Ontario Hall

[photo of Ontario Hall]

Completed in 1903, this Victorian Romanesque building houses the Department of Art. Like nearby Kingston Hall, it was named for the level of government that funded it: it was built by the provincial government to house the Ontario School of Mining and Agriculture (the precursor to Engineering and Applied Science_.

This building has served many different purposes over the years, being home at one time to the departments of Physics, Geology and Mineralogy (see Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering, Department of), Chemical Engineering, a School of Navigation, Geography, Mathematics and Statistics, and Fine Art, which it houses today. At one time, there was a post office located in the building and during WWI, the basement was used as a dining room for the Fifth Field Company of Canadian Engineers (see Wartime at ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥). In the 1950s and 1960s, the basement held a sub-atomic particle accelerator and was fitted with a thick shield of concrete to contain the radiation that the accelerator produced.

Today the building features several art studios, display rooms, the Art Library, and several small lecture halls.

It is located beside Grant Hall on University Avenue.