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The tragic history of how Toronto demolished one of its most beautiful buildings

Kimia Afshar Mehrabi

created: Aug. 30, 2025, 4:01 a.m. | updated: Sept. 2, 2025, 1:52 p.m.

Until 1971, the 444 Front St. W. building was home to another newspaper at the time, called the Toronto Telegram. That same year, the original William H. Wright Building was demolished to make way for the Exchange Tower, a 36-storey building in the First Canadian Place complex. However, one of the William H. Wright Building's most defining features — its beautiful, art deco entrance — was preserved and reinstated at the entrance of the newspaper's new home on Front Street, where it lived on for another generation. The original building's massive doors were again spared, and reinstated in 2022 within the lobby of the Toronto Star's new headquarters at The Well, leaving Toronto with a relic of one of its most beautiful buildings. Relics of the William H. Wright Building and other demolished landmarks from Toronto's past live on in this public space.

1 month, 1 week ago: blogTO