Harbourfront
Encyclopedia
Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario
within the downtown core of the city of Toronto
, Canada
. Part of the Toronto Waterfront
, Harbourfront extends west from Yonge Street
to Bathurst Street along Queen's Quay
. East of Yonge to Parliament St. along Queen's Quay, this mostly industrialized stretch is slated for the future East Bayfront development.
Toronto's harbour has been used since the founding of Toronto for shipping and industrial purposes. The Town of York
was founded to the west of the Don River, along the waterfront. When the town was founded, the water's edge was approximately where today's 'Front Street' is located. Over time, the area south of Front Street to today's water's edge south of 'Queen's Quay' was filled in with landfill, creating piers and area for industrial development.
Prior to the 1972 federal election, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau announced the Harbourfront project, which would expropriate the industrial port lands from York Street west to Bathurst Street, south of Queen's Quay and convert them to a cultural and residential district for Toronto, similar to the Granville Island
district in Vancouver
. The federal government has converted the industrial area to an area mixed with art galleries, performance spaces, boating areas and parks. The surrounding neighbourhood, formerly industrial has been converted by private land developers into a series of condominium towers overlooking the project and Lake Ontario.
From its beginnings as "Harbourfront Corporation", a federal Crown Corporation established in 1972, Harbourfront Centre was formed on January 1, 1991 as a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to organize and present public events and to operate a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site encompassing York Quay and John Quay (south of Queens Quay West).
Since its inception, Harbourfront Centre has been introducing Toronto audiences to artists and art forms that would not normally be seen in commercial venues, exploring new and bold frontiers in the arts and creative expression.
terminal which provides transportation services to the Islands from the foot of Bay Street.
Harbourfront Centre, housing galleries and performance spaces is located at the foot of Lower Simcoe Street. Harbourfront houses four craft studios; ceramics, glass, metal and textiles. All studios began in 1974 and still operate, providing new craft artists with subsidized work spaces at the beginning of their careers. Harbourfront hosts an extensive program of arts and cultural events throughout each summer, including craft and artisan fairs, theatre and dance performances and musical concerts. A series of free concerts is staged at Harbourfront's outdoor concert stage every weekend throughout the summer and in winter there is a free open-air ice rink.
Queen's Quay Terminal
, next to Harbourfront Centre, is a former warehouse converted into a mixed-use building including a shopping centre designed for high-end retailers, commercial office space, and a residential condominium development. Today, the mall houses some stores and restaurants, predominantly catering to tourists.
The Canada Malting Silos
along the waterfront at the western edge of Harbourfront, are one of the last vestiges of the industrial past of the neighbourhood. The buildings were long ago abandoned by the company that built them, but a proposal for demolition was cancelled when the estimated cost for demolition rose into the millions of dollars. The site is also now considered a heritage site, and any development must conserve some aspect of the industrial past. Two proposals have been made, a Canadian music museum and a Toronto history museum have both been proposed for the site. Both proposals keep the silos, but demolish other buildings on the site. The silos are one two remaining silos in the area (see Victory Soya Mills Silos
) and reminder of the past uses of the area.
To the south of the Silos, Toronto Ireland Park was inaugurated in 2004. The site has memorials to an 1878 exodus of Irish persons to Toronto.
To the east of Yonge, at the foot of Jarvis Street is the Redpath Sugar Refinery, which is both an active sugar refinery and a sugar production museum. Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant
is also a ship moored at the Yonge Street slip.
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Although Toronto has often been criticized for not having a dynamic and beautiful waterfront park, harbourfront has a network of parks, open spaces and trails that allow residents and visitors to access the public realm. Parks and public spaces like HTO Park
, the Martin Goodman Trail, the Yo-Yo Ma Music Garden, and the Waterfront WaveDecks
at the foots of Spadina Avenue
, Rees Street and Lower Simcoe combine to beautify the harbourfront and bring people to the water's edge.
with Union
, Spadina
, and Bathurst
subway stations
. The 510 Spadina and 509 Harbourfront
streetcar routes terminate at Union Station, travel underground along Bay Street
, and surface through in the centre ROW lane on Queen's Quay
west. The streetcar route travels along Queen's Quay in a separate right-of-way, either to the CNE grounds, up to Spadina or to Bathurst, depending on day of the week and other factors.
The area is accessible from the Spadina Avenue
, Yonge
/Bay and Jarvis street off-ramps of the Gardiner Expressway
.
Toronto Island Ferry operates from the City/Bay Street Docks at the foot of Bay Street (all ferries excluding Trillium) and Yonge Street slip (Trillium).
