In contrast to the long-delayed opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, past capital projects in Toronto often went far more smoothly – and quickly.
The TTC’s original Yonge Street subway line took only five years to build (1949-1954). Toronto’s Bank of Commerce building on King Street, for more than 30 years the tallest structure in the British Empire, was finished in two years (1929-1931). The old Maple Leaf Gardens arena was completed in just over five months in 1931. And in the U.S., Manhattan’s iconic 102-storey Empire State Building was erected in an astonishing 13 and a half months.
Durant Motors Factory
Here in Leaside, we had our own example of a well-managed project – the Durant Motors factory and office complex, built during the 1920s. Durant Motors Canada established itself in Leaside in September 1921, purchasing from Canada Wire and Cable the former Leaside Munitions building. Durant planned to use this building as a machine shop and immediately construct additional buildings for car assembly and auto-body manufacture. Production began in early March 1922 and quickly reached over 100 cars per day.
Within months, demand had grown so great that the need for even more buildings became obvious and urgent. Construction on these facilities began in August 1922. By early December, they were virtually complete. There were six buildings in total, two of which were three storeys high and over 400 feet long. Another was over 500 feet long. The contractor for this huge complex was the Toronto firm Norman McLeod Ltd., which also did the entire designing and detailing of the project in only three days. At its peak, the job involved as many as 350 workers and at least 23 subcontractors and suppliers. Materials used included: 20,000 barrels of cement; 500,000 bricks and 65,000 sq. ft. of glass. And it all took just four months at a cost of $750,000.
Durant Motors headquarters
Six years later, in 1928-29, Durant Motors repeated this achievement with the construction of its two-storey, 177 ft.-long, head office building on the west side of Laird Drive. Designed by Toronto architect Robert Stacey Hambleton (1879-1948), it was built and ready for occupancy in seven months – thanks to the efficient management of the project’s contractor, Jackson-Lewis Co. Ltd.
Yesterday and today
Today, both projects would take much longer to complete. There are good reasons for this. Modern projects must satisfy numerous important and legitimate expectations – among them environmental impact assessments, stricter workplace and public safety regulations, and community consultation requirements. Projects undertaken 100 or 75 years ago faced these issues less frequently. The bar is much higher now.
Still, there are times when one is tempted to marvel, rightly or wrongly, at the speed and efficiency of past projects – projects like the construction of Durant Motors’ Leaside operations.
Sources: The Contract Record, December 27, 1922; Toronto City Archives photographs; Toronto Star, Globe and Mail and Financial Post online archives.
