The Carlu

The newly opened Auditorium was used for radio broadcasts on CKGW during holidays and special events. During Christmastime, one could hear the Cassavant organ being played by Frederick C. Silvester [1] or a May Day organ recital by Harold Frost.[2] It also played motion pictures accompanied by organ music (again broadcast over CKGW), for example showing Snow White in April 1931 with organ music by Kathleen Stokes.[3]

With the opening of the Toronto Eaton Centre in 1977, Eaton's College Street was closed to make way for the new Eaton's flagship store at Yonge Street and Dundas Street. The store was sold to new owners, and was rechristened College Park.

Although the new owners had originally agreed to preserve the Seventh Floor, they eventually determined that its preservation and restoration was not financially feasible, and they applied for a demolition permit to convert the entire floor to office space. After a lengthy court battle with the City of Toronto, the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled in 1986 that the 1975 designation of the building under the Ontario Heritage Act protected the Seventh Floor from demolition. Despite several changes in building ownership, and the efforts of local heritage advocates, the Seventh Floor was sealed off for 27 years and allowed to deteriorate; although it was protected by law, there was no legal obligation to use or restore it.

After restoration work was completed, the floor reopened as The Carlu event venue in 2003.

The Seventh Floor was eventually restored, after years of neglect, and was reopened in 2003 to much acclaim as "The Carlu" event venue. The restoration process began in 2001 with a $2,500,000 budget and no tenant. But later that year, new tenants Jeffry Roick and Mark Robert came into the picture with an increased budget. Scott Weir of ERA Architects and Hadi Khouzam of WZMH Architects led the restoration of the space.

The raked floors were removed from the auditorium to return the space's original movable seating. Other modifications had to be made to the auditorium so that modern acoustical equipment could be used. Even the original Lalique fountain, which had long been believed lost, was restored to its place at the centre of the Round Room. The large kitchen in the Carlu was replaced with two smaller ones in different areas of the seventh floor. This made room for a new entertainment space to be added, the Sky Room. The venue's new name was chosen to honour the architect that had originally designed the space.

Upgrades were also needed in the HVAC system. These updates were done without damaging or removing the original vents from the space. In 2008, The Clipper Rooms were re-envisioned and renovated by HGTV designer Sarah Richardson.[4]

Today, the space acts as a special events venue. Concerts, dinners, galas, weddings, fashion shows and the presentation of the annual Polaris Music Prize are among the events that take place at the Carlu.

The entire building at 444 Yonge St. is designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act since 1975. The City also holds a Heritage Easement Agreement, registered on January 10, 2012 as Instrument #: AT2915699, on the property.[6] The venue itself is listed as a National Historic Site of Canada since 1983.[7]