The Toronto Island Airport
is another neighbourhood issue. The airport, located to the south-west of the neighbourhood, is opposed by local community groups and some city politicians, including Toronto's mayor, as an impediment to the waterfront lands redevelopment. The airport, built in the 1930s, is utilized for regional air travel. The airport generates hundreds of noise complaints monthly to its operator, the Toronto Port Authority
. The Toronto Port Authority confirmed on September 12, 2008, that Porter Airlines was fined for breaking noise curfews in its operations at the Island Airport. A study by the Port Authority is being conducted into reducing noise from Porter's takeoffs and landings.
Queen's Quay is currently a four-lane thoroughfare with a separate right-of-way for Toronto's streetcars. A development plan is proposed to modify the street further to provide a central section of the Martin Goodman Trail, a cyclist and recreational pathway along the waterfront.
and soon-to-be started George Brown College
's Health Sciences Campus.
In December 2009, Waterfront Toronto revealed the first major private sector development for the district, called Parkside. The $200 million residential development project, designed by Moshe Safdie
and developed by Great Gulf Group of Companies, will be located on the northeast corner of Queen's Quay East and Sherbourne, south of the Gardiner Expressway and just east of the new Sherbourne Park.
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
within the downtown core of the city of 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...
, 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...
. Part of the Toronto Waterfront
Toronto waterfront
The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the City of Toronto, Ontario in Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west, and the Rouge River in the East. The entire lakeshore has been significantly altered from its natural glaciated state prior to...
, Harbourfront extends west from Yonge Street
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
to Bathurst Street along Queen's Quay
Queen's Quay (Toronto)
Queen's Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront...
. East of Yonge to Parliament St. along Queen's Quay, this mostly industrialized stretch is slated for the future East Bayfront development.
History
York, Upper Canada
York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.- History :The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'...
was founded to the west of the Don River, along the waterfront. When the town was founded, the water's edge was approximately where today's 'Front Street' is located. Over time, the area south of Front Street to today's water's edge south of 'Queen's Quay' was filled in with landfill, creating piers and area for industrial development.
Prior to the 1972 federal election, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau announced the Harbourfront project, which would expropriate the industrial port lands from York Street west to Bathurst Street, south of Queen's Quay and convert them to a cultural and residential district for Toronto, similar to the Granville Island
Granville Island
Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver's peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge....
district in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. The federal government has converted the industrial area to an area mixed with art galleries, performance spaces, boating areas and parks. The surrounding neighbourhood, formerly industrial has been converted by private land developers into a series of condominium towers overlooking the project and Lake Ontario.
From its beginnings as "Harbourfront Corporation", a federal Crown Corporation established in 1972, Harbourfront Centre was formed on January 1, 1991 as a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to organize and present public events and to operate a 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) site encompassing York Quay and John Quay (south of Queens Quay West).
Since its inception, Harbourfront Centre has been introducing Toronto audiences to artists and art forms that would not normally be seen in commercial venues, exploring new and bold frontiers in the arts and creative expression.
Character
The area along the waterfront is composed of mixed uses. The federal government lands to the south of Queen's Quay include a community centre, a Toronto fire department station, various boating uses, parkland and the Harbourfront Centre. To the north of Queen's Quay, all of the industrial lands along the street have been replaced with high-rise condominium towers. To the east of the federal government lands, the waterfront is mixed with industrial uses, a hotel, ferry docks, boating uses, a sugar factory and vacant lands.Notable buildings and facilities
Harbourfront is the site of the Toronto Islands ferryToronto Island Ferry Services
The Toronto Island Ferry connects the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The ferry provides access to the islands for recreational visitors, access to the mainland for island residents, and access to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is located at...
terminal which provides transportation services to the Islands from the foot of Bay Street.
Harbourfront Centre, housing galleries and performance spaces is located at the foot of Lower Simcoe Street. Harbourfront houses four craft studios; ceramics, glass, metal and textiles. All studios began in 1974 and still operate, providing new craft artists with subsidized work spaces at the beginning of their careers. Harbourfront hosts an extensive program of arts and cultural events throughout each summer, including craft and artisan fairs, theatre and dance performances and musical concerts. A series of free concerts is staged at Harbourfront's outdoor concert stage every weekend throughout the summer and in winter there is a free open-air ice rink.
Queen's Quay Terminal
Queen's Quay Terminal
Queen's Quay Terminal was a cold storage warehouse facility, the Toronto Terminal Warehouse, built in 1926 by Moores & Dunford and converted to a condo/mall complex in 1983...
