We couldn’t have had a better day for an elevator ride to the 17th floor lookout tower atop the Canada Life building on University Avenue. A once-a-year opportunity to see the city from what was, in 1931, Toronto’s tallest edifice. The limestone-clad beauty is filled with art deco detail, perfectly executed in marble, plaster and bronze.
The tower was a state-of-the-art weather beacon, announcing conditions in coded bars of electric light bulbs. It still works, as does the scale model in the lobby. The tower view looking west affords a unique take on the OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) addition, with Frank Gehry’s titanium blue addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario just behind.
