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Heritage

Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. — the Stavro years

Closed sold 2003

Sport & entertainment · Toronto · Greater Toronto Area

The boy who sorted fruit on Queen Street ended up owning the Toronto Maple Leafs. Steve Stavro joined the Maple Leaf Gardens board in 1981, took the chair in 1991 after Harold Ballard's death, won control in 1994, and as chairman of what became Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment drove the construction of the Air Canada Centre, opened in 1999. He sold his stake in 2003.

He never let anyone forget where the story started: his tomb in Mount Pleasant Cemetery is crowned by a statue of Alexander the Great on horseback.

Details

Founded
chairman 1991; controlling owner 1994
People
Steve Stavro

Sources (2)

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Stavro
  2. https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/steve-stavro-former-owner-of-maple-leafs-and-knob-hill-farms-dies-at-78-1.599953

  • Majestic Restaurant

    Restaurant · Hamilton

    Closed 1969 (expropriated for Jackson Square)

    Dan Kuzoff, a Macedonian immigrant, opened the Majestic in downtown Hamilton in 1933 and built it into a 150-to-200-seat room where mayors — Lloyd Jackson, Vic...

    Macedonian connection: Founded by Dan Kuzoff, a Macedonian immigrant, per Hamilton Public Library's Local History & Archives.

    Sources: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hpllocalhistory/14001037617/

  • Mobilicity

    Wireless carrier · Toronto

    Closed sold to Rogers, 2015

    Bitove's run at the wireless oligopoly: Mobilicity launched in 2010 as a discount carrier in Canada's biggest cities and was sold to Rogers Communications in 20...

    Macedonian connection: The discount wireless carrier founded by John Bitove Jr.

    Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bitove

  • Montecito Restaurant

    Restaurant · Toronto (Entertainment District)

    Closed 2020s

    The Bitove brothers' Entertainment District restaurant, opened with filmmaker Ivan Reitman, carried the family's hospitality name into Toronto's premiere-night...

    Macedonian connection: The Bitove brothers' Adelaide Street restaurant, which sent Mother's Day lunch to Canadian Macedonian Place's residents during the pandemic.

    Sources: https://canadianmacedonianplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/CMP-Zdravets-Newsletter_2022.pdf

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