Excerpt from www1.toronto.ca:
Skywalk
Era: Post-War
Style: Post-Modern
The completion of the Skydome (now Rogers Centre) marked a substantial milestone in the deindustrialization of Toronto’s obsolete industrial lands south of Front Street. It was the first major investment within the railway lands since the CN Tower. Opening in 1989, the Skywalk, designed by the IBI Group, was created as a means of facilitating and promoting pedestrian access to and from the stadium; reducing parking requirement and promoting use of public transit. Skywalk connects the lands adjacent to the stadium with Union Station, the Metro Convention Centre and Toronto’s PATH system. Easy and climate controlled access is facilitated from the City’s core to the lands south of the railway.
The Skywalk was completed in 1989 to coincide with the completion of the Rogers Centre. Designed in the arcade style, the Skywalk consists of a large glazed passageway enclosed by a semi-circular arched roof reminiscent of early century European pedestrian areas. The Skywalks begins at the western most side of Union Station, passes through the second and third stories of the Canadian National Express building and crosses the Toronto rail viaduct at Simcoe Street. South of the railway the Skywalk traverses through the south end of the Metro Convention Centre and terminates in the plaza adjacent to the CN Tower, Roundhouse and Rogers Centre. The skywalk is a piece of urban infrastructure of growing importance; connecting the city to the increasingly developed rail lands. Furthermore, the skywalk offers unique views of Toronto’s existing rail activity and provides a physical connection between to the district’s two national historic sites: the Roundhouse and Union Station.
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