New $956M Toronto courthouse that consolidates 6 sites set to open downtown
After nearly a decade of planning and construction, a new 17-storey Ontario courthouse that will replace six existing buildings across Toronto is set to open downtown in March.
Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning at the highrise facility, which is located on Armoury Street behind Toronto city hall and across from the courthouse at 361 University Ave.
The new facility will take over criminal proceedings from the following Ontario Court of Justice courthouses: 1000 Finch Ave. W., 2201 Finch Ave. W., 444 Yonge St. (College Park), 1911 Eglinton Ave. E., 60 Queen St. W. (old city hall) and 311 Jarvis St. (youth court).
Advertisement
Five out of six of those properties will close. It’s not clear what will happen to those facilities after court operations stop.
The courthouse at 2201 Finch Ave. W. will be converted into an adult bail centre for the Toronto region.
RELATED: Art installation to pay homage to history of new Toronto courthouse site
The new courthouse highrise, which cost more than $956 million to design, build, finance and maintain, has 63 courtrooms and 10 settlement conference rooms. Ontario government officials said the courtrooms are fully accessible and have video conferencing and other technological enhancements.
Questions were raised about the consolidation of those in custody at one location and potential security risks that could arise.
Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey said there are various security features inside and outside of the building, adding a lot of planning has gone into how various people move throughout the property.
Advertisement
“This has been nine years coming. We’ve thought about security at every turn. It’s been raised consistently by some groups and so it’s been incorporated in. Resources are deployed. I can’t talk about all the security features,” he told reporters Tuesday morning.
Officials touted security features such as a single point of entry with electronic screening, lockdown capabilities and video cameras.
