Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building
Location 255 Front Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 2W6
Coordinates 43°38′39″N 79°23′12″W / 43.64417°N 79.38667°W / 43.64417; -79.38667
Owner Oxford Properties
Built 1980s
Opened October 1984
Theatre seating
 1330 seats
Enclosed space
 • Total space over 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2)
 • Exhibit hall floor over 460,000 sq ft (43,000 m2)
 • Breakout/meeting 64 rooms
 • Ballroom 2 ballrooms
75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) total
Public transit access Union Station
Website www.mtccc.com

Metro Toronto Convention Centre (originally and still colloquially Metro Convention Centre,[1][2][3] and sometimes MTCC), is a convention complex located in downtown Toronto along Front Street West in the former Railway Lands. The property is today owned by Oxford Properties. The centre is operated by the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre Corporation, an independent agency of the Government of Ontario.

Description

The MTCC has 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) of space, and is home to the 1330-seat John Bassett Theatre. To the east end of the complex is the 586-room InterContinental Toronto Centre hotel (formerly Canadian National Railway's L'Hotel CN).[4] At the west end of the complex is a 265,000 square foot Class-B office building.[5] Within the office building is the Baton Rouge restaurant, which was formerly a Planet Hollywood from 1996 to 2006. A south building containing exhibition space is located south of the rail lines, on Bremner Boulevard.

The centre is connected to the Union Station railway and transit station through the SkyWalk, and is also accessible via the underground PATH system. The centre is also connected by the Skywalk system to the nearby Rogers Centre and large conventions or exhibitions will sometimes also use it as an additional venue.

History

The site was formerly federally owned Railway Lands. Prior to the early 1980s the site was home to tail end tracks and a parking lot. During the 1970s the site was part of the proposed and failed "Metro Centre" development which sought to convert the large rail lands in one large development. Development instead proceeded in parcel-by-parcel fashion, with developments such as Roy Thomson Hall, the CN Tower and the SkyDome stadium. The rail yards were transferred to new locations north and east of Toronto. The main rail lines south of the Centre were retained.

The convention centre and hotel was completed in 1984, built by CN Real Estate designed by Architects Crang and Boake. In 1995, ownership was transferred to Canada Lands Corporation, an agency of the Government of Canada. A new largely underground addition, designed by Bregman + Hamann Architects, was added south of the railways, east of the CN Tower in 1997 to expand convention space. In April 2011, the Canada Lands Corporation announced that the centre and hotel was for sale. OMERS-owned Oxford Properties won the rights to the complex in August 2011.[6] The purchase of the North Building, the hotel, the 277 Front Street West office building and a 1,200 stall parking facility was completed in September 2011 for $238 million.[7] The complex was adjacent to other Oxford-owned properties at 315 and 325 Front Street.[5]

In October 2012, Oxford Properties proposed the re-development of the site with an updated convention centre, casino, hotel and retail complex.[8] The current MTCC complex would be demolished and replaced with a new complex.

Events

The centre has hosted many large-scale events over the years. The G-20 summit was held at the centre on June 26 and June 27, 2010. It was the same venue for the 14th G7 summit held in 1988. The 1985 NHL Entry Draft was held at the centre. It has also hosted the XVI International AIDS Conference in 2006. As well, it has played host to Toronto auditions for So You Think You Can Dance Canada and Canadian Idol. It has also been the site of numerous political conventions, and was the annual home of the NHL Awards. Fan Expo is held here, as well as the Canadian International Auto Show. The 2016 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference will be held here as well.[9]

According to an August 2012 statement of the convention centre corporation, the centre has held 15,000 events and had 40 million visitors since opening in 1984. Direct spending by related to conventions and exhibitions is estimated at $4.7 billion since opening, and $523.7 million in the 2011–12 financial year of the centre.[10]

See also

Other convention venues in the Greater Toronto Area:

References

  1. ↑ 'I don't want to be a victim', Toronto Star, November 11, 2009
  2. ↑ Child poverty, climate top McGuinty's list, Toronto Star, 2007
  3. ↑ Miller seeks financial security for G20, Toronto Sun – February 22, 2010
  4. ↑ intercontinental toronto centre fact sheet intercontinental. Docstoc.com (2009-12-07). Retrieved on 2013-07-26.
  5. 1 2 "Oxford Properties to Acquire Metro Toronto Convention Centre Complex from Canada Lands Company" (Press release). Oxford Properties. August 18, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  6. ↑ Ladurantaye, Steve (August 18, 2011). "Oxford Properties to buy Toronto Convention Centre". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  7. ↑ "Canada Lands 2011–12 Annual Report" (PDF). Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  8. ↑ Massive $3B casino project proposed for Front Street | CTV Toronto News. Toronto.ctvnews.ca (2012-10-12). Retrieved on 2013-07-26.
  9. ↑ "Logistics". partner.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  10. ↑ "The Metro Toronto Convention Centre Generates $4.7 billion in Economic Impact to the Community Over the Past 27 Years" (Press release). Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre Corporation. August 29, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
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