| R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant | |
|---|---|
 Exterior of the building | |
 Interactive map of the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant area | |
| General information | |
| Status | Operational |
| Location | 2701Queen Street East, Toronto,Ontario, Canada |
| Coordinates | 43°40′24″N79°16′44″W / 43.673222°N 79.278819°W /43.673222; -79.278819 |
| Named for | R. C. Harris |
| Construction started | 1932 |
| Opened | November 1, 1941; 84 years ago (1941-11-01) |
TheR. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant inToronto,Ontario, Canada, is both a crucial piece of infrastructure and an architecturally acclaimed historic building named after the longtime commissioner of Toronto's public works Roland Caldwell Harris. The plant's architect wasThomas Canfield Pomphrey with engineers H.G. Acres and William Gore.[1] It is located in the east of the city at the eastern end ofQueen Street and at the foot ofVictoria Park Avenue along the shore ofLake Ontario in theBeaches neighbourhood in the city of Toronto.
It has been the location for a number of film productions, includingStrange Brew (1983) withRick Moranis andDave Thomas.[2]
Harris was born in Lansing on May 26, 1875 in what is nowNorth York, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto.[3] As Public Works Commissioner from 1912 to 1945, Harris was involved in such projects as:
Harris died on September 3, 1945. His sonLieutenant Colonel Roland Allen Harris was a member of the Queen's Own Rifles. Harris is buried in family plot atSt. John's Norway Cemetery.[5]
The land was once owned by Peter Patterson and was a popular spot for picnickers who nicknamed it "Yellowbanks" for the colour of the bluffs[6] In 1878, Patterson leased the property to businessmen John Irwin, Bob Davies, and P.G. Close who hired John Boyle to develop and operate it as anamusement park.[6] Buildings were erected and landscaping was done in time for it to open on June 8, 1878 as Victoria Park. Initially, the park was only accessible by water and awharf was built to allow forsteamships to bring picnickers from theToronto Harbour at the foot ofYonge Street. The six-hectare park included a beach, with boating and canoe rentals, picnic shelters, a dance pavilion, restaurant, and an observation tower. Thomas Davies bought the park in 1886 and by 1894 theToronto Railway Company extendedstreetcar lines to the park, allowing for ferry service to be discontinued. In 1899, the Toronto Railway Company took over the lease allowing it to continue as atrolley park along with nearbyMunro Park which the TRC also operated. In 1906, the park was purchased by Henry Eckardt in a foreclosure sale after Davies had been unable to keep up the mortgage payments.[7] Eckardt closed the park in 1906, the same year that nearbyMunro Park closed. The traditions of both continued atScarboro Beach Amusement Park which opened in 1907 and operated until 1925.[6]
Victoria Park Avenue is named after the amusement park.[8]
From 1912 to 1932 part of the property was used for Victoria ParkForest School during the summer.The T. Eaton Company also used the property for asummer camp for boys from 1917 until 1927. In 1927, the City of Toronto purchased the property for $370,000 in order to build the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant.[7]
With an early 20th-century Toronto plagued with water shortages and unclean drinking water, public health advocates such as George Nasmith and Toronto's Medical Officer of Health,Charles Hastings, campaigned for a modern water purification system.
Construction for a water treatment plant began on the site in 1932 and the building became operational on November 1, 1941.[9] The building, unlike most modern engineering structures, was also created to make an architectural statement. Fashioned in theArt Deco style, the cathedral-like structure remains one of Toronto's most admired buildings. It is, however, little known to outsiders. The interiors are just as opulent with marble entryways and vast halls filled with pools of water and filtration equipment. The plant has thus earned the nicknameThe Palace of Purification.
In 1992, the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant was named a national historic civil engineering site by theCanadian Society for Civil Engineering. It was designated under theOntario Heritage Act in 1998.[10] The plant appeared on a stamp issued byCanada Post in 2011, in a series showcasing five notable Art Deco buildings in Canada.[11][12]
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Despite its age, the plant is still fully functional, providing approximately 30% of Toronto's water supply. The intakes are located over 2.6 kilometres (1.6 mi) from shore in 15 metres (49 ft) of water, running through two pipes under the bed of the lake. Water is alsochlorinated in the plant and then pumped to various reservoirs throughout the City of Toronto and York Region.
The facility grounds have been made available to the public. Despite some concerns of vulnerability to an attack on the water supply since theSeptember 11 attacks, the grounds have remained open to the public, but security has been increased. In the summer of 2007, construction began on the installation of an underground Residual Management Facility allowing processed waste to be removed before discharging into the lake. This construction has since been completed.
The R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant has been used in dozens of films and television series as a prison, clinic, or headquarters.
The video was filmed at RC Harris water treatment plant, Valley explains "we were looking for a sense of brutalism mixed with beauty for this video and a lot of open space because the song feels very empty yet scenic."
