More on the Canada Malting Co. Silos

We told you a few weeks ago about the museum project at the site of the Canada Malting Silos.

Here's an update from the Heritage Toronto site

The other issue of import on Friday was the Canada Malting silos. Heritage Preservation Services is moving to designate the silos based on their associative, contextual and design value. This comes as the City's Facilities & Real Estate Division is seeking to demolish all but a representational stub of the footprint of a few of the silos. The Board agreed with the HPS staff recommendation that the silos are worthy of designation, and also added an amendment to recommend that the $8 million set aside by the City for this site, and which Facilities & Real Estate is suggesting be used for demolition, instead be used to stabilize and restore the silos, while demolishing the buildings to the west, which pose a public danger.
The site is apparently no longer being considered as the future home of the Museum of Toronto, and work is now underway to consider the feasibility of Old City Hall for that purpose.

Toronto Museum Project stalled

A hat tip to a QQL reader who spotted this on BQNA's website

We wrote about the Malting Silos recently, here's an update on the touted museum project.

From Councillor Vaughan's office:

The Toronto Preservation Board will be considering a report at its meeting on Friday March 27 about the Canada Malting Silos. The meeting will be taking place at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, 2nd Floor, Committee Room 4 at 2:00pm. This report will also be considered by the Toronto and East York Community Council at its meeting to be held on April 21, 2009.

Given the current financial situation, plans for the Toronto Museum Project are no longer moving forward. Councillor Vaughan can provide updates to the neighbourhood on this matter at the April public forum. With this situation, the future of the Canada Malting Silos need to be considered by the city, particularly in light of their deteriorating conditions and work that needs to be done to ensure that they do not pose a safety risk to pedestrians in the area. There are financial constraints on this but Councillor Vaughan is interested in looking at ways of preserving the elements with heritage value within these constraints.

The report is available online here:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/pb/bgrd/backgroundfile-19569.pdf

Queens Quay's history: Canada Malting Co. Silos

This week, Toronto's going to celebrate its 175th anniversary. Here at Queens Quay Life, we thought it'd be a good idea to look back at some of the landmarks in the area and give you a bit of history. Today, the Canada Malting Co. Silos.

The silos were built in 1928 and 120 metres high. It influenced European industrial architects. They've been abandoned since the 1980s.

Says a city of Toronto site.

The original silo component contains 15 grain storage bins clustered in three rows and stands 120 feet high. The 1944 silo extension contains 14 bins arranged in two rows and stands 150 feet high.

Some related blog posts here and here. And an excerpt from BlogTO.

The Canada Malting Co. silos and plant facilities at the foot of Bathurst Street is the most visible reminder of Toronto's past waterfront industrial heritage. Listed on Toronto's inventory of historic properties since 1973, it is the most intact remnant of the original silo complexes that took advantage of the harbour.

From Infiltration.org, a nice recap about the silos. It's an interesting inside look.

Inside the tower you will find the shaft for an old cage-like elevator. The other half of the shaft is inhabited by a wacky metal spiral staircase — hop on and start climbing. If heights bother you, be warned that this staircase ascends the entire length of the shaft, probably 10 or more storeys. Only a single iron handrail provides protection. If you get tired or dizzy from going in circles (I've had eerie dreams of climbing these stairs), there are doorways at every floor where you can get off and explore some very cool rooms and derelict machinery. Keep in mind that these rooms are the areas where you may encounter gaping holes in the floor. There are many great views of the city skyline all the way up, too.

Read more here.

There have been proposals that it would be a music hall of fame or a museum showcasing the city's history.

Here's a city web site that mentions the Silos as the potential museum site.