CASE STUDY: SILVER DOLLAR ROOM

[kurtkraler]

Text by Kurt Kraler with input from Emad Ghattas (GBCA).

Located at the north-west corner of the Spadina and College Street intersection, the Silver Dollar Room opened its doors on January 5, 1959 and was designed as a cocktail lounge for guests staying at the neighbouring Waverley Hotel. After several incarnations, the bar eventually established itself as a live music venue, becoming part of the prolific Spadina music corridor alongside the El Mocambo, Grossman’s Tavern, and the Horseshoe Tavern to the south. Over the decades, the venue had an open-door policy for artists spanning across many genres, from jazz to burlesque, rockabilly to bluegrass, and punk to indie rock. During the 2000s, under programmer Gary Kendall’s direction, it was considered to be one of the most respected blues venues in North America.

The large, circular sign was a later addition to the building and became the most distinctive feature of the minimalist façade. Designed to resemble a large coin, the sign is largely constructed out of grey zinc metal panels with corrugated sheet metal around the edge to mimic the ridges of a coin. The words “The Silver Dollar Room” are scrawled across its face on a slight slant and has been illuminated in a variety of ways over the years. At one point the letters were filled with twinkling incandescent bulbs with a string of chaser lights around the perimeter edge, famously captured in the film “Adventures in Babysitting (1987)” [SHOW IMAGE]. The words “Silver Dollar” were outlined in rare green neon with complimentary red neon reserved for the rest of the sign.

The venue and the Hotel Waverley eventually closed in 2017 and were demolished to make way for a new luxury apartment building by Fitzrovia Real Estate. The Silver Dollar Room was rebuilt as part of the development and included many salvaged elements like the terrazzo floor, the padded bar, and the iconic sign. GBCA Architects oversaw the building’s reconstruction including the restoration of several murals that lined the interior walls of the space. One peculiar discovery was that a painting of the “Silver Dollar” sign had long been covered up with paper and painted over. [SHOW IMAGE OF MURAL BEFORE AND AFTER] The painting was restored to its original condition with the Silver Dollar sign prominently featured on the north wall.

The sign was restored back to its early 1990s appearance [SHOW IMAGE] with LED tubes recreating the blue neon letters. The zinc metal panel was repaired as needed and non-original elements like bird spikes and promotional stickers were removed. The sign does not include any perimeter chaser lightbulbs in an attempt to reduce maintenance and to avoid distracting drivers at the busy intersection. The restored sign was unveiled when the new Waverley apartment building opened in 2021.