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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 into the heart of Toronto's Financial District, looking southeast along Temperance Street towards the infamous 'stump'. This 6-storey concrete structure was the result of a failed development by Markborough Properties and TrizecHahn for a 57-storey 207m office tower. After much controversy due to its height, construction began in 1990, however the developer ran into financial difficulties during the recession during which Toronto's office vacancy rates rose to 20%, and the project was halted in 1993. 'The Stump' stood in this form, as a symbol of the 1990s recession until its demolition in 2006. On the far left of the image you can just see the top of the under-construction Spire Condos, which was completed in 2007 by Context Development and stands at 144m.
However, flash-forward to 2023, and the same view is considerably enhanced: Temperance Street, which underwent a recently-completed beautification, is now paved with wider sidewalks and landscaping, and 'the stump' site has been transformed by the 51-storey Bay Adelaide West (217.92m, on the extreme right of the image), the 44-storey Bay Adelaide East (195m, middle-left), and Arnell Plaza in between them. Although not pictured, on the north side of Temperance (left in this image) is the Scotiabank North Tower at Bay Adelaide Centre, the last piece of the Bay Adelaide Centre plan, which was completed in 2022 and stands at 32-storeys (140m).
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.
