The head office for Toronto Hydro is located at 14 Carlton Street in downtown Toronto. This wonderful Art Deco building was designed by architects Chapman and Oxley, and completed in 1931. The building is constructed of steel and concrete and faced with Queenston limestone.
Behind the building, in the area bounded by Wood Street and Reverend Porter Lane, there is a parking lot for the Toronto Hydro staff. This is no ordinary parking lot – it has a very unique feature: a black stainless steel fence surrounds the lot and commemorates Toronto Hydro’s history with vignettes from the past 100 years. Featuring stylized photography and plaques, the fence was installed in 2016 and highlights important projects for Toronto such as the completion of the CN Tower and the installation of the urban wind turbine on the Exhibition grounds. As far as I could see during my visit, the fence’s timeline begins in 1910 and ends in 2015. Sometimes when I pass by here I’ll stop to read the interesting historical vignettes on the fence. It’s a great addition to the neighbourhood.
Having lived beside this for years, I remember it fondly. I passed it so often. I think it is not very well known, hidden away on Wood Street. Thanks for highlighting it.
I was thinking of you guys when I shot and posted this, and remember thinking “I bet they saw this every day…”. Glad you enjoyed 🙂