, next to Harbourfront Centre, is a former warehouse converted into a mixed-use building including a shopping centre designed for high-end retailers, commercial office space, and a residential condominium development. Today, the mall houses some stores and restaurants, predominantly catering to tourists.
The Canada Malting Silos
Canada Malting Silos
Canada Malting Silos is one of two remaining silos in Toronto's Harbourfront in Ontario, Canada. Located at the foot of Bathurst Street at Bathurst Quay , the silos were built in 1928 to store malt for the Canada Malting Company. It was an important work of industrial architecture, grain elevators...
along the waterfront at the western edge of Harbourfront, are one of the last vestiges of the industrial past of the neighbourhood. The buildings were long ago abandoned by the company that built them, but a proposal for demolition was cancelled when the estimated cost for demolition rose into the millions of dollars. The site is also now considered a heritage site, and any development must conserve some aspect of the industrial past. Two proposals have been made, a Canadian music museum and a Toronto history museum have both been proposed for the site. Both proposals keep the silos, but demolish other buildings on the site. The silos are one two remaining silos in the area (see Victory Soya Mills Silos
Victory Soya Mills Silos
Victory Soya Mills Silos in the east end of Toronto's harbourfront is one of the two remaining silos from Toronto's industrial port era. They were built by E.P. Taylor Victory Mills company in 1943 to house the soy beans used by a large plant that reprocessed the soy for a variety of purposes.The...
) and reminder of the past uses of the area.
To the south of the Silos, Toronto Ireland Park was inaugurated in 2004. The site has memorials to an 1878 exodus of Irish persons to Toronto.
To the east of Yonge, at the foot of Jarvis Street is the Redpath Sugar Refinery, which is both an active sugar refinery and a sugar production museum. Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant
Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant
Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant is a noted restaurant and banquet hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the MS Jadran a former Adriatic passenger ship now permanently docked at Yonge Street and Queen's Quay on Toronto's waterfront...
is also a ship moored at the Yonge Street slip.
Parks and open spaces
HTO Park
HTO is an urban beach in Toronto, Canada, that opened in 2007. It west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario.-History:The park is built on quays that was once used by ships berthing in Toronto's Inner Harbour.The park consists of two sections:...
, the Martin Goodman Trail, the Yo-Yo Ma Music Garden, and the Waterfront WaveDecks
Toronto Waterfront WaveDecks
As part of the revitalization of Toronto’s central waterfront, Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique wooden wavedecks along the water's edge for the 3.5 km area running from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street....
at the foots of Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods....
, Rees Street and Lower Simcoe combine to beautify the harbourfront and bring people to the water's edge.
List of Harbourfront parks and open spaces
- Habourfront - Water's Edge
- HTO ParkHTO ParkHTO is an urban beach in Toronto, Canada, that opened in 2007. It west of Harbourfront Centre, on Lake Ontario.-History:The park is built on quays that was once used by ships berthing in Toronto's Inner Harbour.The park consists of two sections:...
- Ireland Park
- John Quay
- John Quay North
- Martin Goodman Trail
- Maple Leaf Quay East
- Maple Leaf Quay West
- Sugar BeachSugar BeachSugar Beach is an urban beach park in Toronto, Canada, that opened in 2010. It is located across from Redpath Sugar Refinery in Toronto's eastern East Bayfront. Like HTO Park, the beach has no direct access to the Lake Ontario and is a landlocked beach....
- Rees WaveDeckToronto Waterfront WaveDecksAs part of the revitalization of Toronto’s central waterfront, Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique wooden wavedecks along the water's edge for the 3.5 km area running from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street....
- Simcoe WaveDeckToronto Waterfront WaveDecksAs part of the revitalization of Toronto’s central waterfront, Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique wooden wavedecks along the water's edge for the 3.5 km area running from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street....
- Toronto Music Garden
- Spadina WaveDeckToronto Waterfront WaveDecksAs part of the revitalization of Toronto’s central waterfront, Waterfront Toronto committed to constructing a series of unique wooden wavedecks along the water's edge for the 3.5 km area running from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street....
- York Quay & Harbourfront CentreHarbourfront CentreHarbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on Toronto, Ontario's waterfront, situated at 235 Queen's Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the federal government to create a waterfront park, it became a non-profit organization in 1991. Funding comes from corporate...
- Waterfront TrailWaterfront TrailThe Waterfront Trail refers to an interconnected series of trails along the shores of Lake Ontario in Canada, currently beginning in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario and extending to Brockville, Ontario, with an extension along Former Highway 2, to the Quebec provincial border...
