College Park

College Park is a shopping mall, residential and office complex on the southwest corner of Yonge and College streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. An Art Deco landmark, the building was initially known as Eaton's College Street. It was operated by Eaton's from 1930 to 1977. After being sold to new owners and adapted for new purposes, it was renamed as College Park. Architecture College Park was built for Eaton between 1928 and 1930, and was designed by Ross and Macdonald (in association with Henry Sproatt). The Montreal architectural firm was known for also designing the Royal York Hotel and Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, and the Montreal Eaton's store. Although the rest of a planned complex was not constructed, because of the Great Depression, the new Eaton store was considered a retail palace, the likes of which had never been seen in Toronto. It expressed the retail dominance of the Eaton's chain at that time. Tyndall limestone was used for the imposing exterior. Accentuating the Tyndall limestone was granite and a corrosion-resistant alloy of nickel and copper called monel metal.(Shoemaker, and Smith 22) The monel metal was used copiously on the building as trim and in panels along the window and door frames. In addition to this metal trim, cast stone and carvings were created for detailed decorative elements on the façade (Morawetz 5).