On Berkeley Street, just north of Dundas, the façade of an old building stands propped up by huge structural beams

On Berkeley Street, just north of Dundas, the façade of an old building stands propped up by huge structural beams. What’s its story?—Erin Murray, Bloor West Village

Lord Dufferin Jr. & Sr. (est. 1876) is one of the oldest public schools in the city. In 1926, the original wood-frame building was condemned as a fire trap and replaced by a turreted brick-and-stone monolith of learning. That sturdy structure survived until 1999, when the school board figured it would be cheaper to tear it down and rebuild next door than to perform much-needed renovations. Surprisingly, given the city’s penchant for destroying all things historical, they saved a section of the old wall—the façade you see today—with plans to use it to front a new swimming pool complex. (The demolished building boasted the oldest pool in a Toronto public school.) Alas, funding woes have left the project indefinitely suspended—so to speak.