Massey Hall loses its ‘moustache’ stairs

Thestar.com
November 8, 2018
Emerald Bensadoun

After more than 100 years, Massey Hall is removing its iconic moustache as part of the building’s revitalization plan.

Early Wednesday morning, scaffolds and construction crew members were seen outside the building at Shuter and Victoria Sts. to strip what have affectionately become known as Massey Hall’s moustache staircases away.

The Massey Hall revitalization is a two-year renovation project meant to renew both the interior and exterior of the National Historic Site and construct a new addition to the south of the building.

Once finished, the hall will have a retractable seating system and two new venues --a 500-person site in the south tower and a more intimate space in the hall’s expanded Centuries bar --and will see the restoration of the original, 124-year-old stained glass windows.

Local heritage and restoration advisers, as well as internationally renowned technical consultants, have been hired to ensure that the original character and feel of the cultural institution is not only preserved, but enhanced.

So why lose the ‘stache?

Grant Troop, Massey’s director of operations, said the fire escapes are not original to the building, which was built in 1894.

He said the city went through a number of fire regulation changes after the Great Fire of Toronto in 1904. The staircases were installed in 1911 as a result, and are now unsafe for public use.

“The fire escapes were put on over 100 years ago, they’ve outlived their useful life,” Troop said. “Certainly, they were the design of the day when they were added in 1911, but fire code has passed way, way beyond those types of structures. They would never be approved for implementation now. At this time, they’re really outside of fire code and building code.”

The decision to remove the fire escapes was also about structural integrity.

“We’re going to replace the cutstone that was defaced as a result of putting the fire escapes on,” Troop said. “It really is about restoring the hall and bringing it back to its original aspects. The fire escapes could not be reused in the reopening of the hall, and as a result we’re removing them.”

This won’t be the last Toronto’s seen of the metallic moustache. Troop said Massey Hall plans on salvaging a fair amount of it, to be reused as part of proposed art displays inside the hall and in the new building in the south.

“We’ll definitely be salvaging elements of the hall, but it will not be used for practical purposes,” Troop said. “They’ll still be around, just not in their complete form and certainly not hung on the exterior facade of the building but we are salvaging certain parts of the fire escapes just to keep an homage to the past of the hall.”