End of an era for Bay and Dundas bus terminal building

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Greyhound Bus Lines folded their tents last month and shut down most Canadian operations.

Bus travel has been declining in recent years and a whole pandemic year of zero business was the final death knell.

In July, the lease is up between Greyhound and Toronto, and the bus station at 610 Bay Street, which has operated since 1931, will be facing a new future.

The once beautiful art deco building was created 90 years ago by architect Charles B. Dolphin and has been listed as a heritage building since the 1980s.

You won’t see a lot of people weeping into their hankies at the closure of the grubby bus station. It’s been a down-at-heel spot for a long time.

There’s a stigma attached to bus travel — cheap and efficient though it may be — which started with the rise of car ownership after the Second World War.

The bus terminal building is owned by theToronto Coach Terminal Inc. (TCTI), a subsidiary of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).

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The TTC will neither use nor develop the property.

According to a report from the TTC Chief Capital Officer to the Toronto Coach Terminal Inc. board of directors, authorization will be sought to transfer management of the properties to the City of Toronto once the Greyhound lease expires on July 7.

And what then?

The report to the TCTI board states:

“In October 2019, the City of Toronto identified the properties as underutilized and, as such, provides an opportunity for the City of Toronto to address specific needs and building objectives, such as affordable housing, employment uses, and community infrastructure.”

Respected local architect John Potter, a life-long Torontonian, says the Bay and Elizabeth St. bus terminal property is a rare opportunity and it will be interesting to see what the city does with it.

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The city could just sell the whole parcel to developers, of course.

“But it’s a perfect location for affordable housing,” said Potter. “And the city already owns the land. It depends upon whether Toronto is willing to forgo sale proceeds and develop the land instead.”

That area offers a good mix of housing, continued Potter, with rental buildings and condos in the neighbourhood as well as the YWCA Elm Centre, which offers affordable, market rental, and special housing to women.

“It would be great to see the property put to the best possible use for Toronto, given the issues facing our city,” said Potter.

The board of the TCTI will vote later this month on the recommendation that the property is transferred to the City of Toronto.

Greyhound, meanwhile, will use the new bus depot near Union Station when their service to Buffalo and New York City resumes post-pandemic.