Less than three months after the late-summer start of demolition at the site of Toronto's St. Lawrence Market North building, crews have finished teardown work, priming the site for the next phase of its ongoing archaeological assessment. The single-storey 60s-era building is being replaced by a new north market, municipal courts above, and a parking garage below. Markets which took place in the building moved temporarily in 2015 to a tent two blocks to the south. 

Facing north across the former St. Lawrence Market North site, image by Edward Skira

Due to the site's historical importance in the growth of Toronto, archeological assessments were initiated in 2006 (stage 1), and continued in 2015 (stages 2 and 3) prior to the North Market's closure. These assessments revealed structural remnants and artifacts from previous 1831, 1951 and 1904 market buildings. Due to these findings, a final stage of assessment was planned to follow the building's demolition.

Facing northwest across the former St. Lawrence Market North site, image by Edward Skira

With the building now cleared, the fourth and final stage of the archaeological assessment is the last physical undertaking to be carried out on the site before the new Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Adamson Associates Architects-designed replacement can be constructed. During this stage of the assessment, crews will work to determine possible methods for conserving any archeology on the site's footprint that may hold historical significance.

Northwest view of St. Lawrence Market North, image courtesy of the City of Toronto

Pending the duration and outcome of the archaeological assessment's final stage, as well as City Council approval, construction of the new facility is tentatively slated to begin in 2017, with an opening targeted for 2019 following a projected 24-month construction timeline. Now in the Bid Documents stage, a construction tender call is the next major action, to be followed by the planned early-2017 awarding of a construction contract.

For more information and renderings of St. Lawrence Market North, click on our dataBase file, linked below. Want to talk about the project? Click on the associated Forum thread link, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.