Toronto Union Station Revitalization | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | NORR

Passing note here........

I was in Union today after some business downtown and grabbed a bite at the Food Court, for the first time I can recall in almost 2 years everything was open and the place was busy as in almost no empty tables.
 
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Northern Light said:
Passing note here........

I was in Union today after some business downtown and grabbed a bit at the Food Court, for the first time I can recall in almost 2 years everything was open and the place was busy as in almost no empty tables.
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The food stalls in the Bay Concourse have shut their doors. They were open for a bit then went tits up.
 
polesingularity said:
Old article for anyone else who, like me, couldn't quite picture where the loading docks were (the tunnel is the same one used to get to the parking garage under 25 York).

But what's a "double tree roof"?
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Just for clarity, the Union Station loading docks are actually accessed by a larger set of truck-sized ramps located on the north-side (westbound lanes) of Lake Shore Blvd. The truck entrance ramp is found tucked along the south facade of the ACC/SBA building and the truck exit ramp is located just south of 15 York (Maple Leaf Square podium) in the paved pedestrian plaza there. This is all part of a shared underground truck tunnel/docks complex originally built back when Menkes developed the site which is accessed internally via the loading docks at Union, the ACC, 15 York, and the 25 York. I am not aware of any direct vehicle connection from the parking garages inside any of these buildings to the truck complex, but that is not to say that such a connection does not exist.

Edit: Apologies. I think the ramps were actually originally built by MLSE as the ACC loading docks when they developed the stadium. I have never seen any evidence confirming this but the ACC loading docks have always been underground and I do not think the building facades ever included an internal ramp system so this theory makes sense. Maybe somebody here can confirm that? I do know that Menkes significantly expanded or modified the underground truck complex though when 25 York and 15 York were developed. Not clear on any agreement with CoT re specific access provisions for Union Station but something must be in place. Union has been using these loading docks at least since York Concourse was structurally complete, maybe even as early as when the South Concourse was built (before York underpinning started) although I don't think it was possible this early because there are round columns in the Union part of the docks. The only places I have seen round columns are areas which they had to underpin.
 
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tnarduzzi said:
Just for clarity, the Union Station loading docks are actually accessed by a larger set of truck-sized ramps located on the north-side (westbound lanes) of Lake Shore Blvd. The truck entrance ramp is found tucked along the south facade of the ACC/SBA building and the truck exit ramp is located just south of 15 York (Maple Leaf Square podium) in the paved pedestrian plaza there. This is all part of a shared underground truck tunnel/docks complex originally built back when Menkes developed the site which is accessed internally via the loading docks at Union, the ACC, 15 York, and the 25 York. I am not aware of any direct vehicle connection from the parking garages inside any of these buildings to the truck complex, but that is not to say that such a connection does not exist.
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Holy crap! Welcome back
 
tnarduzzi said:
Just for clarity, the Union Station loading docks are actually accessed by a larger set of truck-sized ramps located on the north-side (westbound lanes) of Lake Shore Blvd. The truck entrance ramp is found tucked along the south facade of the ACC/SBA building and the truck exit ramp is located just south of 15 York (Maple Leaf Square podium) in the paved pedestrian plaza there. This is all part of a shared underground truck tunnel/docks complex originally built back when Menkes developed the site which is accessed internally via the loading docks at Union, the ACC, 15 York, and the 25 York. I am not aware of any direct vehicle connection from the parking garages inside any of these buildings to the truck complex, but that is not to say that such a connection does not exist.

Edit: Apologies. I think the ramps were actually originally built by MLSE as the ACC loading docks when they developed the stadium. I have never seen any evidence confirming this but the ACC loading docks have always been underground and I do not think the building facades ever included an internal ramp system so this theory makes sense. Maybe somebody here can confirm that? I do know that Menkes significantly expanded or modified the underground truck complex though when 25 York and 15 York were developed. Not clear on any agreement with CoT re specific access provisions for Union Station but something must be in place. Union has been using these loading docks at least since York Concourse was structurally complete, maybe even as early as when the South Concourse was built (before York underpinning started) although I don't think it was possible this early because there are round columns in the Union part of the docks. The only places I have seen round columns are areas which they had to underpin.
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I can confirm that 15, 18, 25 York along with 65, 55 Bremner and 40 Bay Street all share the same dock.

When I worked at Maple Leaf Square there were different portions of the dock for each building. All sections were accessed off Lake Shore Blvd behind the arena
 
Yeah, the 25 york garage has a very short clearance if you look on google street view. I can't even imagine a larger Ford Transit would fit under the bar, never mind an actual box truck or semi. That claim that the 25 york garage was the sole access to Union's docks was plainly implausible. This makes much more sense!
 
Richard White said:
I can confirm that 15, 18, 25 York along with 65, 55 Bremner and 40 Bay Street all share the same dock.

When I worked at Maple Leaf Square there were different portions of the dock for each building. All sections were accessed off Lake Shore Blvd behind the arena
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Out of curiousity, does anyone know the ownership structure of that dock? I'm guessing parts of that infrastructure have to date back to the 90s when the ACC was built. Is the entire dock original to that time, or was it subsequently expanded? Which building(s) does it sit under now?
 
whatever said:
Out of curiousity, does anyone know the ownership structure of that dock? I'm guessing parts of that infrastructure have to date back to the 90s when the ACC was built. Is the entire dock original to that time, or was it subsequently expanded? Which building(s) does it sit under now?
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If I recall from my time at Maple Leaf Square, The 15 York section was under the control of Cadillac Fairview who owned 15 York. MLSE had control over their section under Scotiabank Arena. I can only assume Menkes and the City of Toronto have control over their respective parts.

If I recall correctly, there is one main Dockmaster there who controls entry, exit and co-ordinates everything between the docks. Whenever there were significant events at Scotiabank, MLSE and TPS would close off access to the docks from Lake Shore and we were forced to coordinate with TPS to gain access.

During the NBA Finals, I remember watching them unload the Larry O'Brien trophy in the MLSE dock. They had their own hired security, TPS and the like keeping an eye on the MLSE Portion.
 
I recall in July 2018, there was a massive flood at York and Lake Shore after a heavy rainfall. The loading dock complex actually flooded out with 7 feet of water, I recall watching as the floor drains backed up on camera only to fry my elevators which were level with the dock.

Not a fun day.
 
In retail news, an application has been filed with the AGCO for the cannabis store we’ve heard about. Looks like it is “Fika Herbal Goods”. Honestly, I think it will do well with GO riders who live in “dry” Mississauga, Oakville, and the majority of York Region.

AA3D5791-5F27-419B-940F-EC9D05C63634.jpeg
 
SaugeenJunction said:
In retail news, an application has been filed with the AGCO for the cannabis store we’ve heard about. Looks like it is “Fika Herbal Goods”. Honestly, I think it will do well with GO riders who live in “dry” Mississauga, Oakville, and the majority of York Region.

View attachment 389073
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Given all the other pot shops in the area would you have expected anything else?
 
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