St. Lawrence North Market construction on hold for archeological dig
The $91.5-million project to erect a new north building at St. Lawrence Market is expected to be complete by the summer of 2020.

TheStar.com
July 25, 2017
Vjosa Isai

With coffee cups and empty cigarette packets strewn on the empty plot of land near the St. Lawrence Market’s north side, and no workers in sight, the space hardly looks like the future home of a showpiece addition to the bustling tourist area.

And three months after council approved more funding to salvage archeological artifacts found at the new St. Lawrence Market north building site, the work has not yet begun.

On April 26, council approved a $200,000 project to salvage more of the archeological remains discovered at the North Market site.

A contract for the job has not been awarded, said spokesperson Natasha Hinds Fitzsimmins, and the city does not have a timeline for the dig, but expects the job to take two to three weeks.

This project could result in changes made to the tender for the construction contract, Hinds Fitzsimmins said in an email. The tender’s closing date is currently posted as August 1.

The items that the city would like to salvage include portions of a large arched flagstone sewer, dating back to between 1831 and 1850. Drains, stone foundations from previous markets, brick and stone piers, and stone roof supports and other items uncovered at the site may also be salvaged.

Since September 2015, 15,000 artifacts have been found at the site, across from the St. Lawrence market at Front and Jarvis Sts.

Artifacts from the market, like animal remains, meat hooks, ceramics, metal items, and glass were among the smaller objects found at the site. Objects like this were cleaned off and stowed away, said Peter Popkin, an archeologist who explored the site during the excavation phase.

But salvaging larger objects like the main sewer line and other structural remnants from older versions of the St. Lawrence Market was not in the scope of the excavation, he said.

Despite the wait for a new building, these historical finds are intriguing to some residents.

Shawn Young, a sales representative at Sol-exotica Tanning spa facing the east side of the site, said he’s excited by the archeological findings.

“It’s sort of sad that it’s not going to be completed until (2020) when we thought it was going to be done soon and sort of vamp up the area quicker,” he said.

Construction hasn’t noticeably affected business and clients aren’t bothered by it, Young said.

Some locals have gotten used to the site, which faces a double-decker tour bus stop.

“When it was going in the demolition phase it was much worse. Now it’s better, at least (there’s) no noise,” said Eugene Dyblenko, who walks by the area to get to work.

Council approved the strategy to redevelop the North Market property in late 2008.

Construction of the five-storey building has been bogged down by delays. Initially, the project was expected to be complete by 2014, and then by the 2015 Pan Am Games, and was pushed back again following design changes and cost overruns.

The project was initially budgeted for $75-million in 2010, in 2013, council approved a $16-million funding increase to accommodate changes including more underground parking space, bringing the cost to $91.5-million.

“It was the parking authority that asked for 250 spaces,” the late Ward 28 councillor Pam McConnell told the Star in 2013. “They think that that will make a lot of money for them. The parking lot will be full because of the courts, it will be full because of the market and it will be full because of the business of the neighbourhood.” McConnell passed away earlier this month.

The city has plans to award the construction tender for the building by late 2017.