Convocation Hall is one of the University of Toronto's most known buildings. Much like University College (UC), it appears on many official U of T publications, partly because it is connected to the administrative offices in Simcoe Hall, the attached neighbouring building. But there is much more than meets the eye to this old building.
Location | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U of T Downtown | ||||||
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada) | ||||||
Built | Status | Difficulty | ||||
1906 | Active (Secured) | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ | ||||
Hazards Risk | Security Risk | AUE Rating | ||||
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ | ||||
Hazard Observations | Security Observations | |||||
Asbestos | Campus Police |
One of the most known features about Con Hall is the large domed roof it has, visible from both the outside and inside. Or so one would believe. In fact, from the roof access area above the main dome, one can see that there are actually two seperate domes with the access area between them. The acess area is also a fairly sketchy part of the building; the wooden planking around the dome has no real handrails to it, so one misstep and you're falling through the roof into the main hall below, quite a way down. This room is very securely locked 99% of the time, however.
The basement is also fairly interesting. There used to be washrooms down here; the mens can technically be accessed without trespassing, and is used for storage. The womens, on the other side, is completely intact and unused, but is much harder to actually get to. There is also a crawlspace area in the basement that leads to a series of old wooden ladders; going up them takes you up inside one of the walls to nowhere in particular. From the basement you can also see how the main hall is held up; steel girders lying on brick pillars without being bolted in hold the main hall up.
Con Hall doesn't have many hazards, save for staff who might catch you, which makes it an ideal place for a laid-back exploration. Just don't climb up the last ladder in the crawlspace area; it's not secured into the building like the others are. On a different note, Con Hall can become fairly boring very quickly, as there isn't all that much to see in the building. But it's still worth at least one visit.