Queen's Quay Terminal
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Queen's Quay Terminal is a condominium apartment, office and retail complex in the
Harbourfront HarbourFront is a waterfront district situated in southern Singapore. Whilst HarbourFront's boundaries are ambiguous, its location is roughly represented on the URA's Master Plan as a subzone called Maritime Square, located within the Bukit Me ...
neighbourhood in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, Canada. It was originally built in 1927 as a marine terminal with office, warehouse and cold-storage facilities. When shipping to Toronto declined in the 1960s and 1970s, the building was bought by the
Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
to be repurposed along with a section of the industrial waterfront. The Terminal Building itself was rebuilt in the 1980s with the addition of four floors of residential above the original facility, which was converted into retail and office uses. The cold storage wing was demolished and its plant building became The Power Plant gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre.


History

The building was originally a
cold storage Tim Wright, known professionally as CoLD SToRAGE (stylised as CoLD SToRAGE), is a Welsh video game music composer best known for his work on ''Wipeout 2097''. His compositions for the game drew on 1990s UK big beat and electronic music trends ...
warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...
facility, known as the Toronto Terminal Warehouse. It was built by Moores & Dunford of New York City. The first sod was turned in April 1926 and it opened in February 1927. The building was accessible to both CN and CP rail lines and Great Lakes steamships. It was the first poured concrete building in Canada and one of the largest buildings in the country. It had over of floor space. The main storage building was and the cold-storage wing was , both eight stories in height. The floors were designed overly strong to hold per square foot. The ice, heating, and power plants were in a separate building to the west. The building had a state-of-the-art ice plant, ventilation and sprinkler system, and rail sidings right into the building to eliminate trucking. The building was adorned with a neon "Terminal Warehouse" sign and each wing ("Dry Storage", "Cold Storage" and "Ice Plant") also had a rooftop neon sign. The ($ in dollars) structure was built on a site. The site was a former water lot land-filled by the
Toronto Harbour Commission The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built both ...
and was sold at $55,000 per acre. It was supported by 10,000 wooden piles driven through landfill to the bedrock of Toronto Harbour. 500 workers were employed in its construction. One worker, Duncan Murray, died during construction from a fall at the site. The building was used for offices, cold storage, bonded storage and light manufacturing. Among its tenants was the Minister of Customs & Excise, the Canadian Doughnut Company Ltd., Elizabeth Arden and Black and Decker. Its use as a marine terminal declined in the 1960s as container facilities opened in the east part of the harbour. Also, although the
St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...
had opened in 1959, shipping to Toronto declined as container shipping ports in Montreal and Halifax took over as ports of entry for international shipments to Canada. According to the renovation architect
Eberhard Zeidler Eberhard Zeidler may refer to: * Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler (1926–2022), German-Canadian architect * Eberhard Hermann Erich Zeidler (1940–2016), German mathematician {{hndis, Zeidler, Eberhard ...
, the building had fallen into disrepair, its roof and concrete in poor condition. Its clock tower had not worked in several years due to a rusted clock face. In 1972, the
Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
created the Harbourfront Corporation to repurpose of industrial harbourfront lands west of York Street for cultural, recreation, parkland and residential uses. In 1973, it purchased the Terminal Warehouse property for million from the Pittson Co. of New York City. Metro Toronto's Parks Commissioner Tommy Thompson called for the demolition of the building, calling it a "monstrosity on the waterfront". The southwest cold storage wing was demolished. The area is now Canada Square between Queen's Quay Terminal and the Harbourfront Centre Theatre. The terminal's plant building was converted to house
The Power Plant The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery is a Canadian public art gallery located at Harbourfront Centre in the heart of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Gallery is a registered Canadian charitable organization. Initially established in 1976 as ...
gallery and Harbourfront Centre Theatre. The neighbouring Direct Winters Building, built by early owners of Terminal Warehouse, became the main complex for Harbourfront's recreational activities. It is now known as
Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became a no ...
. A rail siding along the south facade of the building was converted to a public promenade that is also the location of the docks for sight-seeing boat cruises of Toronto Harbour. The remaining building was converted to a residential, office and retail complex in 1983. The million building rebuild was developed by
Olympia and York Olympia & York (also spelled as Olympia and York, abbreviated as O&Y) was a major international property development firm based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The firm built major financial office complexes including Canary Wharf in London, the W ...
who negotiated a 99-year lease with the government. The renovations by
Zeidler Roberts Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler, (January 11, 1926 – January 7, 2022) was a German-Canadian architect. He designed iconic structures and landmarks in Canada and internationally, most notably in Toronto. These included Ontario Place, the Toronto E ...
added four floors to the original eight-floor structure, for a total of of space with 72 condominium apartments. The renovation recoated the exterior with new concrete and new glass and added new
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
-styled entrances for the office and residential tenants. A feature of the renovation of the interior were several new atriums including the Arcade at the south-east corner, which reaches the full height of the building. The residential section has a garden with a bridge and a swimming pool on the roof. The roof itself has a green patina metal cladding that is similar to the roofs of the nearby Toronto Union Station and Royal York Hotel. The renovation added the million, 450-seat, Premiere Dance Theatre, which is rented by Harbourfront for per year. The stage has a sprung wood floor to be less harsh on dancers. In 2008, the Premiere Dance Theatre was renovated and reopened as the Fleck Dance Theatre. although the concept design was by Zeidler The renovation was awarded a
Governor General's Medal for Architecture The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
in 1986 and awarded the
Ontario Association of Architects The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is the regulatory body responsible for registering and licensing all architects legally entitled to practice the scope of architecture in the Province of Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in N ...
' Architectural Excellence Award in 1989. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' mentioned it as an example of successful revitalization efforts in Toronto during the 1980s. The property was purchased by
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of Commercial property, commercial real estate firm Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of Alternative investment, alternative asset management company Brookfield Corpor ...
in October 1997 for million. Brookfield renovated the retail floors in 2017. The building is now owned by Northam Canadian Commercial Property Fund and Industrial Alliance Financial Group and managed by Northam Realty Advisors Limited.


