More than a decade of renovations at Toronto's Union Station are now complete
It took six years longer than expected and nearly $200 million more than the initial budget called for but the renovation of Union Station is now finally complete.
Mayor John Tory made the announcement on Tuesday morning as he stood inside the revitalized Bay Street concourse as it reopened to commuters for the first time since 2015.
The new concourse was initially supposed to be completed within two years but a number of unforeseen issues resulted in the timeline being repeatedly pushed back.
The finished product spans more than 60,000 square feet and is more than double the size of the previous concourse. It also connects to a new retail area with more than 36,000 square feet of new retail space.
“Today I'm not going to get into a long history of the project, much of the history and the frustrations predated my time as mayor. But the bottom line is that Union Station is now ready to more completely welcome people back to downtown Toronto just as we reopen the city in the wake of the pandemic and try to move ahead with getting the city back to where it needs to be economically and in every other respect and this, this was no easy task.” Tory said.
“Throughout this revitalization the most remarkable thing is that Union Station has remained open to provide both train passengers, GO train passengers and TTC customers with the continued availability of service. It is kind of like renovating a historical heritage house and living in the house during the entire renovation. You think well ‘Are there going to be days when the plumbing is shut off and we can’t have a shower?’ Well we couldn't afford to have a situation where there was just days where GO train service was shut down or VIA trains couldn't come in and out of here or where the TTC couldn't operate.”
The renovation of Union Station began back in 2010 and was initially supposed to be completed by 2015 but the project was plagued by numerous issues, including several disputes with contractors and further delays resulting from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were also significant cost overruns associated with the renovations, which pushed the initial budget from $640 million when work began in 2010 to $824 million.
Tory, however, insisted on Tuesday that they final product will end up being a “good investment” for taxpayers.
The city says that the renovations effectively tripled the amount of concourse space for GO Transit commuters while adding 160,000 square feet of new retail space, a new food court in the York concourse and a revitalized VIA rail concourse and lounge.
“There is no better time to have this actually happen. We might have wanted to have it happen sooner for a bunch of reasons but there's no better time than to have it happen as the city is reopening itself and beginning what I know is going to be a robust recovery from the effects of the pandemic,” Tory said.
“This hub in all of its incarnations is going to help us improve our economic competitiveness, it is going to help increase economic activity and it is going to help us meet our climate change goals by making it more inviting for people to use public transportation and these are all mutually beneficial goals for all the people of the GTHA and in particular the City of Toronto.”
Mayor John Tory is shown inside a revitalized Bay Street concourse at Union Station on Tuesday morning.
Officials say that some minor cosmetic work will continue at Union Station until the end of this month, at which construction will be officially complete.
They say that the main lease holder at Union Station will open the remaining retail spaces “on a rolling basis throughout 2022,” including a new market and a TD Bank branch.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.