Now you see it … the Uptown tower sports a rooftop crane on March 1

 

Now you don’t … The Uptown on March 8 after its crane was removed. The crane boom poking out from behind the Casa condo tower (right) is building the new Four Seasons Toronto hotel & condo in Yorkville.

 

Condo craniotomy: The YWCA Elm Centre wasn’t the only major downtown construction project to lose its crane this week.

In my “Yorkville awaits the Uptown girl’s grand entrance” write-up a week ago, I posted photos of The Uptown Residences, and described how construction of the 48-storey Yorkville condo tower is winding down. I also mentioned that a small construction crane still had to be removed from the condo tower rooftop.

Well, it’s gone now — it was disassembled and removed from the building yesterday. And even though I had been expecting the crane to disappear at any time, I wasn’t quite ready to see The Uptown Residences sporting a naked roof. I had an unsettling feeling while snapping photos of the crane-less tower shortly before sunset yesterday, and I kept thinking something about the Yorkville skyline just didn’t look right.

From my balcony, I have watched cranes working on The Uptown’s roof since the late fall of 2009, and during some of those 18 months The Uptown’s crane stood higher than any other structure in the Yonge & Bloor area.  It became such a familiar sight on the skyline, I was bound to miss its presence.

But there are two other cranes I can see soaring above Yorkville from time to time — those atop the Four Seasons Toronto towers currently under construction at the corner of Bay Street and Yorkville Avenue. Unfortunately, they’re largely blocked from view by the 46-floor Casa Condominium tower, but I do get an occasional glimpse  as their booms swing toward the office buildings at Yonge & Bloor.

Below is a series of pics showing the Uptown’s crane during various stages of the condo tower’s construction — since October 2009 when I was first able to see the crane from my balcony, until its last day on the job this week.

 

August 6 2008: The Uptown’s crane stands only two storeys above street level during construction of the luxury condo tower’s foundation.

October 25 2009: My first glimpse of The Uptown’s crane, as the tip of the boom pokes above a nearby apartment building. The  crane at left is atop The Uptown’s next-door neighbour, the Crystal Blu condominium tower.

November 2 2009: The Uptown’s crane still has a ways to go to catch up to the height of Crystal Blu’s and ultimately reach above the nearby towers.

 

December 21 2009: The Casa condo tower crane has been removed, Crystal Blu condos is climbing higher, and The Uptown’s crane is more visible on the skyline.

 

January 21 2010: The cranes on Crystal Blu and The Uptown Residences appear synchronized, both pointing in the same direction at the same angle

 

February 1 2010:  The Casa condo tower nears completion, but The Uptown Residences tower still hasn’t come into view.

 

March 15 2010:  The crane cab’s tinted windows stand out against the cloudy sky

 

March 29 2010: Now that the Crystal Blu condos crane has been removed, the Uptown Residences crane is the tallest in the Yorkville area

 

March 31 2010: The white boom looks bright against the blue morning sky

 

April 4 2010: The crane’s boom glows orange in the sunrise at 6 a.m. Easter Sunday

 

April 6 2010:  White crane against a deep blue sky shortly before 8 a.m.

 

April 8 2010: The crane’s striking silhouette during a gorgeous  sunset

 

May 10 2010: Another sunset silhouette of the crane and Yorkville towers

 

June 20 2010: Uptown Residences construction crane at sunset

 

June 20 2010: With its crane, the Uptown is the tallest structure in Yorkville

 

June 20 2010: The crane and another spectacular sunset

 

July 1 2010: The crane and nearby towers during an awesome Canada Day sunset

 

July 9 2010: The Uptown and its crane get upstaged by a fiery sky at sunset

 

July 17 2010: The crane and yet another brilliant July sunset

 

July 20 2010: The crane points to clouds glowing in another wonderful sunset

 

August 17 2010:  The Yorkville skyline and another dramatic Toronto  sunset

 

September 8 2010:  Thick, dark storm clouds approach the tower

 

September 10 2010: The crane points straight up on a partly cloudy summer day

 

October 29 2010: Stormclouds advancing toward Yorkville

 

October 29 2010:  The tower’s top southeast corner cladding cannot be installed until the construction crane has been removed from the roof.

 

November 28 2010: A storm front pulls over Yorkville like a thick woolly blanket

 

December 7 2010: A small red temporary crane has been assembled on the roof of The Uptown Residences tower to begin removing the larger crane

 

December 8 2010: The two cranes tower above the Yorkville neighbourhood

 

December 11 2010: The red crane pulls the last segment of the big white crane through the top of the Uptown Residences roof

 

December 15 2010: The big white crane has been completely removed

 

December 15 2010: A gaping hole in the wall and roof marks the spot where the large white crane had been positioned

 

December 21 2010: South view of the temporary red crane atop the tower

 

January 2 2011: Patching up the gaps where the white crane used to sit

 

January 18 2011:  The Uptown’s rooftop cladding is nearly all in place

 

February 23 2011: North side of Uptown Residences (right) viewed from the roof of a Yorkville Avenue parking garage

 

March 2 2011: The temporary crane just days before its removal from the roof

 

March 8 2011: Uptown Residences condo shortly after the crane was removed