The Bronze Boar

The Bronze Boar is located in the Huron Street Village, situated in the historic downtown Toledo Warehouse District. It was built as a livery stable before the Civil War, and its work horses pulled wagons for an ice company in Toledo. The ice was cut on Lake Erie during the winter and stored in Toledo warehouses that were lined with foot-and-a-half-thick cork walls for ice deliveries during the summer months. Some of us still remember the ice man bringing in the block of ice for the ice box many years ago. The idea of the Bronze Boar began in 1990, when owner John Orr purchased a bronze boar at auction in Monroe, Michigan. This sculpture is signed by G. Connary and weighs approximately 200 hundred pounds. Its intricate detail captured John's attention and he had to have it, even though he had no idea what he was going to do with it. In 1999, when John began making plans to open a new tavern on Huron Street he decided to design it around his prized bronze boar. As you enter the front entrance you are greeted by the Bronze Boar that is displayed overhead. The entire renovation took six months starting with an empty brick shell of a building. Reinforced steel beams were installed to support the second floor. A staircase was built using 156 solid glass balusters to support the handrails. Care was taken to preserve the historical beauty of the brick walls. All new electric, plumbing and HVAC was installed along with electrostatic smoke filtering and smoke removal systems