Canada Malting Silos is one of two remaining silos in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

's Harbourfront in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Located at the foot of Bathurst Street at Bathurst Quay (Eireann Quay), the silos were built in 1928 to store malt

Malt

Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...

 for the Canada Malting Company. It was an important work of industrial architecture, grain elevator

Grain elevator

A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...

s had long been built out of wood, and thus at great danger of fire. The concrete malting towers were a new innovation, and the stark functionalism of the prominent building was an early influence on modernist architecture. A round office was added in 1944 and glass office was built in the original construction in 1928. The main silos, 15 in all, are 120 feet (37 meters) in height and additional storage bins built in 1944 are 150 feet (46 meters) high.

It was abandoned in the 1980s and destined for demolition, but it was designated a heritage site by the city of Toronto. A group called Metronome Canada hoped to convert the silos into a music museum or theme park. The city of Toronto is also considering it as a location for a municipal history museum.

Demolition of the germination and kiln buildings began early September 2010. The silos will be left standing, eventually being incorporated into future developments on the site. The municipality has not yet decided exactly what will be done with the space once the demolition project is complete.