If you’ve been in downtown Toronto’s west end, you may have noticed the towering, bright yellow structures that have been put up at Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue.

These structures are catching the attention of passersby who, especially given the artistic nature of the neighbourhood, might mistake them for avant-garde art installations.

Called retention towers, the structures are just one example of how Metrolinx is focused on the preservation of Toronto’s rich architectural history while building an all-new subway line through the heart of Canada’s largest city.

Toronto is expanding and its population is growing exponentially. The past four years have seen the city’s population increase roughly 0.93 per cent annually, yet transit hasn’t been keeping up for decades.

A new subway line, the Ontario Line, is one of the ways we will help meet the growing demand for transit. The subway is expected to see nearly 400,000 daily boardings and is projected to reduce major crowding at the existing Union and Bloor-Yonge subway stations by up to 14 and 22 per cent, respectively.

Including the Ontario Line, we’re building six major projects in Toronto right now that will add three brand new lines to the rapid transit network and significantly expand three existing lines. Further west, Mississauga and Hamilton are each getting their first light rail transit routes. Plus, we're expanding GO Train service across the region.

And while providing more public transit to match demand is clearly needed, new transit projects can sometimes mean changes for cities’ heritage landscapes, especially if they’re being constructed in very densely-built neighbourhoods.

New York’s Pennsylvania Station, an architectural jewel built in 1910, was completely demolished in 1963 due to changing transportation needs. Similarly, London’s Euston Arch, the original entrance to Euston Station built in 1837, was demolished in 1962 to be replaced with more modern rail infrastructure. The Architectural Review even christened it the ‘Euston Murder.

However, much has been done in the decades since to ensure heritage and transit can co-exist.

Queen and Spadina

With the Ontario Line, we’re crafting a transit legacy that preserves heritage.

That's why we're working to preserve the heritage facades at a handful of buildings across the future subway line. Let's take a closer look at two examples in the downtown core.

The entrance to the future Queen-Spadina Station, on the northeast corner of the intersection, will incorporate a beautiful heritage building built in the early 1900s. The building, which was commissioned by the Bank of Hamilton in 1902, features an easily recognizable red-brick exterior, classically-inspired stone columns and ornate embellishments.

We’re retaining and preserving the heritage elements on the outside of this building while demolishing the interior to build the subway station, which includes a shaft that descends 35 metres below ground to connect with the underground subway tunnel.

Heritage experts carefully documented, catalogued and dismantled one part of the façade in a process called panelization—where the façade was cut into twelve large panels and removed one at a time using a crane—and taken to an off-site storage location.  

Another part of the façade will stay in place throughout construction—hence the bright yellow retention towers. These ten towers can be likened to a sturdy spine, supporting the body and maintaining the posture of a historical building façade while work takes place.

Finally, workers also removed other bricks one at a time, to be salvaged and stored so that all of these components will later be returned and become part of the new subway station, honouring the architectural legacy of this important Toronto intersection.

King and Bathurst

Heading southwest, there are some less bold (this time blue) but just as significant heritage retention towers at King Street West and Bathurst Street.

Heritage preservation efforts are also underway at the future King-Bathurst station entrance building, and similar to the ones at Queen-Spadina, these towers help to protect the original building façade during Ontario Line construction.

The building at 663 King Street West was originally constructed for the Canada Biscuit Company in 1900. It’s representative of an early 20^th century Toronto commercial building, featuring red brick, sandstone and subtle detailing throughout.

The Bank of Montreal took over as the main tenant of the building from 1923 until the 1990s. Next, the aptly named Banknote Pub moved in on the main floor.

In addition to the retention towers, and similar to the Queen-Spadina location, brick-by-brick salvaging is also taking place at this site to ensure the heritage elements will be intricately woven into its future transit use.

War Memorial and Osgoode Fence

At the corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue, one of Toronto’s most recognizable statues was also moved to make space for construction of the Ontario Line.

The South African War Memorial, which was designed by Walter S. Allward and finished in 1911, stands at approximately 70 feet high and was a defining feature of that intersection.

The statue has already been moved twice: in 1947, the city made University Avenue wider, and construction crews put the monument on rollers to shift it approximately 20 feet west. In 1960, the statue was moved again, this time while Toronto was building the Yonge-University subway line.

For its present-day move, we undertook a meticulous process, enlisting the help of heritage experts Clifford Restoration.

Heritage storage and restoration

Whether it’s a war memorial or heritage building facades – great care is being taken with these important pieces of Toronto’s history.  

One other interesting piece of Toronto lore that’s being saved is the 156-year-old ornate iron fence that enveloped the historic Osgoode Hall. A section of the fence was temporarily taken apart and is now in storage. Once the future Osgoode Station is completed, the fence will be reinstated and find its place at the heart of a modern transit station design.

You might be wondering, where are all these fascinating relics being kept in the meantime?

They’re being housed at a local heritage storage and restoration facility. They’ll remain there until work on the Ontario Line is done, getting some much-needed care in the process.

As the Ontario Line takes shape, with construction underway at almost all the downtown sites, there are plenty of reasons for Torontonians to get excited about a new subway that will meet the city’s growing transit needs. By carefully preserving pieces of Toronto heritage, the project becomes more than just a transit upgrade—but also a way to ensure the city’s history lives on.