Toronto James Cooper Mansion | ?m | 32s | Tridel | Burka

James Cooper Mansion will move twice

This is the first move of the Manison which is to the west about 20 feet. Once the Mansion is out of the way excavation by Sherbourne will start. The underground parking garage will go in and then a slab will be built over it. Once the slab is ready, the Mansion will be pushed about 80 feet towards Sherbourne where it will be closer to the street than its original location and placed on the slab. The tower will then begin construction to the rear. After construction of the tower the Mansion will undergo some renovation.

The final move of the Mansion is tentatively for middle to end of November, but there have been numerous delays in the schedule which is understandable considering this is very complicated project and is the heaviest move of a historic building in Canadian history.

I'm digitizing some video I shot of the move and will be posting it to the web next week.

We have a professional documentary crew recording this event.
 
Awesome. That really is cool to see something that's been there for so long, be moved into a different spot. Not to mention how heavy it is.
I bet when it's finally in it's final position after the next move, they (the contruction workers, and Tridel too I guess) will all breathe a huge sigh of relief.
 
Taken a few days ago

2970742620_54d4d49120_o.jpg
 
Looks like the house is on the move agin this morning. I guess this is the final move so they can start excavation of the tower side.
 
Time Lapse Photography of December 2008 Move

I just uploaded a video of the timelapse photography of the James Cooper Mansion December 2008 move to Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ug3a9sFclc. The house was moved even closer on December 18, 2008. The mansion is to be placed four feet from the sidewalk.

There is a final move to lower the mansion and move it 5 more feet to the south.

Here are some photos I took on Thursday, December 18, 2008.

DSCN0061.jpg

Pulleys are attached to the east-facing shoring. The cables run under the mansion to the tow truck winches positioned on the west side of the mansion.

DSCN0062.jpg

Close-up of the pulley and the wooden crib on the south main beam.

DSCN0065.jpg

The view under the steel beams (150,000 tonnes of steel). You can see the cable running to the winch. Between the main beam and the crib you can see one of the roller cages which looks remarkably small considering the weight of the task that it's required to perform.

DSCN0066.jpg

View to the north. Sherbourne St. is to the right.
 
Last edited:
James Cooper Mansion December 2008

This is the northwest part of the beam after the mansion was moved forward to the next wooden crib. The roller cages on steel plates, hydraulic jack and hand operated screw jack are visible.

DSCN0052.jpg
 
Well, that's not something you see everyday. Thanks, TridelWebMaster.

I have to give a lot of credit to your development company for going through the massive effort to preserve this house. A facadectomy would have certainly been much easier, but would have ruined both the integrity of your new condo building and the old house in the process. By the way, you might not think about it this way, but by moving this old house around, you created a much more visible and memorable form of good PR than you could have achieved through conventional advertising. If I buy a new construction condo in the future, I will very strongly consider a Tridel condo because of what I've seen you do here.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top