Cherry Street Hotel

Cherry Street Hotel
The building awaiting redevelopment, in 2008
Former names	Palace Street School D'Arcy Hotel Eastern Star Hotel
General information
Address	425/441 Cherry Street
Town or city	Toronto
Country	Canada
Coordinates	43°39′09″N 79°21′27″W / 43.65250°N 79.35750°W / 43.65250; -79.35750Coordinates: 43°39′09″N 79°21′27″W / 43.65250°N 79.35750°W / 43.65250; -79.35750
Opened	1859
Design and construction
Architect	Joseph Sheard

The Cherry Street Hotel is an 1859 heritage building in Toronto, Canada. It is located on the southeast corner of Front Street and Cherry Street, in the West Don Lands neighbourhood. The structure was originally the Palace Street School, which closed in 1887. The building was converted into a hotel, and later became an industrial building housing small industry. In the 1960s, the Canary Restaurant opened. The building became a type of incubator, renting small spaces for artists and small businesses. The restaurant closed after the area around the building was demolished for the new West Don Lands community. The building has been integrated into the new community and its facade retained and restored. Its next use has not been announced.

The Palace Street School opened in 1859. The school was designed by Joseph Sheard who later became Mayor of Toronto. The original name of Front Street in this area was Palace Street, giving the school its name. At the time, the area was a residential area. The building was built to serve an increasing number of residents in the area. It was a free school of the Toronto Board of Education. The school had two rooms, each holding 80-90 students; one for boys and one for girls. In 1882, when the structure was still a school, Georgina Riches was appointed its principal, stirring controversy. According to Nancy Kiefer, writing in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, this controversy is often attributed to Riches being Toronto's first female principal to be paid the same as a man. Kiefer, however, wrote that some of the opposition came from other female teachers, who had more experience, or who had the first class teaching certificate Reid lacked. The school was closed in 1887, its students transferring to a school on nearby Sackville Street, where Riches was also transferred.

The building was sold to Robert Irvine, who remodelled it as a 40-room hotel known as the Irvine House. It was later sold to Mr. Darcy, who renamed it the Cherry Street Hotel. In 1904, the hotel was renamed the Eastern Star Hotel. By 1910, the hotel had failed, and it was vacant from 1910 until 1922. It was taken over for industrial purposes by the Thomas Davidson Manufacturing Company, maker of enamel ware and Antipitzky Metal Company. An addition was built on the east side of the building and used for industrial and warehouse purposes, including the operation of General Steel Ware. Later, Tippet & Richardson operated out of the building.