TORONTO – Anyone with a sweet tooth will be fascinated to learn about Canada’s oldest sugar refining company during a free visit to the Redpath Sugar Museum.
The museum, housed within the hulking refinery on the Toronto waterfront, is chock-full of exhibits on the refining of sugar and making of sugar products. Sugar has been around for centuries. It was imported in Canada’s early days, but John Redpath’s creation of the refinery made it widely available and gave him a monopoly.
Curator Richard Feltoe, who’s been welcoming school groups and independent visitors alike for decades, tailors his tours to everyone’s interests with facts and figures galore on manufacturing, production and nutrition.
After a 15-minute video and a question-and-answer session, visitors can wander through the space. Or he’ll guide school classes through the museum, outlining the story of Redpath Sugar and the family behind the refinery.
Redpath Sugar was started by John Redpath, a stonemason who immigrated from Scotland to Montreal and became one of the largest building contractors in Canada.
Before he got going with the sugar business at age 57 in 1854, he was involved in the building of Montreal’s General Hospital, Notre-Dame Basilica and parts of McGill University.
But it was the work he did on a transportation network that included the Lachine and Rideau canals that opened up the interior of Canada.
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The Redpath Sugar factory was located on the banks of the Lachine. But by 1900, the canal was too narrow to accommodate ocean-going vessels.
“In 1940, they closed that canal down entirely so it meant that unloading the sugar had to be done at the river and trucks drove it to the factory,” Feltoe explains.
“They began looking for an alternate facility and picked the Toronto waterfront which was being infilled at that time. The plant was constructed between 1957 to 1959 to coincide with the opening of St. Lawrence Seaway, which allowed large ocean-going vessels to reach Toronto. And that’s why we are here today.”
The Queen officially opened the Toronto refinery on June 29, 1959. The pen she used to sign the guestbook is on display and usually captures kids’ attention, Feltoe says, as does a letter written by Grace Wood accepting an offer of marriage from Peter Redpath. Her words criss-cross the same piece of paper three times in different directions.
“That was the standard way of letter-writing technique during the day. And when I talk to the kids about that they are absolutely fascinated, especially when you deal with Twitter and stuff like that where you have to condense your information,” Feltoe said. “This is your original condensing for communications by mail.”
What was once the most up-to-date technology is also on view, from the clock that workers punched in on to a huge vacuum suction pump from the mid-19th century. It weighs seven-and-a-half tons while the ones of today are the size of a suitcase, Feltoe notes.
Sugar Beach, a public park east of the factory, is on land that used to be leased from the city by Redpath and was where the company stored raw sugar over the winter when the St. Lawrence Seaway was closed, says Nancy Gavin, manager of brand development for Redpath.
The beach is an excellent vantage point from which to watch huge vessels carrying raw sugar from the Caribbean get unloaded.
“People are amazed by that because it’s kind of an exotic thing for people to see, that you don’t normally see in a downtown location like this,” Gavin adds, noting that people are also surprised to learn that a teaspoon (five millilitres) of sugar contains only 15 calories.
Redpath is the title sponsor for the Baking and Sweets Show running at Toronto’s International Centre Sept. 28-30. Home bakers can enter their prized recipes into a contest while professionals can show off their creativity. Entries are due Sept. 7. Visithttp://canadasbakingandsweetsshow.com/cafor details.
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If You Go …
Redpath Sugar Museum, 95 Queen’s Quay E., Toronto, 416-933-8341, redpathsugar.com. It’s open Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visitors should call to check accessibility due to educational bookings and refinery operating activities.
The refinery can be reached by transit or it’s about a 10-minute walk from Union Station. There’s public parking nearby.
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