Transportation
The area is served by streetcar linksToronto streetcar system
The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...
with Union
Union (TTC)
Union Station is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the Toronto subway and RT. Opened in 1954 along with the first twelve subway stations of Toronto, it is located between the Yonge Street and University Avenue sections of the line at 55 Front Street West between Bay Street and York...
, Spadina
Spadina (TTC)
Spadina is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Out of all the interchange stations, this one is the least-used with approximately 47,570 people using both platforms each day...
, and Bathurst
Bathurst (TTC)
Bathurst is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line of the subway system in Toronto, Canada. It is located at 565 Bloor Street West at Bathurst Street. It was opened in 1966...
subway stations
Toronto subway and RT
The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...
. The 510 Spadina and 509 Harbourfront
509 Harbourfront
509 Harbourfront is a streetcar route in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission.-History:The Harbourfront LRT, originally designated 604 Harbourfront, began service in 1990...
streetcar routes terminate at Union Station, travel underground along Bay Street
Bay Street
Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...
, and surface through in the centre ROW lane on Queen's Quay
Queen's Quay (Toronto)
Queen's Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront...
west. The streetcar route travels along Queen's Quay in a separate right-of-way, either to the CNE grounds, up to Spadina or to Bathurst, depending on day of the week and other factors.
The area is accessible from the Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods....
, Yonge
Yonge Street
Yonge Street is a major arterial route connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes. It was formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest street in the world at , and the construction of Yonge Street is designated an "Event of...
/Bay and Jarvis street off-ramps of the Gardiner Expressway
Gardiner Expressway
The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, colloquially referred to as "the Gardiner", is a municipal expressway in the Canadian province of Ontario, connecting downtown Toronto with its western suburbs...
.
Toronto Island Ferry operates from the City/Bay Street Docks at the foot of Bay Street (all ferries excluding Trillium) and Yonge Street slip (Trillium).
Neighbourhood issues
The neighbourhood is separated from the rest of downtown Toronto by the elevated Gardiner Expressway. A project to link Lower Simcoe with Simcoe St. via tunnel is currently under construction to provide a new link between Harbourfront and downtown. Proposals have been made to demolish the Expressway in the area. One proposal was to demolish the highway east of Spadina Avenue. Another proposal, to demolish the highway from the Don River to Jarvis Street is being actively studied by the City of Toronto.The Toronto Island Airport
Toronto City Centre Airport
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , commonly known as the Toronto Island Airport is an airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Air Marshal Billy Bishop, a Canadian First World War flying ace...
is another neighbourhood issue. The airport, located to the south-west of the neighbourhood, is opposed by local community groups and some city politicians, including Toronto's mayor, as an impediment to the waterfront lands redevelopment. The airport, built in the 1930s, is utilized for regional air travel. The airport generates hundreds of noise complaints monthly to its operator, the Toronto Port Authority
Toronto Port Authority
The Toronto Port Authority is a Canadian port authority responsible for management of the harbour of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, including the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport...
. The Toronto Port Authority confirmed on September 12, 2008, that Porter Airlines was fined for breaking noise curfews in its operations at the Island Airport. A study by the Port Authority is being conducted into reducing noise from Porter's takeoffs and landings.
Queen's Quay is currently a four-lane thoroughfare with a separate right-of-way for Toronto's streetcars. A development plan is proposed to modify the street further to provide a central section of the Martin Goodman Trail, a cyclist and recreational pathway along the waterfront.
East Bayfront
The 55 acres (222,577.3 m²) area east of Yonge Street, predominantly still industrial land, is slated for redevelopment as part of Waterfront Toronto's plans to create a residential and commercial district urban core near the lake. The area includes a 1400000 square feet (130,064.3 m²) office and institutional zone on the dockside tract of East Bayfront. This section will consist of the nearly complete 450000 square feet (41,806.4 m²) Corus QuayCorus Quay
Corus Quay, originally named First Waterfront Place, is an 8 storey commercial office tower located on a waterfront site in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The $160 million building is the first major development planned for the East Bayfront Precinct, and completed construction at the foot of Jarvis...
and soon-to-be started George Brown College
George Brown College
George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three full campuses in downtown Toronto, Ontario...
's Health Sciences Campus.
In December 2009, Waterfront Toronto revealed the first major private sector development for the district, called Parkside. The $200 million residential development project, designed by Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
and developed by Great Gulf Group of Companies, will be located on the northeast corner of Queen's Quay East and Sherbourne, south of the Gardiner Expressway and just east of the new Sherbourne Park.