Hearn Generating Station

Hearn Generating Station
The station's current appearance
Map
CountryCanada
LocationToronto, Ontario
Coordinates43°38.730′N 79°20.105′W / 43.645500°N 79.335083°W / 43.645500; -79.335083
StatusDecommissioned
Commission date1951
Decommission date1983
OwnerStudios of America
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Turbine technologySteam turbine
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

The Richard L. Hearn Generating Station (named after Richard Lankaster Hearn) is a decommissioned electrical generating station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The plant was originally fired by coal, but later converted to burn natural gas. The plant has been described as "Pharaonic in scale",[1] and encompasses 650 thousand cubic metres of space[1]—large enough to fit 12 Parthenons inside.[2]

Hearn Generating Station operating circa 1960-70s prior to the construction of the superstack

The plant is located at 440 Unwin Avenue in Toronto's Port Lands area, directly south of the foot of Carlaw Avenue, across the shipping channel and next to the recently opened Portlands Energy Centre. The Richard L. Hearn Generating Station, together with the nearby Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant sewage sludge incinerator stack and the Commissioners Street waste incinerator stack, stand as towering landmarks of a bygone industrial era in the Portlands area of Toronto (all three facilities are no longer in operation, but their towering smokestacks still stand). The property was sold to Studios of America in 2018.[3]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference TorontoStar1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NationalPost1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Hearn Generating Station sold for $16M, NDP calls for appraisal of Toronto waterfront site". 23 November 2018.