

Codi Wilson, CP24.com





The City of Toronto is taking legal action to terminate a tenant’s 50-year lease on a vacant Queen Street market that is owned by the municipality.

The St. Patrick’s Market, located on Queen Street West near St. Patrick Street, has been closed for more than a year and Mayor John Tory says the city wants to reclaim the building to breathe new life into the shuttered structure.

“The city certainly has a very keen interest in activating that public space and making sure it is used for the benefit of what is a bustling, growing, dynamic neighbourhood in the city and not sitting largely dormant,” Tory said on Wednesday morning.

The market, which was once occupied by food vendors, was shut down by Toronto Public Health in 2017 after two mice were caught on camera snacking on baked goods.

It briefly reopened but the vendors quickly disappeared and eventually padlocks appeared on the doors, barring people from entering.

“When you have a public asset like this, that is owned by the public, and you see it being underutilized and not put to the uses for which it might have been intended, then I think you do have some responsibility to look at ways at which we can recapture the availability of that public asset and make sure it is put to better use,” Tory said.

Tory said the city’s lawyers are pursuing different avenues to try to reclaim the space but noted that negotiations could still be undertaken.

“There is always a negotiated route that says that it is important enough for the public to have the situation change that you find a way to exit that contract,” he added.

Tory did not say specifically what the city’s vision for the space will be.

Speaking to CBC Toronto, George Friedmann, the operator of Market Inc., which currently leases the building, said he was surprised by the city’s actions, claiming all rent has been paid on time.

He added that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on renovations.