Excerpt from www1.toronto.ca:
Constructed in the 1930s, the R.C. Harris is the largest of the City's four water treatment plants, providing an average of 400 million litres of safe drinking water to residents in Toronto and York Region each day. Dubbed 'The Palace of Purification', the R.C. Harris was commissioned by Roland Caldwell Harris, Toronto's first and longest-serving Public Works Commissioner, as a water showcase to highlight the mundane, but essential function needed to make cities possible. The R.C. Harris is the largest ensemble of Art Deco buildings in Toronto, providing an excellent example of how Art Deco style can integrate with Late Romanesque Revival and Modern Classical forms. The plant is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act as a National Historic Civil Engineering Site, and has been recognized as a Canadian Water Landmark by the American Water Works Association.
Excerpt from "A self-guided architectural tour":
Each gallery is over 110 metres long and provides access to 20 filters. The floors and base heaters use the same materials found in the rotunda. The filter operating tables still have their original Valternache and Rosata Clair facing and bronze doors. Each filter doorway has a Rosata Clair surround and a threshold of yet another type of marble-Endsley Pink Tennessee.
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