BY VICKI GILHULA
Even people who think they know Toronto well will find Bruce Bell?s walking tours fascinating as well as funny and informative.
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Bruce Bell, a comedian and actor turned historian, takes people on walking tours of ?old Toronto.? |
A former stand-up comedian, Bell, who grew up in Sudbury, is one of the leading authorities on Toronto?s rich history and architecture.
He gives tours of the St. Lawrence Market area on a regular basis. He knows the stories about existing buildings, and historical facts about streets and places that have long since disappeared.
Bell also writes articles for the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Community Bulletin. He is honorary curator of the historic Gooderham Building, the
Hockey Hall of Fame building (a former Bank of Montreal), and the St. Lawrence Hall.
The graduate of Sudbury High School appeared in the 1972 production of Cinderella at the Sudbury Theatre Centre, directed by Tony Lloyd. As soon
as he graduated from high school, he headed for the bright lights of the big city to pursue a career in show business.
Bell made his stage debut at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1973. In 1977, Bell began performing in Yuk-Yuks Comedy Club in Toronto and travelled around the country doing stand-up comedy.
Bell began writing plays in 1982, but it wasn?t until 1989 that he had his first big success with I Slept with Tony Trouble. It went on to tour Britain and Stratford, Ont. Four years ago he was awarded a Toronto Arts Council Award for playwriting.
Bell takes tourists and locals on St. Lawrence Market food and history walking tour every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The cost of the two-hour tour is $20 per person.
All tours begin at 10 am sharp, rain or shine, and meet at the main entrance to South St. Lawrence Market at the southwest corner of Jarvis and Front Streets.
The tour includes a walk through the historic market with stops at various food vendors who offer tasty samplings.
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Bruce Bell is the official historian of Toronto?s King Edward Hotel. One of his favourite spots is the abandoned Crystal Ballroom on the 17th floor, which closed in 1979. |
The tour continues through the Old Town of Toronto with stops at the Gooderham (Flatiron) Building, the King Edward Hotel, Toronto Street (once the site of the infamous hanging yards), St. James Cathedral, St. Lawrence Hall, the Bank of Upper Canada and Toronto?s First Post Office.
Tickets can be purchased at the Souvenir Shop just inside the main entrance to St. Lawrence Market.
In April of this year Bell was appointed official historian of Toronto?s King Edward Hotel, and in May, he was elected to serve on the board of The Town of York Historical Society.
Bell says he always loved history, but when he was going to school, Canadian history in general and local history, were footnotes in American and British text books.
He likes the idea of bringing history alive.
?So much of Toronto?s history is either buried under parking lots or confined to dusty history books hidden on the top shelves of libraries or just plain
forgotten, says Bell on his website brucebelltours.com.
Bell has been able to convince many companies to install heritage plaques on their buildings?at their expense.
It?s an idea that Sudbury property owners might consider, he says.
The commercial and housing complex across from the St. Lawrence Market replaced a neighbourhood with historic significance. Bell arranged for heritage signposts to be hung in the Dominion Store in the complex that celebrates the area?s early history.
Bell will be conducting historic tours for delegates at the Mining Industry Conference and Exhibition April 24-27 in Toronto.
? I?m going to plan a special walk that weekend entitled A Sudburian in Toronto. It?ll be a very personal walk in the downtown core on all the sites that have a Sudbury tie-in such as Inco?s head office, the site of FC Capreol?s home, Union Station with the name Sudbury carved into the stone along the inside frieze, and the site of the first Richmond Room cafeteria. Remember the one Sudbury had in Kresge?s??
He says northernlife.ca is his home page and he keeps up with news about Sudbury. One of his recent articles for the St. Larwence Neighbourhood Community Bulletin started with his recollections of Sudbury?s CPR train station.
For more information about Bell and his tours, visit his website at brucebelltours.com, or phone (416)-392-0028.
