Leslie Street Spit Quonset Hut

In today’s Toronto Star Ideas section I wrote about the Quonset Hut found half way out the Leslie Street Spit. It’s a neat architectural artifact, and not many are left in these parts.

On a recent visit, a fierce wind blew from the east and huge waves from Lake Ontario crashed against nearby rocks, mercilessly spraying the building, which takes its name from Quonset Point, R.I., where the first such hut was commissioned almost 70 years ago.

By the front door, in between the brush, a feral Tabby cat guarded the entrance with a series of long meows, while a loose board covering one of the windows banged in the wind, as if this was a scene in a low-budget horror film.

Inside, a red bench from an old van sits upright, awaiting any visitor who gets past the guard cat. 

Quonset Huts have an interesting history — perhaps helping win the war — but also in the way they became a ubiquitous part of the North American landscape. As well, the endnote to this story explains the Quonset’s connection to an earlier structure, the Nissen Hut, with roots that go back to Kingston Ontario at the turn of the last century.

Photo by Richard Lautens, Toronto Star.