What the Port Lands used to look like

Even if a Ferris wheel isn't in the cards, the Port Lands is one of those areas in Toronto that will inevitably be transformed over the next decade and beyond. The plans may change around a bit in the coming years, but the remaining industrial character of the area will certainly erode as new developments proceed. To some degree it already has. Hidden behind the non-descript buildings on streets like Polson and Villiers are recording studios and other creative spaces, not to mention the massive Pinewood film complex on Commissioners Street.

So even as the full-scale revitalization of the Port Lands remains a project in waiting, the neighbourhood — if it's fair to call it that — is one in transition. Although the area might seem a picture of arrested development, a look back at its past reveals that change is taking place, just not at the breakneck speed some people would like.

Back in the 1970s, the Port Lands were very much in use as an industrial hub. The Hearn Generating Station, now a palace for urban explorers, was still operational, oil tanks littered the landscape, and the sight of a ship coming and going was a regular occurrence. Aerial photos from this period help to explain why redevelopment efforts have necessarily been a slow process. Years of industrial use contaminated the land in the area, not all of which has been cleaned up to this day.

As was the case elsewhere, the 1980s witnessed a decline in industrial use — though not to the same degree as places like Liberty Village — and the transition towards a mixed-use identity got underway. That was about 65 years after the Port Lands became an active hub of heavy industrial use at the start of the First World War. It's no mournful thing that this area is slated for clean-up and redevelopment, but if you're looking to connect with the city's industrial past, there are still plenty of signs of it here — at least for now.

PHOTOS

Cherry Street looking south, 1898

Cherry Street looking north, 1898

Cherry Street Bridge, 1915

Ship launching, ca. 1915

Construction on Cherry Street Bridge

Cherry Street Bridge, 1920

Port Lands refineries, 1930

Villiers Street looking east, 1932

Cherry Bathing Station, 1932

Cherry Beach, 1935

Joy Oil Tanks, 1938

Streetcar shipment, 1963

Port Lands, 1970s

Leslie Street Spit, 1970s

Aerial view, 1970s

Cherry Street, 1970s

Looking across Woodbine Beach, 1975

Fill/garbage on Leslie Street Spit, 1977

Aerial of Port Lands, 1980s

Alternate angle, 1980s

Wrecked cars in the Port Lands, 1980s

Hearn Generating Station, 1980s

Cherry Street, 1988

Keating Channel, 1988

Ship Channel, 1988

All photos from the Toronto Archives