DUERR, Herbert George (1891-1966) was born in Pittsburgh, Penn. on 27 August 1891 and attended night classes in applied design at Carnegie Technical Inst. Much of his training occured in the Pittsburgh office of Prack & Perrine, specialists in industrial architecture in the U.S.A. and Canada. He moved to Hamilton, Ont. in 1911 and represented their office in that city until 1920 when he relocated to Toronto and formed a partnership with B. Kingston Hall (see list of works under Hall & Duerr). He opened his own office in late 1926 and by the mid-1930's had adopted a progressive modernist aesthetic for his work which attracted the attention of the Famous Players theatre chain. They hired him as their corporate architect to design many of their movie theatres in towns and cities across Ontario. Duerr died in Toronto on 3 March 1966 (death notice in the Globe & Mail, 4 March 1966, 47; inf. from Ont. Association of Architects). A photographic portrait of H.G. Duerr was published in the Hamilton Spectator, 27 Sept. 1924, 29.
H.G. DUERR (works in Toronto)
THE MAJOR THEATRE, Rogers Road near Rosethorn Avenue, 1927 (C.R., xl, 8 Dec. 1926, 51; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxiii, Nov. 1946, 32, illus. in advert.)
MOUNT DENNIS MOVIE THEATRE, Weston Road near Bartonville Avenue, 1927 (Weston Times & Guide, 16 March 1927, 1, illus. & detailed descrip.; and 9 Nov. 1927, 1, detailed descrip.; and 23 Nov. 1927, 3)
NEW TORONTO, theatre for Columbia Pictures, Lakeshore Boulevard West at 4th Street, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 14 Aug. 1929, 65)
HOLLYWOOD THEATRE, Yonge Street near Heath Street East, 1930; major addition, 1946 (Telegram [Toronto], 8 April 1930, 14, descrip.; and 15 April 1930, 3, illus.; Const., xxiv, March 1931, 93-4, 105, illus. & descrip.; Toronto b.p. 88933, 15 April 1946; Financial Post [Toronto], 24 May 1947, 3, descrip.)
F.C. BURROUGHS FURNITURE STORE, Yonge Street near Castlefield Avenue, 1930 (Telegram [Toronto], 22 April 1930, 13, descrip.; and 14 May 1930, 16, illus.)
GAS ACCUMULATOR CO., Jarvis Street near Richmond Street, factory, 1930 (Toronto Star, 20 June 1930, 26)
ELLIS HOSIERY CO. & UNITED CIGAR STORE, Queen Street East at Lee Avenue, 1930 (Toronto Star, 19 Sept. 1930, 33)
BATHURST STREET, near King Street West, warehouse for David E. Bennett, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 8 Oct. 1930, 63)
FOREST MANOR APARTMENTS, Spadina Road at Lonsdale Road, in Forest Hill, a 4 storey apartment block, 1930 (Toronto Star, 30 May 1930, 33, descrip.; and 18 July 1930, 25; and 17 Oct. 1930, 37)
VILLAGE THEATRE, Spadina Road at Lonsdale Road, Forest Hill, for Famous Players Ltd., 1936 (Toronto Star, 28 Oct. 1935, 8, illus., and 24 April 1936, 6, descrip.; C.R., vol. 50, 8 Jan. 1936, 24-5, t.c.)
CREED'S FUR STORAGE LTD., Davenport Road at Bedford Road, 1937; addition, 1944-45 (Toronto Star, 19 Feb. 1937, 30; R.A.I.C. Journal, xiv, Aug. 1937, 161, illus.; Toronto b.p. 82569, 22 Dec. 1944)
FILM EXCHANGE BUILDING, Carlton Street at Church Street, for the Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution Co., 1945 (R.A.I.C. Journal, xxiii, May 1946, 58, illus. in advert.)
