Craning on Yonge Street

Construction work on a building along Yonge Street required the roadway to be closed to allow cranes to lift equipment to the site. Workers brought in electrical equipment on several flatbed trucks and moved them to the building, high in the air. It was very exciting, I'm surprised that there wasn't a giant crowd watching this operation go down.

The crane lift happened on the September 20-21, 2025 weekend and Yonge Street was closed from Adelaide Street West to King Street West.

New Cold Storage facility off Steeles Avenue

Driving along Steeles Avenue from Milton into Halton Hills we have been seeing a strange blue structure going up on 10th Line South and didn't have a lot of luck determining what the heck this thing was. It looked like it was made strictly of scaffolds complete with an excessive amount of cross bracing. Finally we drove to the site and asked security what it was and they said it was new part of the Conestoga Cold Storage Limited facilities.

It really looks like you can't do anything with the building as we didn't see floors or elevators, plus the cross braces would stop people driving a forklift in between the bracing. However we must assume that someone knows what they are doing and everything will work out in the Canadian-owned future 150 foot high, 2.7 million cubic metres of cold storage.

I mean there are even gaps between the sections

"This expansion represents a significant milestone for Conestoga Cold Storage," stated Gavin Sargeant, Vice President, at Conestoga Cold Storage Limited. "We are proud to announce the construction of this world-class facility, which will not only solidify our position as an industry leader but also allow us to meet the growing demand for cold storage solutions. Our commitment to delivering exceptional services to our customers remains unwavering, and this expansion will further enhance our capabilities."

Booze to dust: the end of the old LCBO Headquarters

Toronto's changing face down along the waterfront area continues to evolve, especially with the continued work in the Cherry Beach area. The old LCBO property which held the headquarters, warehouse and retail outlet was sold to developers in 2016 for $260 million. They moved the retail operation into a new tower to the east. The view at top is from Queens Quay East.

Now the old buildings are being chipped away until only parts of the façade remain which are to be incorporated into the base of the new buildings proposed for the site. New towers will takeover the site with an estimated 3,000 condos being constructed.

The original buildings were built in 1950 and are covered in buff brick and were designated as heritage buildings.

The view from Cooper Street. 

From the Province's news release "Ontario is securing $260 million, subject to closing adjustments, from the sale of the LCBO head office lands, which is composed of over 11 acres of real estate in downtown Toronto near the waterfront, to Menkes Developments Ltd., on behalf of a partnership comprised of Menkes, Greystone Managed Investments and Triovest Realty Advisors.

The government is committed to dedicating the net proceeds generated from the sale to the Trillium Trust, which helps fund transit, transportation and other key infrastructure projects across the province.

Selling the LCBO lands is a key part of the government's plan to unlock the value of its real estate assets in order to help fund the largest investment in public infrastructure in the province's history - about $160 billion over 12 years. The planned investments are estimated to support 110,000 jobs, on average, each year across the province."

Updated photos from May 21, 2024.

The site is clean and the remaining outside walls are held up in place

Toronto Santa Speedo Run 2019

The weather outside is frightful but the red speedos are delightful as runners are gathering at Hemingway's Restaurant in Yorkville. The rain and cold will make a challenging race around Toronto's Mink Mile. Head Santa Matt Freeman is pictured at top.

The Streakin Speedsters preparing for the run

Rain or shine the 2019 Santa Speedo Run is happening with participants setting off around 1:30pm on Saturday, December 14.

Warming up and calling for Matt to make an appearance

Matt addresses the runners 

The speedo run supports the Hospital for Sick Kids toys and games fund. See the run photos after the jump.

Skybridge open in the Toronto Eaton Centre

Shoppers can now cross between Saks Fifth Avenue building and the Eaton Centre with the new Skybridge over Queen Street West. The original pedestrian bridge was approaching end of life and Cadillac Fairview hired Dominic Bettison of WilkinsonEyre to design the new structure.

Looking towards the Eaton Centre from Saks

The two entrances were different with the Eaton Centre side being rectangular and the Saks Fifth Avenue/Hudson Bay side being round. By rotating and breaking up the rectangle, similar to rifling in a gun barrel, they accomplished the transition between the two geometrical shapes. It also rises in the middle as it approaches the middle of Queen Street West.

