7. Liederkranz Society Hall and Charles Wagner - 257 Richmond Street West

The southwest corner of Richmond and John Street is currently the Scotiabank theatre complex. Built in the late 1990s, it's a landmark destination, especially during the Toronto International Film Festival. The view from the lobby up the long escalator is a panorama of ever-changing downtown Toronto.

The buildings and uses of this site have changed many times. About halfway between John and Widmer Street was the Liederkranz Society Hall. Sometimes called the Toronto Liederkranz German Benevolent Society, it was a German social club that was closed due to anti-German public pressure in 1915. Afterwards the hall was taken over by the Sportsmens’ Patriotic Association Soldiers' Club. The hall itself opened in 1894 and was designed by architect Charles Wagner.

Wagner was the son of Jacob P. Wagner, a Toronto builder of German descent who was elected alderman in 1876. Active in the mid to late nineteen century, the Central Prison Chapel in Liberty Village is one of his surviving projects. Son Charles was a prolific architect from the 1880s onwards, designing residential, ecclesiastical, institutional and commercial works in Toronto and beyond. Apart from the Liederkranz hall, some of his Toronto work includes: St. Paul’s Lutheran church on College Street at Markham; the demolished Hanlan’s Point baseball stadium; the Heintzman Piano company showroom and offices that were on King Street near York; the La Plaza theatre on Queen east, now the Opera House; and the First Lutheran Church on Bond Street.