The Toronto Island Ferry ServiceA History |
TRANSFER POINTS Vol. 2, No. 4, March 1976 by Larry Partridge |
MUCH HAD changed the ferry fleet after 1882. As more boats were constructed to carry larger crowds, the ferry service found itself swelled to bursting, but there were just as many subtractions to the fleet as there were additions.
On February 12, 1918, the first of many tragic events at he Island occurred. An uncontrollable fire at Hanlan's Point spread to the ferry docks and the ISLAND QUEEN and KATHLEEN met their end.
While the fire has been a tragedy in itself, Island patrons were equally shocked to learn the same year that fares would be raised from 10¢ to 15¢.
By 1923 the Bay Street Docks had been inspected and found to be unsafe, thereby prompting a suggestion that new ones be built at York Street, or that a bridge be built at the foot of York to accommodate streetcars to the Island. It came as no surprise that this plan, while supported by the Toronto Transportation Commission, was vetoed by the Harbour Commission, who flatly refused to allow the necessary track construction, as the York Street bridge [over the railway tracks south of Front Street] was deemed not strong enough to carry the weight of streetcars. But this decision just didn't sit well with one particular person.
L.J. "Lol" Solman owned the baseball stadium and amusement park at Hanlan's Point at the time, and besides this great accomplishment he also controlled the ferry service to the Island, having bought the controlling interest in the Toronto Ferry Company. Citing his agreement the proposal, he added that his ferry service would only continue if streetcar tracks were laid to the docks.
Solman was in a very uneasy position, and why he would put himself in such a corner is unknown today. At the time his Toronto Ferry Company owed $6,500 in the form of rent payments for land leased from the City for his amusement park and baseball stadium. Solman's lease on the land had run out in 1922, but he continued to operate his concessions. Solman had made a decision that in effect would see his ferry service operate until 1926, at which time the City could purchase it. But Solman apparently wanted a little monetary return for this venture.
Toronto City Council got embroiled in the weird piece of business, which almost culminated in one of the greatest scenes of incompetence ever set down in City history.
The York Street bridge incident went further, with some speculation that even if streetcars were allowed on the Island, the strong movement that would be raised for the use of automobiles there as well would be great, and thus would eventually destroy the Island as a pleasure park.
Noted Torontonian A.E. Burgess sent a statement to Mayor Thomas Foster in 1926 to the effect that Solman, in his capacity as president of the Toronto Ferry Company, would be prepared to "buy up" member of Council if he received more than $300,000 for his concessions in the ferry service. Burgess claimed in this statement that Solman had named two controllers—A.F. Hacker and D.C. MacGregor—as prime targets of this scheme. Burgess summed up his statement by asserting that Solman was trying to use the City's purse strings to buy a "bunch of junk".
On April 20, 1926, Council reacted by voting 26 to 1 for a judicial investigation into the matter, but no record of such an investigation exists.
Meanwhile, the ferry service continued to operate until April, 1926, with steadily decreasing patronage and poor equipment. The City purchased the fleet that year, paying $337,500 for the boats and the assorted buildings of Solman's Island empire.
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