Looking towards Saks

It was quite a process as the old bridge was removed in May of 2017 while the new bridge was under construction on James Street, just beside the Eaton Centre. Then Queen Street was closed for traffic over a July weekend and they hoisted the beast into place and have since been working at completing the interior and exterior of the bridge. You can see photos of the construction process on my original post here.

On November 2nd, 2017 the bridge was opened and shoppers are not only crossing the street in the bridge, they are stopping and taking photos inside the bridge because it is pretty interesting with a nice view of Queen Street. And it is ready just in time for the Christmas shopping rush.

BMO Field Expansion Phase 2

The canopy construction continues at the home of the Toronto FC MLS team. The large tubular steel structures that will hold up the new roofing over the stadium seats are partially installed - just the south section remains to be raised up by two massive cranes, pictured in the photos. The cranes hoisted the large load on Sunday, Feb 21. This phase is estimated to be completed in May of 2016.

"Things are gearing up at BMO Field ahead of the 2016 MLS season as the South End Canopy was raised into place on Sunday morning. Assembled on site as one massive structure weighing over 490 metric tonnes (980,000 pounds), the south canopy was lifted in tandem by two Mammoet lattice boom crawler cranes. The 377 by 68 foot canopy is now incorporated into the roof structure that will cover the east, west and south stands."

The first home game for the Toronto FC is Saturday May 7, 2016 against FC Dallas. The CFL Grey Cup Championship football game is also scheduled for Toronto's expanded stadium facility. The 104th Grey Cup is scheduled for Sunday November 27.

For now the place was full of big toys for big boys.

#Toronto @KehillaRP sukkahville 2014

It's all about Affordable Housing! Eight structures are being built in Nathan Phillips Square in a competition to build a temporary Sukkah for the joyous Jewish Festival of Sukkot. The annual architectural battle hopes to draw attention to the problems of providing affordable housing and of the work of the non-profit housing agency; Kelhilla Residential Programme.

There are a number of constraints required for the contest entrants and sustainability is an important consideration as minimize waste and disposal of the construction materials. The temporary Sukkahs can be seen outside City Hall from 9 am to 5 pm, with the awards happening just after 12 noon.

Lego my Lego

Over 100,00 Lego bricks were used in the construction of the #Toronto CHIMA mosaic, none were harmed. A free event took place July 9, 2013 at Yonge-Dundas Square with benches full of Lego tiles and the public could grab a small square and add colourful Lego bricks to the square. Then these small sections were added to four large displays on the nearby TTC transit shelter just outside the Toronto Eaton Centre.

Plus there was a giant Lego creature terrorizing city shoppers and commuters. The Lego man was so big I cried in fear.

See lego Toronto City Hall after the jump.

Crumbling #Toronto crashes down

Sometimes things fall apart, you know like condo windows onto the streets of city or chunks of concrete falling from the Gardiner Expressway, and sometimes they are ripped apart by large mechanical beasts in a monster movie. Old makes way for new as the cycle of life continues and Simba grows up to be the King of the Jungle.

There is a lot of destruction going on around Union Station and Front Street as work on the TTC Path connection and TTC upgrade requires everything to be destroyed before it is built anew. At University Avenue and Front Street they are building a new Path connection going northbound along York Street.

See more demolition after the jump.

MaRS rising

Construction of the MaRS Discovery District in #Toronto is reflected in the curved facade of the OPG building on University Avenue at College Street. The new building sits on hospital row along the road to the Toronto University. The crane at top left is just the start of floors rising up from the ground.

MaRS will promote innovation and will provide — "people, programs, physical facilities, funding and networks — to ensure that critical innovation happens. We stimulate, identify and harness great ideas, nurture their development and guide the transformation of those ideas into reality. We measure our success through the companies that emerge after receiving help from MaRS."

view from across the street

No. 210 Simcoe Condo at Queen St W

Queen St West is a place where the bad boys and girls play, or maybe just the slightly bad. Some buildings on the wild west side are changing. No 210 Simcoe was a corner store that for a long time was a complete advertisement for the latest movies - you can see it promoting Harry Potter here in the background and I seem to recall it was made up as a restaurant selling blood to vampires for the move Daybreakers, now it is on it's way to being a classy condo.

The posters were covered over and plywood covers the entrance, inside the workers are busy remodeling, later up goes a new outside with a bunch of big, black glass. In a short while a 25-storey condominium will rise on the site. The sales office looks purty.

Building's got a new coat for winter.