PEARSE, William Worth (1874-1947) was Chief Architect for the City of Toronto from May 1914 until November 1919. In this position he designed several buildings both in Toronto and in York County and as Superintendent of Buildings for Toronto he was instrumental in encouraging the introduction of reinforced concrete in high rise building construction. Born at Toronto in 1872 he attended Wellesley Public School and Jarvis Collegiate. He began an architectural apprenticeship with Kennedy & Holland in Toronto in late 1887 and remained with them for three years before joining the office of William G. Storm in early 1890. Upon the death of Storm in August 1892 Pearse left for New York City to enroll in engineering courses at Cooper Union where he obtained both a graduate and post-graduate degree in civil engineering. He was Chief Engineer for John J. Radley Steel Construction Co. in New York and in this capacity he supervised the structural design and construction of several New York City landmarks designed by prominent architects including the 71st Regiment Building, the Broadway Theatre and the Harlem Auditorium. Pearse returned to Toronto in early 1914 and succeeded Robert McCallum as City Architect. In late 1919 he resigned from this position and joined the Toronto Board of Education as business administrator and secretary treasurer, although he maintained his membership in the Ontario Association of Architects until he retired in 1934. He died in Toronto on 11 December 1947 (obituary in The Telegram [Toronto], 12 Dec. 1947, 2; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 12 Dec. 1947, 2; biography and port. in Who's Who and Why in Canada, 1914, 739; C.R., xxviii, 19 Aug. 1914, 1061-62; biography in J. Middleton, The Municipality of Toronto, 1923, iii, 268)
CITY OF TORONTO HIGH LEVEL PUMPING STATION, Poplar Plains Road at Cottingham Street, major addition of the Steam Pump & Boiler Room Building, 1915 (dwgs. City of Toronto - Engineering & Const. Div.; inf. Wayne Reeves, Toronto)
RICHMOND HILL, ONT., barn at the Langstaff Jail Farm, Yonge Street, 1917 (Toronto b.p. 10517, 30 Dec. 1916)
CONCORD, ONT., residential cottages at the Women's Industrial Farm, 1917 (Toronto b.p. 10518, 30 Dec. 1916)
FIRE HALL NO. 25, Hendrick Street at St. Clair Avenue West, 1917 (Toronto b.p. 10521, 30 Dec. 1916)
CITY OF TORONTO INCINERATOR BUILDING, Don Roadway at Dundas Street East, 1917 (Toronto b.p. 10524, 30 Dec. 1916)
CITY OF TORONTO STREET CLEANING DEPT., offices and horse stables, Coxwell Avenue, south of Hanson Avenue, adjacent to C.N.R. viaduct and tracks, 1918 (inf. from Toronto Historical Board)