Haffa, James

HAFFA, James Harold Jr. (1894-1980) was the logical successor to the practice of Arthur W. Holmes, a prolific ecclesiastical architect who had dominated the field of Roman Catholic church design in Toronto and southern Ontario during the first three decades of the 20th C. Born in Toronto on 8 September 1894, Haffa articled with James A. Harvey (in 1913-14) and may have trained under his father James H. Haffa Sr., who is recorded as an architect in Toronto in the period of 1914-18. In 1921 he was listed as 'head designer' with John M. Jeffrey, but was absent from the city during the period of 1924-28. By 1930 he had joined John M. Lyle as a draftsman, remaining with him until late 1932. Haffa practiced under his own name from 1933 onward, and during a career lasting more than 40 years, he was said to have designed "....hundreds of Catholic churches and schools in Toronto and southern Ontario'.

Haffa was not a modernist; instead he drew upon the Gothic and Romanesque tradition in his designs for churches, rarely departing from the formal symmetry evident in virtually every ecclesiastical plan that he prepared. His treatment of the elevation employed his recognizable trademark '..a pair of choir windows bisected with the form of a large stone cross dominating the front facade'. In 1957 he was made a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Pius XII for a career devoted to ecclesiastical architecture. He possessed a total commitment to the design of the interiors for his commissions, and often donated the expenses incurred for all of the contents of the sanctuary, the altars, and statues to many of the churches for which he had prepared the plans. Haffa died in Toronto on 18 July 1980 (obituary Toronto Star, 22 July 1980, C 16; inf. Toronto Roman Catholic Archdiocese Archives)

James HAFFA (works in Toronto)

ST. MICHAEL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL, Bond Street, major alterations and improvements to interiors of the Cathedral, 1937 (inf. Toronto Archdiocese Archives)
OUR LADY OF SORROWS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, Bloor Street West near Royal York Road, 1940-41 (C.R., liii, 21 Aug. 1940, 19)
ST. CYRIL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH & RECTORY, Robinson Street, 1941 (inf. Toronto Archdiocese Archives)
DANFORTH BUS LINES, Danforth Avenue, east of Woodbine Avenue, passenger terminal and garage, 1942-43 (dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410, File 1057)
EAST YORK, Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church and Rectory, Cosburn Avenue at Donlands Avenue, 1947 (inf. Toronto Archdiocese Archives)
ST. VLADIMIR'S UKRANIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL, Bathurst Street near College Street, 1947 (C.R., lx, June 1947, 112)
ST. MICHAEL'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHOIR SCHOOL, Bond Street, 1948 (C.R., lxi, Feb. 1948, 168; Toronto Telegram, 27 Feb. 1948, 17, illus.)
NOTRE DAME ROMAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, Malvern Avenue at Kingston Road, 1948 (C.R., lxi, April 1948, 144)
DE LA SALLE OAKLANDS ROMAN CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, Avenue Road at Farnham Avenue, 1949 (Toronto b.p. 4001, 8 Aug. 1949)
NORTH YORK, Christian Brothers Roman Catholic Training School, Victoria Park Avenue near Rowena Drive, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, June 1950, 125)

James HAFFA (works elsewhere)

VICTORIA HARBOUR, ONT., St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Albert Street near Jephson Street, 1937; still standing in 2023 (inf. Toronto Archdiocese Archives)
VINELAND, ONT., Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, Maplegrove Road, and later renamed St. Helen's R.C. Church, 1938 (Globe & Mail [Toronto], 3 Oct. 1938, 4, descrip.)
BELLEVILLE, ONT., Roman Catholic Convent, Victoria Avenue at Pinnacle Street, 1941 (C.R., liv, 9 April 1941, 30)
KINGSTON, ONT., St. John's Roman Catholic Church and Rectory, Patrick Street at Quebec Street, 1941 (C.R., liv, 7 May 1941, 31)
KESWICK, ONT., Our Lady of the Lake Roman Catholic Church, Metro Road North, 1942; still standing in 2023 (inf. Toronto Archdiocese Archives)
HAMILTON, ONT., St. John The Baptist Roman Catholic Church, King Street East, a parish Hall for the church, 1942 (Mark Osbaldeston, Unbuilt Hamilton, 2016, 74, illus. & descrip.)
OSHAWA, ONT., Roman Catholic School for Holy Cross Parish, Simcoe Street, 1942 (C.R., lv, 11 Feb. 1942, 28)
HUMBERSTONE, ONT., Roman Catholic Church and School, 1942 (C.R., lv, 30 Sept. 1942, 25)
PETERBOROUGH, ONT., Roman Catholic High School, 1944-45 (C.R., xvii, 22 Nov. 1944, 29)
KITCHENER, ONT., Roman Catholic School for the East Ward, on East Avenue, 1947 (Kitchener Daily Record, 11 Jan 1947, 3)
OSHAWA, ONT., Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, Simcoe Street South, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, March 1950, 136)
OTONABEE, ONT., Our Lady of Assumption Roman Catholic Church, Keene Road near Assumption Road, 1950; still standing in 2023 (E. Boland, History of the Diocese of Peterborough 1882-1975, 221-3, illus.)

COMPETITIONS

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT HOUSING COMPETITION, 1936. A total of 109 designs were sent in for this provincial competition, and Haffa received 3rd Prize in the Class B Division for his plans (Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, 31 July 1936, 6). The overall winner in the Class B Category was William Ralston of Toronto