page_title: Walnut Hall
section_title: Demolition
hierarchical_section_title: Walnut Hall / Demolition
caption_attribution_description: Walnut Hall on Shuter Street in 2006. Toronto, Canada.
context_page_description: Walnut Hall was a row of four Georgian-style terraced homes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed in 1856, it was recognized by both the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto as being of historic significance, but portions of it collapsed and it had to be demolished in 2007 due to neglect. At the time of its demolition, it was Toronto's last remaining complete row of 19th century Georgian townhomes.
context_section_description: Walnut Hall was the subject of a number of demolition proposals and redevelopment schemes from the 1970s onwards, ranging from a proposed parking lot to residential developments that would have incorporated the heritage building.  None of the proposals was achieved, however, and Walnut Hall remained vacant and unheated.  In 1999, the City of Toronto issued an order to the landowner to correct a number of growing structural deficiencies in the building.
  In 2004, Walnut Hall appeared in the film Cinderella Man when the derelict building was used to portray a 1930s New York City-streetscape.
  In March 2007, Trisan Realty Corp. purchased the property with the intention of restoring Walnut Hall.  On May 19, 2007,  however, police and fire officials were called to the site when pedestrians noticed bricks falling from the second and third storeys.   By the end of the afternoon, parts of the rear walls had begun to cave in.  That evening, a city building inspector recommended that Walnut Hall be demolished for safety reasons, and the demolition was undertaken that night.
  In 2008, Heritage Canada included Walnut Hall in its annual list of "Worst Losses", referring to the building's neglect and demolition as "a case of architectural euthanasia".  Michael McClelland, a heritage architect and a founding member of the Canadian Association of Professional Heritage Consultants, described the loss of Walnut Hall as being emblematic of a "broken" heritage preservation system in Toronto.
caption: Walnut Hall in 2006
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