private genre fitness health clubs founded 1913 founder william oliphant sr. headquarters toronto ontario canada number of locations 1 may 2012 key people buster oliphant d. 1996 website www.oliphantsgym.com oliphant s gym also known as oliphant s academy of physical culture is a historic gym in toronto ontario canada . founded in 1913 by william oliphant sr. it is claimed to be one of the oldest continually operating gyms in north america . run by william oliphant sr. s son buster oliphant jr. until the heir s death in 1996 the gym has a long history in toronto s annex neighbourhood and its character has been preserved through the decades . since 1996 the gym has been operated by its members on a non profit and volunteer basis . contents 1 history 2 notable alumni 3 references 4 external links history edit oliphant s gym was founded in 1913 as oliphant s academy of physical culture and operated out of the basement of st. andrew s church in toronto s downtown area . beginning with its founder the gym established a tradition of contributing to the advancement of weight lifting and body building . 1 it has operated at its current dupont street location in toronto s annex neighbourhood since the 1980s . 2 the gym celebrated its 100th anniversary on november 24 2013 . 3 in celebration of the anniversary a motion was made to the toronto and east york community council to rename a street as william oliphant lane to honor the gym s founder william oliphant sr. 4 the motion was supported by toronto city councillor for ward 20 adam vaughan . 5 notable alumni edit red kelly former toronto maple leafs player jim mckenny former toronto maple leafs player jimmy fowler former toronto maple leafs player 2 gus bodnar former toronto maple leafs player 2 ron ellis former toronto maple leafs player 2 hugh bolton former toronto maple leafs player 2 references edit smith wilbur j june 1946 . the most muscular physique in america contest . strength & health 12 . retrieved 11 january 2014 . a b c d e history of oliphant s gym government of toronto canada . seaton village residents association svra meeting minutes pdf . 10 october 2013 . retrieved 12 january 2014 . proposed naming of laneway located north of bloor street west and extending east and west between manning avenue and euclid avenue toronto and east york community council te28 .80 november 19 2013 te28 .80 letter from councillor vaughan november 15 2013 external links edit toronto portal official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title oliphant % 27s gym & oldid 714130415 categories health clubs in canadagymsorganizations established in 1913privately held companies of canada1913 establishments in ontario navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 7 april 2016 at 20 42 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view