When they started renovating the Broadview Hotel in the Riverdale district, I began to take note of some of the unique features of the building.
I was particularly struck by the whimsical terracotta reliefs that adorned two sides of this neo-Romanesque building, and feared that they would be lost in the reconstruction. Given the rapacious pace of the construction taking place in the city, and the fact that many builders will barely leave a mere facade of the original building in their wake, I was hoping for the best.
Having seen what's left of the lovely Westinghouse Building at King and John (two walls!), I braced myself...
Happily, almost all the original building has been left intact, as you can see here:
It looks good as new!
The only noticeable change is to the northeast corner of the building, where they've added a glass-and-steel annex (and some contemporary signage), and changed the look of some of the ground-level windows:
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| Apparently, the glass atrium will include a rooftop bar! |
But, I was happy to see that the reliefs were still intact, and also look brand-new.
So, starting with the east side of the building, here they are, in no particular order:
The theme of most of them seems to be "weather:" there are many depictions of wind, suns and moons, with the notable exception of this first one.
It appears to be an elephantine figure, complete with tusk and trunk:
And the next one, which depicts a human form, though it's hard to say what specifically. It could be a native figure, with long hair, a headband and feathers, and strange markings on its face.
Or, it could simply be an imaginary being, a "wild man," if you like.
The one similarity in these, and in most of the reliefs, is a three-pointed floral or leaf motif. Make of that what you will...
Then, there is another human-like figure, who appears to be controlling wind blowing out of its mouth - or, is it a heraldic angel?
Next, in two separate panels, the faces of the sun and moon. The sun is all brilliance, while the moon is surrounded by stars and clouds. As do night and day, they gaze at each other.
Here, on the left, is a crescent moon, seeming to blow wind from its mouth, in that three-cornered pattern I mentioned, opposite face of a bearded male, with a long moustache that flows out to end, again, in the three-cornered floral motif.
Finally, over another pair of windows, is a rising (or setting) sun at left, and at right, a rather demonic-looking figure, which is either causing a wind, or has a very long tongue! In either case, the three-cornered pattern is seen again:
Add, moving to the south side of the building (facing Queen St. E.), there is another crescent moon face, this one also seeming to produce winds from its mouth.
Note the three-cornered pattern again!
This single-panel relief was the most detailed, and oddest, of them all. At left is another old-man figure, with a similar flowing moustache to the one on the east side, culminating once again in the three-cornered pattern.
At right is a different male face, which appears to be that of a sailor of yore, with kerchief around the head, and a prominent earring.
One can speculate about the meaning of this one fairly freely: when this place was built, in the 1890s, did the south wall have a clear view of Lake Ontario, so that the sailor appears to look out over it? Does the left-hand figure represent some kind of "weather god"?
Nearby are twin panels with representations of winds blowing in opposite directions. The three-cornered floral pattern abounds here:
Then, another "sun" figure, with eyes looking left, accompanied by the recurring pattern:
Finally, something really odd: a leonine or canine head, which appears to be holding a double-ended representation of the floral motif between its teeth!
Well, it was nice to see that this venerable building was left intact, for the most part. I felt it would have been a shame for there to be too many changes made to it. Mainly, I breathed a sigh of - wait for it - relief at seeing these grotesques maintained in their original glory.
The interior of the hotel is still being worked on. apparently, and will not be open for business until next year. But it was great to see a developer leave well enough alone. Here's hoping others will follow their example.
