Today we take a visit over to the long vacant Top Hat Supper Club. Along with the Elmwood and the Metropole on Walker Road, the Top Hat hosted numerous famous performers over the years.
A few years back the Top Hat went under and closed its doors. Today, the building is used for its parking lot.
There has been talk of demolition with Burger King looking to relocate to the site, moving from its location on Goyeau by the tunnel. The move was recently defeated at city council.
So, instead of a drive through Burger King we have a trifecta of vacancy. The Armouries to the west in vacant with no plan, and the current Bus Depot to the north is scheduled to be vacant in the next month or so, leaving that stretch of University Ave. quite desolate.
Old Postcards and a bowl sit in the front window.
An old faded sign for pick-up customers.
In later years of operations, the Top Hat tried to start a sports bar called Tails, in an effort to capture new business and diversify.
Tails had its own entrance.
A wall of colourful 1960’s era glass bricks line the walls to the Tails entrance.
A Top Hat “TH” monogram set in the terrazzo floor of the Tails entrance.
With no immediate plan for the future the building remains vacant, another painful reminder that despite what the Mayor says, our downtown core is dying a very slow, and very painful death. Things will only continue to get worse as the downtown remains neglected.
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this is for Michelle who worked at the top hat... i too knew bill hart when i was small he was a friend of my dad's and of course the whole family. i kind of remember his wife claire, but he was also married (earlier?) and his wife was accidentally shot. does anyone have more information?
Just an update on Bill Hart. His first wife was Joyce and was the real love of her life. She was a beautiful lady and a total class act. She accidentally died in a shooting accident.
The Burger King is now there, as planned.
Going to see Bobby Vinton thurs. st the cascino-- Wish it was at the Top Hat
I appeared at the Top Hat for a number of years! Maybe some of you remember me ... Danny Holley. My years at the Top Hat were some of the best times of my life.