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Throughout October, UrbanToronto is celebrating 20 YEARS, with stories looking back over the last two decades. Each day we are also checking out our ever-changing street scenes, comparing an older "Then" shot with an up-to-date "Now" shot.
Today's 'Then & Now' takes us south of the Gardiner, looking northwest from the intersection of Bay and Harbour streets. The 'Then' photo above, taken in 2007, shows a relatively bare skyline from this vantage point: aside from the CN Tower, 200 Front Street West appears as tallest structure in the frame west of the Fairmont. The then-Air Canada Centre can be seen in the centre-right of the image, with the 1917-built Harbour Commission Building takes prominence in the left foreground.
Looking below to the 'Now' image, taken in 2023, and the densification to the west of what is now the Scotiabank Arena is very much apparent, while the Harbour Commission Building has lost much of its prominence. There are now a combination of office and residential buildings such as Maple Leaf Square (2011), Telus House (2013), and the Harbour Plaza Residences (2016), forming a new skyline when viewed from the lake. The parking lot to the east of the Harbour Commission Building in the foreground has interestingly remained, while it is subject to a 59-storey (258m) commercial building application dubbed The HUB. This proposal positions the new building setback from the intersection, and is designed so that the office component of the building is cantilevered well above the 6-storey heritage structure to preserve some of its prominence. Not pictured in the 'Now' image is the first of the two CIBC Square towers, significant additions to the Southcore area, which is just the out of frame on the right of the image.
Come back tomorrow for another Then and Now from over UrbanToronto's last two decades!
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Thank you to the companies joining UrbanToronto to celebrate our 20 years in business.
