Queen's Quay Terminal
{{Infobox building
|former_names = {{plainlist|
- Canadian Rail and Harbour Terminals Warehouse
- Toronto Terminal Warehouse
}}
|image = Queens Quay Terminal 2009.jpg
|address = 207 Queen's Quay West
|location_city = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|completion_date = 1927
|architecture_firm = Moores & Dunford
|renovation_date = June 23, 1983
|ren_architect = Zeidler Roberts Partnership
|ren_cost = {{CAD|60}} million
|ren_awards = {{plainlist|
- 1986- Governor General's Medal for Architecture
- 1989- OAA Architectural Excellence Award
}}
|building_type = Mixed-use residential and commercial
|top_floor =
|owner = {{plainlist|
- Northam Canadian Commercial Property Fund (50%)
- Industrial Alliance Financial Group (50%)
}}
|height = {{convert|43|m|ft}}
|main_contractor = Park-Lap Inc.
|groundbreaking_date = April 6, 1926
|diameter = {{convert|500|x|210|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}
}}
Queen's Quay Terminal is a condominium apartment, office and retail complex in the Harbourfront neighbourhood in Toronto, 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 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
File:Terminal Warehouse 1929.jpg
The building was originally a cold storage warehouse 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{{cite news |work=The Globe and Mail |title=First Sod is Turned on Site of $7,000,000 Terminal Warehouse |date=April 7, 1926 |page=9}} and it opened in February 1927. The building was accessible to both CN and CP rail lines and Great Lakes steamships.{{cite news |work=The Globe and Mail |title=Toronto's Mammoth Terminal Warehouse Provides Improved Facilities for Reception, Storage and Distribution of Merchandise |date=December 2, 1926 |page=21}} It was the first poured concrete building in Canada and one of the largest buildings in the country. It had over {{convert|1000000|sqft|m2}} of floor space.{{cite news |work=The Globe and Mail |title=Largest Terminal Warehouse in Canada Nears Completion |date=December 2, 1926 |page=21}} The main storage building was {{convert|420|x|200|ft|m}} and the cold-storage wing was {{convert|140|x|220|ft|m}}, both eight stories in height.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Toronto Rail and Harbor Terminals Warehouse |page=2 |date=March 17, 1926}} The floors were designed overly strong to hold {{Convert|800|lbs|kg}} per square foot. The ice, heating, and power plants were in a separate building to the west. The building had a state-of-the-art ice plant, ventilation and sprinkler system, and rail sidings right into the building to eliminate trucking. The building was adorned with a neon "Terminal Warehouse" sign and each wing ("Dry Storage", "Cold Storage" and "Ice Plant") also had a rooftop neon sign.
The {{CAD|7 million|link=yes}} (${{formatprice|{{Inflation|CA|7000000|1927}}}} in {{Inflation-year|CA}} dollars){{inflation-fn|CA}} structure was built on a {{convert|14.5|acre|ha}} site. The site was a former water lot land-filled by the Toronto Harbour Commission and was sold at $55,000 per acre.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Opening St. Lawrence Canal Would Solve Harbor Problems |date=November 17, 1926 |page=30}} It was supported by 10,000 wooden piles driven {{convert|10|m|ft}} through landfill to the bedrock of Toronto Harbour. 500 workers were employed in its construction.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Fixed Assessment Asked On Warehouse |page=1}} One worker, Duncan Murray, died during construction from a fall at the site.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Duncan Murray |date=January 13, 1927 |page=36}}
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 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, 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.
File:Freighters unloading at Terminal Warehouse dock.jpg
In 1972, the Government of Canada created the Harbourfront Corporation to repurpose {{convert|86|acre|ha}} of industrial harbourfront lands west of York Street for cultural, recreation, parkland and residential uses. In 1973, it purchased the Terminal Warehouse property for {{CAD|9.725}} million from the Pittson Co. of New York City.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Ottawa to go ahead with lakefront park |date=January 3, 1973 |page=93}} 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 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. 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 {{CAD|60}} million building rebuild was developed by Olympia and York who negotiated a 99-year lease with the government.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Who'll End Up With Harbourfront? |first=Leon |last=Whiteson |date=August 22, 1981 |page=B5}} The renovations by Zeidler Roberts{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=New look for an old warehouse |date=August 22, 1981 |page=B5}} added four floors to the original eight-floor structure, for a total of {{convert|750000|sqft|m2}} of space with 72 condominium apartments.{{cite web |url=https://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=9390 |title=Queen's Quay Terminal |website=SkyscraperPage.com |access-date=August 6, 2019}}
The renovation recoated the exterior with new concrete and new glass and added new Art Deco-styled entrances for the office and residential tenants.{{sfn|Zeidler|1985|p=138}} 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.{{cite journal |journal= Bulletin |url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/71773/vol9_4_7_9.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |title=Royal Ontario Museum and Terminal Warehouse: Two Toronto Landmarks Renovation |type=pdf |first=Don |last=Lovell |publisher=Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada |access-date=August 6, 2019 |page=8}}
The renovation added the {{CAD|3.9}} million, 450-seat, Premiere Dance Theatre, which is rented by Harbourfront for {{CAD|1}} 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 in 1986 and awarded the Ontario Association of Architects' Architectural Excellence Award in 1989.{{cite web
|title=Queen's Quay Terminal |url=https://www.acotoronto.ca/show_building.php?BuildingID=1345 |website=www.acotoronto.ca |publisher=Architectural Conservancy of Toronto |access-date=August 6, 2019}} The New York Times mentioned it as an example of successful revitalization efforts in Toronto during the 1980s.{{cite news |work=The New York Times |title=FOCUS: Toronto; Growth Foreseen Into 1990s|date=1988-07-24|last=Stoffel|first=Jennifer}}
The property was purchased by Brookfield Properties in October 1997 for {{CAD|40}} million.{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |title=Buying Property |date=October 7, 1997 |page=D9}} 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
File:Queen's Quay Terminal Atrium 2023.jpg
The facility has {{convert|494901|sqft|m2}} of retail and office space on eight floors. Yahoo! Canada, Anheuser-Busch InBev's Canadian unit Labatt and PortsToronto 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
References
=Notes=
{{reflist |refs=
}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite journal |first=Eberhard |last=Zeidler |author-link=Eberhard Zeidler (architect) |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/backissues/1985-06.pdf?486446400 |title=Queen's Quay Termainal |journal=Architectural Record |issue=June 1985 |year=1985 }}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/112620 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314030813/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/112620 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 14, 2016 |title=Emporis building ID 112620 |work=Emporis}}
- {{SkyscraperPage|9390}}
- {{cite journal |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/backissues/1985-06.pdf?486446400 |title=Queen's Quay Terminal |journal=Architectural Record |issue=June 1985}}
- [http://find.galenet.com/ips/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A98250741&source=gale&srcprod=CPI&userGroupName=tplmain&version=1.0. "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]
{{Shopping Malls in the Golden Horseshoe}}
{{coord|43.63901|N|79.380641|W|region:CA-ON_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:Shopping malls in Toronto
Category:Shopping malls established in 1983
Category:Clock towers in Canada
Category:Art Deco architecture in Canada
Category:Harbourfront, Toronto
Category:Eberhard Zeidler buildings