One of our most anticipated stories last year was the unveiling of the Loblaws store within the former Maple Leaf Gardens building, located at Church and Carlton Streets. The project not only drew attention to the neighbourhood, an area that is beginning to see an increase in investment largely from Ryerson University, but sparked the public’s interest in large-scale adaptive reuse. However, the redeveloped space now occupied by Loblaws is only a part of the larger project with the majority of the building being occupied by Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre. Forum member rdaner walked through the building following the unveiling earlier this month, providing us a peek at the facilities before they officially open on September 6th. 

Second floor mezzanine and entrance to gym facility, courtesy of rdaner

Primary access to the facility is located on the north side of Carlton Street, below the preserved marquee. A multipurpose court is located on the second floor with seating for up to 1200, occupying the western portion of the building; the eastern portion facing Church Street is where you will find the popular clothing store Joe Fresh, and an LCBO. 

Main floor entrance and escalator, image courtesy of rdaner

Former rink-side seating retained above entrance, image courtesy of rdaner

Multipurpose court, image courtesy of rdaner

The third floor is the newly built hockey rink, home to the Ryerson Rams. The arena sits below a 30-metre-high domed ceiling, and can accommodate just over 2600 spectators — 16% of the Garden’s original capacity.

Newly built hockey rink on third floor, image courtesy of rdaner

The renovation of the former Maple Leaf Gardens into the Mattamy Athletic Centre cost $78 million, $20 million of which came from the federal government through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund and $15 million donated by Peter Gilgan, CEO of Mattamy Homes. We’ll be sure to keep you updated following the official opening next month, and can’t wait for the first puck to drop on Saturday September 8, when the Rams go up against the UOIT Ridgebacks. 

For more information on the facility, head over to the dataBase listing below, and be sure to check out the associated UrbanToronto Forum thread if you’d like to join the conversation.