Allan Gardens

Allan Gardens is a public park and conservatory located in the Garden District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The property includes a playground, off-leash dog park, and a 1,500 square metres (16,000 sq ft) conservatory with six greenhouses. The park originated from lands donated to the Toronto Horticultural Society by George William Allan in 1858, with the horticultural society officially opening a gardens there in 1860. In 1864, the municipal government of Toronto acquired the lands surrounding the gardens, although it allowed the horticultural society to maintain it in return for permitting its public use. The conservatory was later acquired by the municipal government in 1888. The park and the gardens were initially known as the Horticultural Gardens until 1901 when it was renamed after Allan. A fire ravaged and destroyed a three-storey pavilion at the park in 1902. However, a new conservatory building, the Palm House was later completed on the property in 1910. The park has become a popular gathering place for protest since the mid-20th century.

The property initially formed a part of Park Lot V, one of a series of properties that were subdivided by the authorities after the Toronto Purchase in the 1790s. In 1819, William Allan acquired the property, and he later built his Moss Park estate there. His son George William Allan, who served as the 11th mayor of Toronto and as president of the Toronto Horticultural Society, inherited the estate after William Allan's death in 1853. In 1855, Allan subdivided the land, although he retained a private garden north of Gerrard Street. In 1858, shortly after Allan's tenure as mayor had ended, he gifted the horticultural society 2.0 hectares (5 acres) of land for them to develop a garden, although this transaction was not finalized until 1861. The Horticultural Gardens were opened to the public on 11 September 1860, with the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) planting a maple tree in front of the pavilion. Alongside Queen's Park, which was also opened earlier that day, the two parks are the oldest parks in Toronto. In 1864, the property surrounding the gardens and conservatory was acquired by the municipal government of Toronto for C$11,500, to be used as a municipal park. The city provided a lease to the horticultural society, where the society agreed to maintain the grounds on the condition that they be publicly accessible and free of charge until 8 p.m.; after that time, the horticultural society was free to use the property to host charged-private events.

The original rustic wooden structures were replaced in 1879 with a new three-storey pavilion to be used for concerts, gala balls, conventions, and flower shows. Construction of the new pavilion was financed through a C$20,000 mortgage taken out from the horticultural society. Because the horticultural society was unable to cover its debts, the conservatory was later sold to the municipal government in 1888. In the following year, iron fencing and gates were added to the park. In 1893, the National Council of Women of Canada was established inside the Horticultural Pavilion of the gardens. In 1894, the garden's original conservatory was replaced. Shortly after the death of Allan in 1901, the gardens were renamed from the Horticultural Gardens to Allan Gardens in his honour. The pavilion was eventually destroyed in a fire on 6 June 1902. Shortly after the fire, a statue of Robert Burns was installed at the park on 19 July.

BotanicalGarden data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).