Union Station’s Bay St. concourse closed until 2017
Posted August 14, 2015 1:03 pm.
Last Updated August 17, 2015 5:41 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Bay Street concourse at Toronto’s Union Station is closed for renovations for two years.
When the concourse reopens in 2017, it will be with a complete makeover, Anne Marie Aikins, media relations for Metrolinx, told CityNews.
“(The concourse) opened in 1979 and hasn’t been renovated since,” she said.
The closure began Sunday. Thousands of transit riders have had to adjust their route and use the York Street concourse instead, which was recently renovated.
The Bay concourse will be demolished and rebuilt to mirror the York concourse. It will be 61,000 square feet, an increase from 40,000 square feet.
“It’ll be bright and open with accessible washrooms, good elevators and stairwells,” Aikins described.
The city’s construction crew will work around the clock but no services will be shut down, Aikins explained.
The concourse will be level with the TTC entrances so that people don’t have to go up and down staircases.
Restaurants and cafes in the concourse are expected to be in place by the end of the year.
The restaurants haven’t been announced yet because they are currently signing leases with Metrolinx.
“It will be a mix of local independents as well as larger chains,” Aikins said.
Coffee kiosks will be open in the meantime until all the restaurants are open.
The city has estimated the renovation for both concourses will cost $100 million, Aikins said.
The renovation is part of the station’s overall revitalization project, which is increasing the capacity of the station.
