|
Mimico Station Community Organization |
|
About the Mimico Station |
|
Film negative by J.V. Salmon, May 15, 1955 |
|
A Brief History of the Station The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) opened the Mimico yards in 1906 and built the Mimico Station in 1916. In 1923 the GTR was officially amalgamated with CNR. As time went on, the neighbourhoods of Mimico were designed with architecture suitable for housing the many railway families who moved to the area. During the steam era, the Mimico yards were considered the main freight terminal for the City of Toronto. The Mimico CNR terminal was home to three separate but interlocking railway departments: the motive power department, which operated the roundhouse and operations of all locomotives at Mimico; the car department which looked after the inspection and repairs of the fleet of freight cars; the yard or traffic department which operated the maze of tracks and switches. |
|
In 1991 the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada compiled a report as to the suitability of designating the station as a national historic site which acknowledged the lack of a viable body to undertake its restoration. The property remained abandoned until it was sold in 2001. The City of Toronto was advised that the purchaser would seek to demolish the building. Since the building encroached slightly on the CN access to the tracks, its ticket booth and southwest corner were demolished and the former train station property was fenced in. In November of 2002, Toronto City Council stated its intention to designate the building. In June 2004, an RFP was issued for the relocation, restoration and adaptive reuse of the building, with the preferred site being Coronation Park, a stone’s throw from the original location. In November 2004 the Mimico Station Community Organization, a group formed exclusively to save and restore the station were given permission to proceed with their project. The group has completed all of the preliminary work that can be done until the Station is moved to its permanent location. In the summer of 2007, it is anticipated the Station will be moved to Coronation Park. (See above map for location). |
|
Location Major intersection: Royal York Rd. and Evans Ave. Click on the map for directions. |
|
In 1955, the roundhouse at the yards burned down. In the late 1960s, CN ceased to use the Station as a passenger terminal, and GO Transit built a new shelter on the east side of Royal York Rd. CN continued to use the Station as a place to sleep for its workers between shifts until the late 1980s. |
