20 buildings about to be demolished ahead of new Toronto subway station

A block and a half of businesses in Toronto's Pape Village area will soon meet the proverbial wrecking ball (because we can't have fun demolitions in this town) to make way for a subway station on the upcoming Ontario Line.

Metrolinx will soon begin demolition on a group of 20 properties along the west side of Pape Avenue both north and south of Cosburn Avenue, all of which were controversially expropriated as a casualty of the new 15-stop, 15.6-kilometre subway route.

Approximately two dozen businesses along this stretch were ordered by the transit agency to close their doors by Sept. 1, 2024, gutting the block of basically all activity for several months now.

Affected businesses are located along a 200-metre strip on the west side of Pape Avenue between Gamble and Gowan Avenues, and include George's BBQ Chicken & Ribs, Coin Laundry Cleaners, Phyllo Cafe, C Market European Deli, Subway, Pharmasave Pape Medical and Pape Fruit Market, among others.

Metrolinx

The transit agency announced that demolition will begin as early as March 17, 2025, and the process is expected to last four to five months.

A recent construction notice was sent out ahead of the upcoming work, notifying the public that the teardown of the Metrolinx-owned properties would begin in the coming weeks, and sharing details of the process ahead.

The now-vacant businesses occupy the future location of the Ontario Line's Cosburn Station, an underground stop along the line's eastern stretch.

Locals can expect the site to be fenced off later this month in preparation for utility disconnections, abatement work (removal of potentially sensitive materials) and interior demolition.

Materials deemed "potentially sensitive" will be "carefully removed" during this stage of prep.

These early stages of demolition prep will require short-term lane closures that could contribute to traffic in the area.

Once abatement and utility disconnections are completed, work will move on to structural demolitions of the building shells.

The process is expected to stretch into the summer months, with working hours planned to span Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Toronto business owner claims Metrolinx 'screwed all small businesses' in neighbourhoodhttps://t.co/v2X3sfKiOm

— blogTO (@blogTO) August 9, 2024

Following structural demolition, crews will begin to prepare the future station site for excavation — a process already well underway for stations along the line's tunnelled section through downtown Toronto.

Metrolinx projections state that approximately 10,300 people will be within walking distance of Cosburn Station by 2041.