TORONTO’s Carlu is named after its original designer/architect, Jacques Carlu, whose most famous work is the Palais de Chaillot near the Eiffel Tower from 1937’s Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. The Carlu is one of TORONTO’s finest examples of Art Moderne. It occupies the seventh floor of College Park – formerly an Eatons department store – which was supposed to be a skyscraper, but got stunted by the Great Depression.
The Carlu is the reincarnated Eaton Auditorium, one of the few public performance venues in 1930’s TORONTO. The Canadian Opera Company, National Ballet, Eaton Operatic Society, and celebrities of all descriptions performed on its stage.
CBC used the auditorium for live radio broadcasts; Glenn Gould regularly made recordings here.
After years of neglect and threat of demolition, the Round Room (with its long-lost Lalique Fountain) has survived; as has the foyer designed in the style of ocean liners of the thirties; and the Clipper Rooms, renovated in 2008.<PHOTOS – Colin Rose, wikipedia; and <www.stipcophoto.com>
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Toronto Savvy 
Thank you for this brief history and the stunning photos. I well remember attending the Eaton Auditorium in the 1960’s for, among other events, chamber concerts. The entire 7th floor lay derelict for quite a while and it was destined for offices! We are so lucky that Carlu’s masterpiece – Lalique fountain! – was preserved and restored. Pity that it took a private effort to do this. It really should have been done by the City. Toronto has not historically preserved or honored its past architecture.
Eaton’s in Montreal had a 9th floor restaurant when I was a kid. Another Art Deco marvel, long since closed. May still be there, unused. I’ve never heard of it being repurposed.