Dominion Public Building

Dominion Public Building
Map
Former namesToronto Customs House
General information
StatusCompleted
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts
Address1 Front Street
Town or cityToronto, Ontario
CountryCanada
Current tenantsGovernment of Canada
Construction started1926
Completed1935
OwnerLarco Investments
Design and construction
Architect(s)Thomas W. Fuller
James Henry Craig
Typegovernment office building
Built1929–1935
Original useClassified Federal Heritage Building, designated September 19, 1983
ArchitectT.W. Fuller
Architectural style(s)Beaux-Arts design with Neo-Classical decoration
OwnerPublic Works and Government Services Canada (before 2017)
DesignatedMay 10, 2017

The Dominion Public Building is a five-storey Beaux-Arts neoclassical office building built between 1926 and 1935 for the government of Canada at southeast corner of Front and Bay streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1]

The building was designed by architects Thomas W. Fuller and James Henry Craig and originally served as Toronto's federal customs clearing house for the former Department of National Revenue. It remained a federal property, housing a number of administrative and support functions for the later Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (now the Canada Revenue Agency).

The building's north facade is curved to follow the property line along Front Street east of Bay Street. To the south is CIBC Square, formerly the site of the Union Station Bus Terminal which was previously the CP Express and Freight Building which itself replaced the old Grand Trunk Freight Shed after 1904.

On January 11, 2017, Canada Lands Company announced the pending sale of the property.[2] By March 23, 2017, Larco Investments, owner of Ottawa's Chateau Laurier, had bought the Dominion Public Building.[3]

Larco is adding two mixed use towers and transforming the building into a podium for retail tenants.[4] Canada Revenue Agency is relocating staff to other locations in the GTA (Mississauga, North York (2 locations), Scarborough (Canada Centre Building) and Oshawa).[5]

  1. ^ "Dominion Public Building". Emporis. Archived from the original on June 30, 2006. Retrieved April 28, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Historic building at 1 Front St. W. up for sale, and it won't be cheap | CBC News".
  3. ^ Kalinowski, Tess (March 24, 2017). "Toronto's Dominion Public Building Sells for $275M to Vancouver Developer". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 28, 2017.
  4. ^ https://urbantoronto.ca/news/2018/07/one-front-rental-towers-retail-hotel-proposed-torontos-dominion-public-building.33356
  5. ^ https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.3929252