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Years of construction have brought great change to the way commuters and travellers have moved through Toronto's Union Station, with trips through and around the station still being rerouted and redirected from one part of the vast complex to another. During these ongoing, albeit temporary interventions to prepare the historic structure for the future, signs of progress continue to appear. Our last update from just over two months ago caught the beginning of frame installation for the Front Street Moat skylight, and there's quite a bit of progress since then to report now.
Work on the east moat—where the subway station and PATH connection are accessed—has progressed quite a bit. Where the old staircase that led up to the old GO Bay Concourse once stood, the excavation of the area has been completed, and a new concrete floor has been poured. When we stopped by for a photo late last week, a waterproof green membrane had been laid atop a level gravel bed, waiting for the fresh concrete.
Signs of more work to come can also be seen in the image. Along the wall of the station, pits for the foundation of a walkway bridging over the future atrium await forming work. Between the pits, doorways have been cut into the wall where commuters will access the newly lowered floor for the Bay retail promenade. A new mezzanine level above will be the future GO Bay Concourse.
Closer to York Street, the structural frame has now been fully installed above Front Street West Moat, and last week, a shipment of glazing for the skylight was delivered. Glass installation should begin shortly!
Alongside York Street itself, work on its moat is in a more raw state. Conduits are currently being positioned in a trench, while work to create a gravel bed proceeds. A concrete pour here is anticipated later this summer.
Inside the York Street entrance, work is ongoing on a couple of new eateries, one being the rotisserie-style 'Union Chicken', and right across the corridor from it, the open-concept pasta bar Amano.
Hoarding has gone up in front of several more retailers and food shops in an area just to the east dubbed the Front Street Promenade. These include the Danish Pastry House, the Detox Market, P/C, the Naked Beauty Bar, Greenhouse Juice Company, Pilot Coffee Roasters, and Biscotteria by Forno Cultura. Work is underway upstairs too near the Ontario Travel Boutique to open more retail there. Several of these businesses are expected to open before the end of the year.
Other milestones are expected to be reached by the end of 2017, including the structural completion of the Bay retail and GO concourses, the VIA Rail concourse, and the Great Hall restoration. Outside, the moat covers for the Front Street promenade will be in place near the same time. The finishes for the Bay concourses are planned to reach full completion mid-2018, while the York and Bay Street moat skylights are slated for a Fall 2018 completion.
Additional information and renderings of the Union Station Revitalization can be found in the project's database file, linked below. Want to contribute your thoughts on the ongoing project? Feel free to leave a comment in the space provided at the bottom of this page, or join in the conversation in the associated Forum thread.
