SPROULE, Wallace Coleman (1896- c. 1970), active in Toronto from c. 1933 to 1943 when he moved to Ottawa and continued to practise until c. 1970. Born in Markdale, Ont. on 16 October 1896, he was educated and trained in Ontario but moved to the Detroit area in 1919 and worked as an architectural draftsman in Highland Park until at least 1930. He returned to Canada after 1930 and opened an office in Toronto under his own name, and completed several residential commissions in the Forest Hill and Rosedale neighbourhoods of the city. In 1943 he left Toronto and opened a new office in Ottawa. His best known work there is The Empire Building, a six storey office block on O’Connor Street, and still standing as of 2016. Sproule was a member of both the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada and the Ontario Assoc. of Architects. No references to his work after 1970 have been found.
(works in Toronto)
FOREST HILL, large residence built by T.E. Robinson, builder, and sold to Thomas J. Medland, Old Forest Hill Road near Eglinton Avenue West, 1933 (C.R., xlvii, 13 Sept. 1933, 33)
FOREST HILL, large residence built by Thomas E. Robinson, builder, and sold to Michael A. Bernard, Old Forest Hill Road at Dewbourne Avenue, 1934 (Toronto Star, 6 April 1934, 16, illus., and 25 May 1934, 19, detailed descrip.)
ROSEDALE, residence for Norman G. Bethune, Rosedale Heights Drive near Errington Avenue, 1934 (Toronto Star, 31 Aug. 1934, 37)
CEDARVALE, residence for Clarence H. Trelford, builder, Strathearn Boulevard, west of Bathurst Street, 1934 (Toronto Star, 2 Nov. 1934, 11, illus.)
FOREST HILL, large residence for Lady Mary Gooderham, Forest Hill Road at Vesta Drive, 1935 (Toronto Star, 1 Nov. 1935, 45, descrip.)
LYTTON PARK, residence for Harry McRobb, Strathallen Boulevard at Mona Road, 1937 (Toronto Star, 22 Oct. 1937, 7, illus.)
(works in Ottawa)
BANK STREET, at Rosebery Avenue, addition of retail stores and apartments for Reuben Molet and Abraham Molet, 1947 (Ottawa Journal, 3 Feb. 1937, 12)
ST. MARGARET’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Montreal Road at Fourth Avenue, a new rectory for the church, 1948 (Ottawa Journal, 22 April 1948, 16, descrip.)
MacKAY MEMORIAL HALL, MacKay Street, 1951-52 (Ottawa Journal, 18 April 1952, 11, illus.)
MacKAY UNITED CHURCH, Dufferin Road at MacKay Street, addition of a new chancel and choir, 1954 (Ottawa Journal, 22 Nov. 1954, 13, illus. & descrip.)
EMPIRE BUILDING, O’Connor Street at Laurier Avenue West, a six storey office block, 1956-57 (Canadian Builder, v, Nov. 1955, 27, illus. & descrip.)
MOONEY’S BAY, a new park pavilion and Community Centre, 1959 (Ottawa Journal, 7 Feb. 1959, 4, illus. & descrip.)
OTTAWA HUMANE SOCIETY, Champagne Street, 1967-68 (Ottawa Journal, 8 July 1967, 16)