History
In the 1900s and 1910s, the Sunnyside area was undeveloped except for a few waterfront uses. One waterfront business was Dean's Boat House, building canoes, renting boats and providing local boat cruises, located on Lakeshore Road at Queen Street, south-east of High Park. Starting in the 1910s, the waterfront was redeveloped by the Toronto Harbour Commission and all of the waterfront buildings were removed. The waterfront was extended to the south and new buildings were constructed to replace those removed.
The new Dean’s Sunnyside Pleasure Boats, a canoe boat-building factory and a supplier to the local Parkdale canoe club was opened in 1922 as part of the new Sunnyside Beach. The new building was designed by the architectural firm of Chapman, Oxley & Bishop, architects who designed the Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion, which opened that same year nearby. The boat-building activities occupied the basement and part of the first floor, which was at shoreline level. The second floor, at ground level from the front, became a dance hall. Although Dean’s Pleasure Boats was successful for some time, it eventually went out of business and the Palais became a dance hall only.
In 1932 Bill Cuthbert and George Deller took over the Palais Royale and this was the period of its greatest popularity. 'Big bands' such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Paul Whiteman and the Dorsey Brothers played there. The largest audience was in 1933, when 3000 people danced to Eddie Duchin's Park Central Orchestra from New York. From 1933 to 1950, Bert Niosi "Canada's King of Swing" and his orchestra were the house band.
Admission was 10 cents plus five cents a dance. Only soft drinks were available and certain dances, such as the jitterbug, were forbidden as they were considered too risqué. Dances were held six nights a week (dancing was not allowed on Sundays).
The land on which the Palais Royale was built was originally leased from the Toronto Harbour Commission in 1922 for 21 years. Cuthbert and Deller renewed the lease in 1944 for another 21 years. They sold their rights to Joe Broderick in 1949. Broderick operated the facility as a dance hall from 1949 to 1966.
Read more about this topic: Palais Royale
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