- published: 15 May 2013
- views: 3590
Maple Leaf Square, has a twin tower condominium called Maple Leaf Square Condos, an office, retail, entertainment and hotel complex located to the west of the Air Canada Centre in Downtown Toronto. It was jointly developed by Cadillac Fairview, Lanterra and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), who owns the nearby Air Canada Centre (and is majority-owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which also owns Cadillac Fairview)
Plans for the $500 million development were unveiled in 2005. The finished complex has 1,800,000 square feet (170,000 m2) of usable space covering 2.1 acres (8,500 m2) on one city block.
According to MLSE (though others sources cite slightly different figures), the two glass and precast concrete towers will be 65 stories, containing 872 residential units, a 167-room Hotel LeGermain Boutique Hotel, 230,000 square feet (21,000 m2) of office space, 110,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of retail space, a 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) daycare centre, a High-Definition theatre that will broadcast Leafs TV and Raptors NBA TV 24-hours a day, and four levels of underground parking with nearly 900 spaces. Now open, the retail complex includes a Longo's grocery, a 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2) sports bar called Real Sports Bar and Grill, a sports retail store called Real Sports Apparel, a fine dining restaurant called E11even, and a branch of the Toronto Dominion Bank. For residents, there will be a rooftop garden and swimming pool.
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree, and is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the settlements of New France had attained a population of about 18,000. Also by this time, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the Saint Lawrence River.
Its popularity with French Canadians continued and was reinforced when, at the inaugural meeting of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste in 1834, the maple leaf was one of numerous emblems proposed to represent the society. Speaking in its favour, Jacques Viger, the first mayor of Montreal, described the maple as "the king of our forest; ... the symbol of the Canadian people."
The maple leaf slowly caught on as a national symbol: in 1868, it was included in the coat of arms of both Ontario and Quebec, and was added to the Canadian coat of arms in 1921. Historically, the golden maple leaf had represented Ontario, while the green maple leaf had represented Quebec. In 1867, Alexander Muir composed the patriotic "The Maple Leaf Forever," which became an unofficial anthem in English-speaking Canada. From 1876 until 1901, the leaf appeared on all Canadian coins, and remained on the penny after 1901. During the First World War, badges of the Canadian Expeditionary Force were often based on a maple leaf design. The use of the maple leaf as a regimental symbol extended back to the 1800s, and Canadian soldiers in the Second Boer War were distinguished by a maple leaf on their sun helmets.