Category Archives: 2005 News

Charity’s operating expenses should be audited, says critic

The Kiwanis Club has operated Casa Loma on behalf of the city since 1937, but some residents and city officials are now expressing doubt over the charity’s ability to manage the well-known landmark.

The castle is one of the city’s top tourist attractions, pulling in $5.6 million last year. The expenses of running and maintaining the castle were $4.33 million. However, those expenses weren’t outlined in a recent city report.

That’s part of the problem, said Trelawny Howell, the great-grandniece of Sir Henry Pellatt, the man who originally built and owned the castle.

“It (Kiwanis) should be audited,” she said.

Last year, Casa Loma had a net revenue of $1.26 million, of which the city received 77 percent and the remaining 23 percent went to Kiwanis.

Because the castle has fallen into disrepair over the years, the city recently approved spending $20 million on its restoration, which is now half completed.

“Why

Dusty effort to restore tourist magnet

Casa Loma long a victim of local neglect

A man's home is his castle; in Sir Henry Pellatt's case, it was Casa Loma.

Built between 1911 and 1914, it was ó and still is ó the grandest residence ever constructed in Canada. With 98 rooms, it was conceived on a scale that dwarfed everything else around it.

These days Casa Loma is one of Toronto's most popular tourist attractions. Since the city took over Pellatt's castle for non-payment of taxes and handed it over the Kiwanis Club in 1936, little has changed at the "house on the hill" above Spadina Rd. Now people are beginning to wonder if the Kiwanis Club is the best choice to run Casa Loma. The well-intentioned service club uses its portion of the profit to support charitable projects, but many feel that it has failed to take advantage of the place.Last year a special committee was