck Cigar Box Manufacturing Company. Located on the new extension to Wilton Avenue, which would later become Dundas, it is this building that is now the Tannery Lofts. Originally 3 storeys tall, the building was designed by famed Canadian architect John M. Lyle, better known for designing banking halls, Union Station and the Royal Alex Theatre. In 1931, the property was acquired by G.H. Wood & Co., makers of paper cups and assorted sanitary products. It would undergo conversion to lofts in 2007, at which time two additional floors were added.
Fun fact: Adam Beck of the cigar factory is the same Sir Adam Beck who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario and whose statue can be found on University Avenue.
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