Coxwell Trunk Sewer - Odour Control Facility - 480 Coxwell Avenue

[Northern Light]

This one slipped under my radar, but today I see an expropriation report coming forward to the Government and Licensing Committee.

I've done a quick, look-see, on the project and will post some info below.

First, the project link.

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/9601-RPT_2020-05-21_Coxwell-STS-Odour-Control-Study_Project-File_60556394.pdf

Second, the expropriation Report:

Agenda Item History - 2020.GL14.13

Next a bit of background:

This project was to find a means of addressing multiple odour complaints related to the Coxwell Trunk Sewer In the area north of Gerrard and south of Sammon Avenues.

The sewer, a huge, combined sewer running to the Ashbridge's Bay Treatment Plant, runs under Coxwell until just north of the railway corridor and then darts to the west, to continue south.

The proposed solution is the odour control facility to be located at 480 Coxwell Avenue, immediately south of the railway corridor, west side.

Site as it is currently:

 

[Geoff Olynyk]

Does anyone know what this building once was? I know it was built between 1953 and 1956 from aerial photos. It's kind of a cool light-industrial location, secluded and right up against the GTR tracks. I always thought it would make a great location for a craft brewery or art gallery (or both at the same time?)

 

[Northern Light]

Hmm, below the grade of Rhodes Avenue.

View from Coxwell Avenue:

In 2007 the site was in disuse:

Project report shows this:

The appearance of the building from the more recent streetview shows 4 openings that were almost certainly previously vehicle openings for a garage.

****

Interior up to recently:

from: https://www.setscouter.com/studios/18/eastend-studios-rental-3200-sq-ft

***

Of note, no railway spur is shown in 1923:

From: https://leslievillehistory.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/00110.jpg?w=1200
:

 

[Geoff Olynyk]

Yeah, it appears to have been a trucking company originally (Mights 1955 shows it as Quinte Transport). Later Bobby Won's Transport, apparently with some real mean guard dogs. (See: Coxwell & Gerrard facebook group )

Was abandoned as late as summer 2013:

By the following summer, it's cleaned up, my guess is they tried to make it a studio space, and when that failed, it became the U-Haul in 2018.

 

[Geoff Olynyk]

By the way, the expropriation is proceeding. The Inquiry Report came out on March 12th, the Inquiry Officer (Gillian Burton, who has judged expropriation hearings for a decade), found the obvious, that the site was perfect for expropriation and should proceed.

https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/gl/bgrd/backgroundfile-164937.pdf

A bit of snark in this paragraph of the judgement:

The whole thing is pretty funny; right now there's as much as 140 odour units (OU) at some of those houses, the new facility will reduce that to 1 (but maybe as much as 7 at some upper floors) - and people are using that to argue that it shouldn't be built.

 

[smallspy]

So, that's interesting....

It's quite obvious that the spur into the property wasn't as the grade of the property. It had to be elevated.

And in those 1956 aerial photos, along the alignment of the former spur, is shown two large concrete bins. More often than not, this kind of bin was used for storing bulk loose commodities for local delivery such as coal or gravel or ash, and were frequently located underneath elevated tracks. Loaded hoppers would be parked over them, and then unloaded through an open trestle-type of structure into the bin, where they'd then be shoveled into trucks.

Considering the location and the few bins there, I'd wager that this was a dealer of home heating services, and got coal (and maybe fuel oil) delivered on the spur. The ground contamination on the property could be as much from that prior use as its later life as a garage.

Dan

 

[Geoff Olynyk]

So, that's interesting....

It's quite obvious that the spur into the property wasn't as the grade of the property. It had to be elevated.

And in those 1956 aerial photos, along the alignment of the former spur, is shown two large concrete bins. More often than not, this kind of bin was used for storing bulk loose commodities for local delivery such as coal or gravel or ash, and were frequently located underneath elevated tracks. Loaded hoppers would be parked over them, and then unloaded through an open trestle-type of structure into the bin, where they'd then be shoveled into trucks.

Considering the location and the few bins there, I'd wager that this was a dealer of home heating services, and got coal (and maybe fuel oil) delivered on the spur. The ground contamination on the property could be as much from that prior use as its later life as a garage.

Dan

Well that lines up with this... from the 1954 Mights directory – it was a coal retailer! (Kerwood Ice & Fuel).

It became Quinte Transport (long-haul trucking) in 1954 when the current building was built; also aligns with the timing as the home coal dealers were closing as coal use (and heating oil) was being phased out. Later was Bobby Won Trucking, and then the building was abandoned and the property fell into overgrowth at some point as discussed above.

The current owners, ZIRCON DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT INC., were incoroporated in 2013, which aligns with when the property was cleaned up on Google Street View.

 

[Geoff Olynyk]

Just found this; in 2007 the site appeared in this article about abandoned property. Still “Bob Won Cartage and Moving Ltd” at that point.

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