Part 7/9:
In 1937, the government officially closed Chorley Park as the official residence of Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor. Its contents were auctioned off, and the grand palace was repurposed for various uses over the years. During World War II, it served as a military hospital, and in the 1950s, it was a temporary home for Hungarian refugees fleeing the 1956 uprising.
By this time, the once-glorious house was deteriorating, with maintenance costs mounting and little political will to preserve the site. In 1960, the City of Toronto purchased the property, and plans for a public park began to take shape. The following year, Chorley Park was demolished, making way for a new community space—today’s Chorley Park greenbelt.