Toad's Place

**UPDATE: Eric Benninghoff '18 wrote a feature in the Yale Daily News chronicling Toad's Place's social and business history.**

Toad’s Place, a legendary concert venue, has drawn crowds for more than three decades with both local and up-and-coming bands, as well as big names such as Bob Dylan, The Black Crowes, David Bowie, Radiohead – and even the Rolling Stones, who played a surprise concert in 1989 (Wikipedia). This simple brick structure, built for industrial and commercial uses (between 1901 and 1918), has probably never made much of an impression with its architecture. Today, other than from the side alley, one hardly notices the building itself behind the large green awning. The 1886 Sanborn fire insurance map indicates that there once was a tiny, wooden icehouse at the back of the lot. In the 1901 Sanborn map the property is empty. The first indication of more substantial use of this lot can be found in the 1918 New Haven directory, which lists the tenants as Jacob Zantzer (a fireman – the only resident ever listed), Production Cutter & Tool Co and Kligerman J. Furniture. The 1924 Sanborn map reflects this split, indicating a one-story brick building with four narrow spaces on the street front and a larger space in the back. The space at the back is marked as “auto repair”. The 1920 directory lists one tenant: Connecticut Bearing co. (ball bearings). In 1930 the directory lists Sterling Grille in number 298 (the second space from north). This is the first restaurant in this location. The same year Yale Cooperative Corp. Books appears in number 300, the space furthest north. A 1931 building permit indicates that a second floor is being added to the building. This may be the point when the building reached its current shape. The 1940 directory lists Merwin's Art Shop (with the second floor vacant) in number 294 (the southern edge) and Yale Cooperative Sporting Goods (#296). The 1950 directory lists a vacant store (#294) and Yale Coop Sporting goods (#296). In 1960 Yale Coop Sporting goods is listed in number 300. In 1965 a building permit is received for erecting a sign that says "Prexy's The Hamburger With The College Education". In 1970 Hungry Charley's receives a building permit to erect metal sign. People who studied at Yale around those days remember this simple restaurant as ‘anti-establishment alternative’ to the private club, Mory’s, next door. A seed for the current use was planted in 1974, when Michael Spoerndle, formerly a student at the Culinary institute of America (source: Wikipedia), establishes a French and Italian restaurant at number 294. In a quote in New Haven Register (January 1 1995, page A1) Spoerndle explains the origin of the name of this restaurant: "Back in Cleveland, "toad" was used to describe someone who never left the house." In 1967 Spoerndle receives a building permit to turn the whole building into a concert venue. Several minor alterations to the building follow, but the building itself and its use have stayed essentially the same since that date. In 2009 Toad’s place was planning to establish a roof terrace – a project that Yale opposed vehemently (Yale Daily News, September 9, 2009). This plan has not been realized to date (February 2011). Yale was listed as the owner of this building in the 1960s (for example a building permit for an exit form the second floor in 1968). At some point Yale gave the property up and EWP Realty LLC has owned it since 2003. Note: The property is currently (in 2015) listed as 300 York Street. In the past the property was split into much narrower street fronts and the addresses span from 294 to 300.