William McBrien Building

Add links
Coordinates: 43°41′52″N 79°23′48″W / 43.69778°N 79.39667°W / 43.69778; -79.39667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
McBrien Building
City of Toronto government
Technical details
Floor count7
Design and construction
Architect(s)Charles B. Dolphin

William McBrien Building (formally known as the W. C. McBrien Building) is the administrative headquarters of the

Yonge Subway.[1] The TTC's Customer Service Centre is located on the ground floor of the building.[2]

The building is 28 metres (92 ft) wide, 50 metres (163 ft) long and contains 11,000 square metres (120,000 sq ft) of floor space. Its exterior is made of limestone quarried at

Queenston, Ontario. The main-floor lobby is lined with light brown Italian marble. The building incorporates an entrance to Davisville subway station located below street level as well as bus bays at ground level. The building design allows for expansion from its current seven storeys to ten storeys.[1]

Prior to the opening of the McBrien Building, the TTC head office was in the old Toronto Board of Trade Building (built 1890 and demolished 1958) located at the north-east corner of Yonge and Front streets. This was the TTC's first permanent home since April 1922. The TTC outgrew the old building with its limited floor space, and starting in 1928, the TTC had to acquire space elsewhere. Starting in 1953, functions such as purchasing, safety, research, engineering, among others were moved to the J.G. Inglis Building at the Hillcrest Complex. In 1958, the executive, legal and treasury functions moved to the McBrien Building.[1]

Relocation

In 2015, the TTC considered relocating from the building because of ongoing concerns about the state of the building and for head office staff to be in one location.[3] Earlier plans to relocate to Yonge and York Mills had been rejected for costs.[4] As of 2022, the TTC plans to move its headquarters out of the building in 2025, with a TTC master control centre remaining there until 2028. The move would consolidate office space and free up municipally-owned property for redevelopment. The city of Toronto intends to preserve the heritage aspects of the building.[5]

Besides 1900 Yonge, the TTC leases seven other locations to house head office staff.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Louis H. Pursley (1961). The Toronto Trolley Car Story 1921–1961. Interurbans: electric railway publications. p. 138.
  2. ^ "Customer Service". Toronto Transit Commission. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Tess Kalinowski (November 20, 2015). "TTC wants to get out of 'hellhole' headquarters". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  4. ^ "New TTC head office plan draws fire". CBC News Toronto. May 5, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2015. TTC commissioners will consider the proposal to build a new head office at 4050 Yonge St., at the intersection of York Mills Road.
  5. ^ Spurr, Ben (May 27, 2022). "Rail Deck Park has stalled, but a similar plan is now being proposed for TTC's Davisville yard". Toronto Star.
  6. ^ "TTC, Build Toronto studying future head office needs". Coupler. Toronto Transit Commission. May 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2015.

External links

Media related to McBrien Building at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_McBrien_Building&oldid=1153965592"