Since the summer of 2015, a temporary structure at 125 The Esplanade has been hosting the Saturday farmers market and Sunday antique market events which until then had been a fixture of Toronto's St. Lawrence Market North building. The last major news about that building, soon to be replaced, came almost one year ago, when the discovery of long-buried 19th century foundations of the market's predecessor was announced following an archaeological dig.

Since July, demolition prep work has been going on in the existing structure. With the bulk of that work now complete, the City of Toronto has announced that demolition and a further archaeological assessment of the North Market is officially slated to begin next week. The process is expected to take six months, though the discovery of further buried artifacts or other items with historical value could extend timelines beyond the initial estimate.

St. Lawrence Market North, image by Marcus Mitanis

Construction of the new five-storey North Market—designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and Adamson Associates Architects—has been tentatively slated to begin in 2017, opening as early as 2019.

"The current North St. Lawrence Market is underutilized and does not maximize the full potential of the St. Lawrence Market Complex," said Deputy Mayor and Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale Pam McConnell. "The redevelopment will create a landmark destination within the St. Lawrence neighbourhood and enhance one of the top-ranked farmers markets in the world."

Northwest view of the new North Market, image courtesy of City of Toronto

For more information and renderings of St. Lawrence Market North, click on our dataBase file, linked below. Want to talk about the project? Click on the associated Forum thread link, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.