NORTH YORK, ONT., theatre for the Theatre Holding Corp., Yonge Street at Norton Avenue, 1947 (C.R., lx, Feb. 1947, 148)
UKRANIAN NATIONAL FEDERATION, College Street, near Ossington Avenue, community hall, 1948 (C.R., lxi, Sept. 1948, 132)
DONLANDS THEATRE, Donlands Avenue at O'Connor Drive, 1948 (Toronto Star, 19 Nov. 1948, 38, illus. in advert., with list of contractors and architect; inf. Wayne Reeves, Toronto)
H.G. DUERR (works elsewhere)
NIPIGON, ONT., club house for the Nipigon Hunting & Fishing Club on the Nipigon River near Nipigon Bay, 1926 (Toronto Star, 4 May 1926, 2, descrip.; C.R., xl, 12 May 1926, 52; Const., xix, May 1926, 167)
HAMILTON, ONT., Kenmore Theatre, King Street West, between Pearl Street and Locke Street, 1927 (Hamilton Spectator, 22 Oct. 1927, 11, illus.)
SAULT STE. MARIE, ONT., Orpheum Theatre, Queen Street East near Bell Avenue, major interior renovations and alterations, with new exterior street canopy, 1927; demol. c. 2005 (Sault Daily Star, 24 Dec. 1927, 6, descrip. in advert.)
PRESTON, ONT., factory for Preston Electric Porcelain Co., Centre Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 4 Jan. 1928, 48, t.c.)
ST. THOMAS, ONT., Famous Players Theatre, Talbot Street, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 1 April 1931, 60)
LONDON, ONT., department store, Dundas Street, 1932 (C.R., xlvi,1 June 1932, 42)
OWEN SOUND, ONT., Savoy Theatre, 2nd Avenue East, 1936, extensive alterations and improvements to the old Classic Theater, for Chris Georgas, originally designed in 1920 by Hall & Duerr Architects (Owen Sound Daily Sun-Times, 8 Aug. 1936, 5, descrip.)
(with C. D. Goodman) HULL, QUE., Cinema Cartier, for Famous Players Ltd., Main Street near Leduc Street, 1936-37 (Ottawa Journal, 24 Aug. 1936, 7, descrip.; C.R., vol. 50, 17 June 1936, 32; Le Droit [Ottawa], 25 March 1937, 6-9, illus. & descrip.)
WATERLOO, ONT., Star Theatre, for William Dineen, King Street North, 1936-37 (Kitchener Daily Record, 31 July 1936, 3; C.R., vol. 50, 6 Jan. 1937, 29; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 260, illus. & descrip.)
GALT, ONT., theatre for Famous Players Ltd., Main Street, 1937 (C.R., vol. 50, 8 Sept. 1937, 31)
VAL D'OR, QUE., theatre, 1938 (C.R., li, 12 Jan. 1938, 29)
LARDER LAKE, ONT., Capitol Theatre, Government Road at Godfrey Street, with stores and apartments, 1938 (C.R., li, 16 Feb. 1938, 29)
GALT, ONT., alterations to the Royal Theatre, 1938 (C.R., li, 21 Sept. 1938, 25)
SYDNEY, N.S., theatre for D.P. MacDonald, 1938 (Canadian Moving Picture Digest [Toronto], 8 Oct. 1938, 9)
WELLAND, ONT., theatre, East Main Street, 1938-39 (C.R., li, 23 Nov. 1938, 28)
PARRY SOUND, ONT., theatre for Brock Theatre Co., James Street, 1939 (C.R., lii, 1 Feb. 1939, 33)
SUDBURY, ONT., Regent Theatre, Elm Street East, 1938-39 (C.R., lii, 15 Feb. 1939, 28, t.c.; North Bay Nugget, 3 April 1939, 9; Canadian Moving Picture Digest [Toronto], 16 Sept. 1939, 7, descrip.)
TILLSONBURG, ONT., theatre for Premier Operating Corp., West Broadway Street, 1939 (Brantford Expositor, 4 Jan. 1939, 6; C.R., lii, 5 April 1939, 39)
KINGSTON, ONT., Odeon Theatre, Princess Street, 1941 (C.R., liv, 26 Feb. 1941, 114, t.c.)
SOUTH PORCUPINE, ONT., theatre for Samuel Fishman and M. Karten, 1941 (C.R., liv, 14 May 1941, 30, t.c.)
VIRGINATOWN, ONT., theatre for Samuel Korman, 1941 (C.R., liv, 16 July 1941, 31)
OSHAWA, ONT., meeting hall for the Labour Temple, Simcoe Street North, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, May 1950, 140)