Asthe empire of Lord Black of Crossharbour crumbled around him, an opportunity arose to reclaim one of Toronto’s most historic properties. In 2006 Morgan Meighen & Associates reportedly paid $14M for 10 Toronto Street. At $1,800 per square foot, the price was three times the going rate for office space in the city at the time. But when Jonathan Morgan cut the cheque, he knew it wouldn’t be the only one: the 156 year old building was in desperate need of repairs.

The non-public areas were quite shabby, despite Black’s reputation for enjoying the finer accoutrement of life. Water stains marked the walls, and the carpets were worn through to the floorboards. “Because the building was re-purposed many times, the interior had become fairly dysfunctional,” Morgan tells me.

Number 10 Toronto Street as it looked in 1867. Photo Credit: Toronto Archives

10Toronto Street was built over two years by Frederic Cumberland and Thomas Ridout in the Greek Revival style. It was an architectural movement that first began in the late 1700s as archaeologists were given greater access to Greece. Prior to the mid 18th Century, there was little direct knowledge of Ancient Greece, and access was difficult thanks largely to the Great Turkish War. So when architects of the 1750s traveled to the region, they quickly emulated the styles they saw. You can see it today in Covent Garden in Britain, the Brandenburg Gate in Germany, and elsewhere.

The building spent its first 20 years as a post office. It was even owned for a time by the Bank of Canada as its Toronto headquarters. In 1959 Argus Corp’s E.P. Taylor and Bud McDougald spared the building from the wrecking ball by purchasing it for $500,000 – about $3.65M in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars.

Conrad Black, left, hands boxes to chauffeur John Hillier, May 20, 2005

Someof the renovations performed by Argus remained, but 10 hadn’t changed significantly since the 1980s when the crews walked into the building in 2006 for demolition. Morgan’s primary desire was to make 10 a more pleasant work environment. The main floor vault was removed, as were several walls “to eliminate the rabbit warren effect,” he explained. The elevator has been replaced so it can service the basement, and the parking lot where Black was filmed by his own security cameras allegedly removing evidence of his crimes has been spruced-up with a garden. The building even sports a geothermal heat pump.

But perhaps one of the most stunning additions is a skylight that’s opens down to all three floors.

Mostof the Conrad Black era artifacts are gone, put out to auction to recoup some of the losses tied to the fallen baron’s pillaging of Hollinger Incorporated. When MMA acquired the building, it also took possession of the images of the building itself – including historical photographs. Two paintings of Massey-Harris farm machinery that once hung in the Argus-era offices were later purchased at auction.

Meantime, the construction crews had to be careful with their demolition. Asbestos and PCBs were expected – and found. What wasn’t expected was just how high the ceilings were on the main floor. After generations of renovations, crews pulled down the ceiling to reveal two more – the Argus Corporation’s ceiling and a vintage 1930s one, too, both with intact tiles and light fixtures and the asbestos and PCBs that go with that era.

What was also unexpected was a pair of unmarked voids discovered in the basement. They weren’t on any plans.

It’staken about three years to bring the 12,000 sq. foot Heritage Site up to 21st Century standards. Wiring up such an ancient building for the telecommunications needs of a modern day Bay Street firm while retaining its look must be a massive headache — and a remarkable cost. Morgan won’t how much the that second cheque was for, but insists that the budget was set before the recession started and he’s stuck to it.

The “Meighen” in Morgan Meighen & Associates is Colonel Max Meighen: the man who was ousted by Conrad Black in a backstabbing turn of events more than 30 years ago that also saw the fraudster trick a pair of wealthy widows into going along with his plan by appealing to their snobbish ways (“He has egg stains on his ties,” one widow was quoted as saying, “He becomes boisterous after a couple of drinks,” Black apparently replied). Meighen was the son of former prime minister Arthur Meighen, and Jonathan Morgan told the National Post at the time of the purchase that his family’s past association with the building was part of the reason for the purchase.

WhenI asked how it felt to reclaim 10 for the family, Morgan replied, “it depends on what you mean by family. Strictly speaking, we are not related to the Meighen family, although my sister, Vanessa, and I did grow up addressing Max Meighen as “Grampy“ and he did fulfill that role in many ways.” Morgan tells me that the primary motivation in acquiring the building wasn’t to reclaim it.

The move-in date is scheduled for November of this year.