The Sculpture Garden is situated between two of the original "city buildings" built in the Georgian style of the early 1840s. This row between Church and Market Streets was a prominent part of the main street of the city as it developed west of the old town of York. Oak Hall, an outstanding commercial building with a cast iron front, was built here in the late 1870s. The site was cleared in 1938 for use as a parking lot and in 1981 was redesigned as a city park for the Toronto Sculpture Garden.