Excerpt from www1.toronto.ca:
The John Street Roundhouse: 222 Bremner Boulevard
Era: Pre-War
Style: Industrial
Heritage Status: Designated National Historic Site 1990, Municipally Designated 1985, 1996
The roundhouse was designed by the Montreal firm Anglin-Norcross. The main piece of the roundhouse was built in 1929, with subsequent additions, including the machine shop, built throughout the 1930’s. The complex is located in the railway lands, bounded by Lower Simcoe to the east, Bremner Boulevard to the north, Rees Street to the west and Lake Shore Boulevard to the south. It sits in the centre of the newly created Roundhouse Park.
Originally known as the CPR John Street Roundhouse, the building functioned as a multi-purpose steam locomotive servicing centre used for maintenance, inspection and storage for trains.
According to the National Historic Site Statement of Commemorative Integrity: “The John Street Roundhouse complex was constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1929-31 to service steam passenger locomotives using the nearby Union Station. The roundhouse was a state-of-the-art structure and the most advanced in Canada as it incorporated a new direct-steaming technology that had just recently been developed in the United States. For almost two decades following its construction the John Street Roundhouse was one of the most important and busiest roundhouse complexes, servicing passenger locomotives in the national rail system... [The John Street Roundhouse] is the best surviving example of a roundhouse in Canada.”
This is the only structure of this kind left in Toronto after the demolition of the Spadina roundhouse for development of the Skydome (Rogers Centre). The Toronto Historical Board identifies the roundhouse as being “architecturally and historically important, surviving as a reminder of steam technology and the role of rail transportation in the City of Toronto”.
In addition to the roundhouse building itself, the adjacent water tower, sand and coal loader and turntable site are also considered part of the roundhouse complex and recognized as having national historic significance. Similarly, the roundhouse site contains the only remaining portion of a cast iron and steel fence built in 1926 as part of the Toronto Viaduct and infill project. This fence used to run from Lower Simcoe Street to west of Spadina Road and marked the top of the concrete retaining wall that separated the harbour from
the railway lands. This fence remains a living artifact between Lower Simcoe and Rees streets as it continues to protect the sixteen-foot drop from Roundhouse Park to Lake Shore Boulevard., as well as illustrating the city’s changing relationship to its harbour.
A collection of rail artifacts, including several historic rail cars from a number of eras is currently being held within the Roundhouse. There are plans by the Toronto Railway Historical Association and the City of Toronto’s Economic Development Culture and Tourism Division to transform a portion of the John Street Roundhouse, Roundhouse Park and Union Station into a rail museum.
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