Maple Leaf Mills Silos
Maple Leaf Mills Silos was one of two silo complexes that built the area between Spadina Quay and Maple Leaf Quay, on Toronto Harbour, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was also one of three silos that was found along the city's waterfront.
Built in 1928, the silos marked an age when goods were being shipped into Toronto. Towards the end, the silos also marked the ports decline and the desire to remove the industrial eyesore along Toronto's waterfront. They were removed in 1983.
History
The first silo structure was opened in 1928 by the Toronto Elevator Company and built by Carter Construction Company, and was referred to as Playfair Elevators. The first silos had capacity for 2 million bushels and was later doubled.[1] Tracks next to the elevators were connected to the CN Spadina Yard.[1]
When the Toronto Elevator Company merged with Maple Leaf Flour, the silos were renamed Maple Leaf Mills.
Decline of Toronto Harbour and demise of the silos
With the decline in use of Toronto harbour as a shipping centre in the 1980s and redevelopment of the waterfront, the future of the silos was set.
When Maple Leaf Mills facility at Port Colborne was destroyed by fire in 1960, milling operations came to Toronto. The Port Colborne facilities were rebuilt at a smaller scale, but it eventually took over milling operations after 1983.
Unlike the fate of the Victory Soya Mills and Canada Malting silos, the Maple Leaf Silos were demolished in the 1983 in the haste to remove the industrial eyesore and blight along the waterfront.
Renewal
In 1989 Harbour Terrace condominiums was completed on half of the old silo site, but the remaining half of the site sat vacant. In 2000, Toronto Fire Services Station 334 and Toronto EMS Station 36 was opened at the southwest end of the site[2]
After two decades the city facilitated the creation of HTO Park West in 2007 and thus completed the revitalization of the entire site.