Tag Archives: Yorkville Avenue

Yorkville traffic snarled for hours after cement spills onto Bay Street from top of Four Seasons tower

Bay Street closure between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Street

Looking south on Bay Street, from Scollard Street, shortly past 2 p.m. this afternoon. The entire block was closed to vehicles and pedestrians

 

Television crews filming outside the Four Seasons Toronto construction site

With a television cameraman filming the action, two construction workers sweep debris from Bay Street while another crew inspects hoarding on the Bay Street sidewalk next to the Four Seasons hotel + condo construction site

 

Construction accident: It’s amazing nobody was hurt when a load of construction cement fell 53 storeys from the top of the Four Seasons hotel and condo tower and splattered onto Bay Street shortly after lunchtime today. The construction accident occurred around 1.20 p.m., but police and bystanders said no-one was injured and no vehicles or buildings damaged when cement showered onto the pavement between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Streets. That section of Bay Street is typically busy with steady daytime traffic, including city buses, and dozens of pedestrians would have been walking along nearby sidewalks at the time. According to a story in the Toronto Star’s online edition, the mishap occurred when concrete was being poured into a mould on the 53rd floor of the tower, which will rise a total of 55 storeys once construction is completed. When the mould buckled, the concrete rained down onto the street. Police closed the entire block between Yorkville and Scollard so crews could clean the cement spill while staff from the provincial Ministry of Labour investigated the cause of the accident. A street cleaning machine was brought in to assist several construction workers using push brooms to sweep up the mess. Traffic throughout Yorkville was snarled as pedestrians and vehicles were forced to detour around the street closure. I arrived at the Bay/Yorkville intersection just as the crews finished sweeping the street, so there was little to see other than yellow “do not cross” tape and police vehicles barring access to the block, along with dozens of curious onlookers gazing upward at the tall glass tower and asking each other what had happened. Below are several photos I snapped at the scene.  Additional photos of the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences can be viewed in my April 1 2011 post about progress on the construction project.

Bay Street between Yorkville Avenue and Scollard Street

A view of Bay Street from the northwest corner of Bay and Yorkville Avenue, outside The Regency condominium building

 

Police and media cameraman conferring on Bay Street

A media photographer chats with police at the northeast corner of Bay & Yorkville

 

Television cameramen filming outside the Four Seasons construction site

Television cameramen filming from the northwest corner of Bay & Yorkville

 

Cameraman filming at corner of Bay and Yorkville across from Four Seasons construction site

A TV cameraman films police standing a block away at Scollard Street

 

Cameraman filming footage of the Four Seasons West Residence Tower

A TV cameraman shoots footage of the Four Seasons while pedestrians look up at the hotel/condo tower and traffic detours past the site

 

Police block traffic from moving south on Bay Street

The police roadblock at Scollard Street, outside the Four Seasons West Residence

 

Four Seasons Toronto towers viewed from Bay at Scollard Street

The Four Seasons’ East and West Residence towers viewed from the northwest

 

Two construction workers atop the East Tower at the Four Seasons Toronto

Two construction workers atop the Four Seasons’ 26-storey East Residence Tower

 

Cranes atop the West Tower of the Four Seasons Toronto construction project April 7 2011 IMG_4781

Cranes atop the West Residence tower, now 53 storeys tall on its way to 55

 

Looking up at the new Four Seasons towers

Four Seasons Toronto Hotel + Residences tower

 

Tall, sleek & slender: It’s the tallest tower in Yorkville, yet the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences hasn’t even topped off at its full 55 floors yet. But the sleek glass skyscraper and its 26-storey condo sibling have literally brightened up the east block of Bay Street between Scollard Street and Yorkville Avenue. When sunshine glints off the curtain glass walls of the East and West Residence towers on a clear day, it’s almost blinding. And even though the two-tower construction site is still surrounded by hoarding and scaffolding, and covered in dust and grime, it feels like it has significantly classed-up the corner at Bay & Yorkville already. I’m loving the look of these shiny towers, from all angles, and think the complex will be a stunning addition to the streetscape once construction is complete.

The five-star Four Seasons Hotel & Residences was designed by Peter Clewes of Toronto’s architectsAlliance, and is being built by Menkes Construction Ltd. The West Residence is a mixed-use tower featuring a 253-room Four Seasons Hotel on the first 20 floors, and 101 private condominium residences on the upper 35 storeys. The East Residence will have 103 condominiums, and is linked to the west tower by an elevated pedestrian walkway about eight floors above the ground.

I previously published photos of the Four Seasons construction in a January 26 post; below is a series of photos from February, March and today which show how much progress has been made since then.

 

Four Seasons tower viewed from Yonge Street near Roxborough Street

February 10 2011: Construction of the Four Seasons towers (and, to the right, the Florian condo tower) viewed from Yonge St. near Roxborough St. in Rosedale

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto

February 23 2011: East view of the towers from Yorkville Avenue

 

Four Seasons East Residence tower

February 23 2011: Southwest view of the East Residence condo tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

February 23 2011: Yorkville Avenue view of the two towers

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

February 23 2011: Looking way up the south side of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

February 23 2011: The southeast corner of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences West Residence tower

February 23 2011: Construction elevator on the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 16 2011: The Four Seasons Hotel & Residences complex viewed from the northwest corner of Bay and Scollard Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 16 2011: A health club, spa, swimming pool, ballroom and conference centre will be situated in this eight-storey wing at the corner of Bay and Scollard Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto

March 16 2011: The Four Seasons complex shines in the late afternoon sunshine

 

Four Seasons Toronto West Residence tower

March 16 2011: The West Residence tower viewed from Bay Street

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

March 16 2011: Looking up the West Residence tower from Bay Street

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence Tower

March 16 2011: The southwest corner of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence Tower

March 16 2011: The south side of the West Residence Tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 24 2011: The towers viewed from Hazelton Avenue at Scollard Street

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto towers

March 24 2011: From Avenue Road, a view of the “old” Four Seasons Hotel, right, and the new tower rising two blocks to the east on Yorkville Avenue.

 

Four Seasons West Residence tower

March 24 2011: The West Residence tower rises on the Yorkville skyline in this view from the intersection of Yonge and Wellesley Streets

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence

April 1 2011: Southwest view of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence

April 1 2011: Bay Street view of the West Residence tower

 

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto West Residence tower

April 1 2011: A construction elevator rises up the side of the West Residence

Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Toronto

April 1 2011: The West Residence tower seen from Avenue Road near the Museum subway station entrance outside the Royal Ontario Museum