Harold Kaplan (architect)

Harold Kaplan (10 September 1895 – 1 April 1973) was a Canadian architect.

Harold Kaplan
Kaplan, on the right, c. 1952
Born(1895-09-10)10 September 1895
Bucharest, Romania
Died1 April 1973(1973-04-01) (aged 77)
Palm Beach, Florida, United States
NationalityCanadian
OccupationArchitect

Biography

Born 10 September 1895, in Bucharest, Romania,[1] he moved to London at the age of three with his widowed mother, Tillie Hohan. In 1902, they moved to Toronto, and then his mother married Frank Kaplan. During his teenage years, he stayed for a while in Philadelphia with one of his relatives. After returning to Toronto, Kaplan went to Toronto Technical School where he studied architecture and building construction. He married Dorothy Spain in 1923.[1] In 1919–20, he worked at Page & Warrington. In 1922, he founded Kaplan & Sprachman with Abraham Sprachman, which is mostly recognized for designing many movie theaters across Canada from the 1920s to the 1950s, and also for designing synagogues and buildings for the Jewish communities.[2][3]

His work was part of the architecture event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[3] The Primrose Club commissioned Kaplan & Sprachman for its new building in Toronto in 1959. [4] The firm designed the historic Anshei Minsk Synagogue, the Shaarei Shomayim synagogue, both in Toronto, Beth Israel Synagogue in Edmonton, Beth Israel in Vancouver, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, the new Mount Sinai Hospital, Oakdale Golf & Country Club and numerous other synagogues and institutions throughout the country. [5][1]

Kaplan & Sprachman designed the Eglinton Theatre in Toronto and the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver which were both designated National Historic Sites by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.[6][7][8] Overall, they designed more than 70 theaters which were built across Canada between the late 1920s and the early 1950s.[7]

References
  1. "Harold S. Kaplan fonds". Ontario Jewish Archives. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  2. "Mandel Sprachman Fonds". toronto.ca. 23 November 2017.
  3. "Harold Kaplan". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  4. "Read the Plaque: Primrose Club". Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. "Architects' records given to Ontario Jewish Archives". Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  6. "Eglinton Theatre declared National Historic Site". 18 November 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. "Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada: Harold Solomon Kaplan". Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. "Vogue Theatre National Historic Site of Canada". Retrieved 24 August 2021.
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