Berkeley Street Theatre

The beautiful Victorian Italianate-style building, which houses CanStage-Berkeley, has stood tall for over one hundred years. Designed by architect Edmund Burke, and built in 1887 by Strickland and Symons, this building was occupied by Consumers Gas, also known as The Gas Works, until 1955 when the company moved out of the growing manufacturing district of Toronto. In February 1971, the Greenspoon Brothers, a prominent wrecking firm in Toronto, scheduled the Berkeley Street buildings for demolition. The Greenspoons were so taken with the beautiful structure of the ruins that they decided to save them and to make them the centrepiece of a re-development plan for the Berkeley Street area. The old pump room of The Gas Works now holds a 241-seat theatre with a balcony, a spacious front lobby as well as the administrative offices of The Canadian Stage Company.

http://www.doorsopen.org/building/building.cfm?id=276