Facilities and tenants

The facility has of retail and office space on eight floors.
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Canada,
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's
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unit
Labatt Labatt Brewing Company Limited () is a Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brewery headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1847, Labatt is the largest brewer in Canada. In 1995, it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interb ...
and
PortsToronto The Toronto Port Authority (TPA), doing business as PortsToronto (PT), is a port authority that is responsible for the management of the Port of Toronto, including the International Marine Passenger Terminal, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airpor ...
have offices in the building. The first floor has a grocery store, some shops and several restaurants. The second floor has offices and the Pearl Harbourfront Restaurant. The third floor is home to the Fleck Dance Theatre. The Terminal formerly was the site of the Museum of Inuit Art. TorontoWaterFront10.jpg, The building is located directly on Toronto Harbour Queen's Quay Terminal Level 1 Shops 2023.jpg, Level 1 shops


See also

*
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto Harbourfront Centre is a cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became a no ...
*
Toronto waterfront The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River (Ontario), Rouge River in the east. History L ...
*
Queens Quay station Queens Quay is an underground tram, streetcar station of the Toronto streetcar system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Along with Spadina station and Union station (TTC), Union station, it is one of three stations open overnight to support Blue Night ...
*
Toronto Island ferries The Toronto Island ferries connect the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main city-operated ferry services carry passengers (all) and commercial vehicles (some) from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal ...
* Fulton House, Chicago,
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

*


External links

* * *
"Shopping excursions. (Day Trips)." Toronto Life 38.3 (March 2003): S115(3). CPI.Q (Canadian Periodicals). Thomson Gale. TORONTO PUBLIC LIBRARIES (CELPLO). 15 April 2007
{{coord, 43.63901, N, 79.380641, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Shopping malls in Toronto Shopping malls established in 1983 Clock towers in Canada Art Deco architecture in Canada Harbourfront, Toronto Eberhard Zeidler buildings 1926 establishments in Ontario Buildings and structures completed in 1926