Old Mill Toronto
{{about|the hotel and event venue|the surrounding neighbourhood|Old Mill, Toronto}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Old Mill Toronto
| image = Old Mill Inn.JPG
| caption = The Old Mill in 2009
| address = 21 Old Mill Road
| location_city = Toronto, Ontario
| location_country = Canada
| coordinates = {{coord|43|39|3|N|79|29|36|W|type:landmark_region:CA|display=title,inline}}
| owner = OMT Hospitality Inc.
| opened_date = {{plainlist|
- July 28, 1914 (tea room)
- October 2001 (hotel)
}}
| website = [https://www.oldmilltoronto.com/ oldmilltoronto.com]
| affiliation =
| number_of_rooms = 57
| number_of_suites =
| number_of_restaurants = 1
| number_of_bars =
| facilities = jazz bar, wedding chapel, spa, meeting rooms, restaurant, flower shop
}}
The Old Mill Toronto is an event venue with a boutique hotel, spa and restaurant, in The Kingsway neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It includes facilities for business meetings, conferences, celebrations and weddings, with an on-site chapel and wedding garden. Its restaurant has served afternoon tea since it opened in 1914 and serves Sunday family brunch and dinner buffets.
The facility is located on Old Mill Road north of Bloor Street, just west of the Humber River. The Old Mill subway station is a short distance away.
History
File:Postcard of Toronto's scenic Old Mill.jpg
The Old Mill is near the site of Toronto's first sawmill,{{cite news |last=Siemiemik |first=Christine |date=July 16, 2001 |title=City's first sawmill now site of luxury hotel [Old Mill] |work=Toronto Business Journal |page=9}} built c. 1793.{{cite magazine |last=Wild |first=Denise |issue=June 2002 |title=Traveler: see saw the Old Mill Toronto |journal=Flare |page=32}} A series of mill complexes were built on the site, all of which were destroyed by fire. The last of these was built in 1848 by William Tyrell and burned in 1881. Its multi-storey ruins stood until the year 2000. {{cite web |title=Old Mill photographs and plaques |url=http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_MNO/Old_Mill.html |publisher=torontoplaques.com}}
The Old Mill Tea Garden restaurant was founded by Robert Home Smith in 1914, next to the mill's ruins. It was part of the Kingsway residential development by Smith.
Over the ensuing decades, 16 banquet rooms were added. In the 1980s, a wedding chapel was built adjacent to the historic mill's ruins. These ruins were demolished in the year 2000, and a modern hotel was built on the site, in the architectural style of the adjacent 1914 restaurant.
The Tea Garden was a place for dancing to big band music in the 1920s, and still today this tradition carries on.{{cite news |last=Stokes |first=Deborah |title=Boutiques embrace the old and new |work=National Post |date=September 25, 2004 |page=PT2}} It was designated as a heritage property in 1983 by the former city of Etobicoke and retains that designation with Toronto.{{cite web |url=http://secure.toronto.ca/HeritagePreservation/details.do?folderRsn=2439654&propertyRsn=717036|title=21 OLD MILL RD|work=Toronto Heritage Properties Inventory|publisher=City of Toronto|access-date=December 3, 2008}} An historical plaque of Étienne Brûlé is near the main entrance.{{cite web |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325083817/http://torontoplaques.com/Pages/Etienne_Brule.html |archivedate=March 25, 2019 |url-status=dead |url=http://torontoplaques.com/Pages/Etienne_Brule.html |title=Étienne Brûlé plaque}}
It has changed owners three times, and was bought by the Kalmar family in 1991. In 2015, the property was sold to OMT Hospitality.{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/07/17/old-mill-new-owners.html |title=Old Mill, new owners |first=Melissa |last=Renwick |date=July 17, 2015 |work=Toronto Star |access-date=1 August 2015}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Old Mill, Toronto|Old Mill Toronto}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Mill Toronto}}