Not satisfied with tunnelling 10 kilometres underground to build the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Metrolinx will be relocating a four-storey, 3,000-tonne building in its entirety Thursday as part of construction.
The historic structure, built in 1939, and used as a recreation centre for Kodak employees, will form part of the new Mount Dennis LRT station.
“The building is very significant to the local history … because of the Kodak company and the amount of jobs and employment that it had in that area,” said Metrolinx spokesman Jamie Robinson.
All told, the building will be moved 61 metres to its new home. The public is invited to watch the event – which is expected to take about 90 minutes – and Metrolinx will be hosting a community barbecue on the site afterwards.
“The community said very clearly to us that they were very interested in us preserving the Kodak building and seeing how it could or could not be incorporated into the future plans for the station,” said Robinson.
The Crosstown line will run across Eglinton Avenue between Mount Dennis (Weston Road) and Kennedy Station. Ten kilometres of the 19-kilometre line will be underground.
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How exactly do you a move a 3,000-tonne building?
1. First, contractor Crosslinx Transit Solutions has to excavate and separate the building from its foundation.
“Crosstown Transit Solutions has been planning for this move for a number of months and it’s really complicated, a real challenge due to the size of the building,” said Metrolinx spokesman Jamie Robinson.
2. Next you have to jack it up, get steel girders underneath it and actually move it along 61 metres using a system of motorized dollies.
“It’s like a conveyer belt,” Robinson said.
3. After that’s done they excavate the site and create a new foundation, a process which takes about nine months, Robinson said.
4. “When that’s completed they move the building back over top of it again and it becomes part of the future station,” he added.
5. Finally, the whole thing needs to be retrofitted. “Inside it’s like totally destroyed, it’s got to be totally outfitted for the new station,” Robinson said.