The final phase of the demolition of the old Eaton’s department store building to make way for the construction of the MTS Centre started last weekend (January 4th and 5th). Large excavators working from the ground up around the outside walls of the building are pulling down the final five floors of the old structure.
The demolition crews removed the outer two bays or column widths of the building along the entire Hargrave Street length of the site over the weekend. Most of the demolition activity this week continues around the perimeter of the building and will take place in the evening and overnight when there is little or no vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the area.
The outer bays along Portage Avenue will be removed on January 6th and January 7th between 6:00 pm in the evening and 5:00 am in the morning. The eastbound lanes of Portage Avenue and Donald Street between Portage and Graham will be closed during those hours to complete the work. On Wednesday, January 8th and Thursday, January 9th, Donald Street between Portage and Donald will close from 6:00 pm to 5:00 am to complete the work along the Donald Street side of the site.
Only the main floor walls surrounding the Portage, Hargrave and Donald sides of the building are expected to remain standing by the end of this week. The structure will be leveled to the ground by January 15th. The demolition phase, which started in August 2002, is now about 70% complete. The sorting of metal, steel, wood and rubble and the removal of all traces of the building from the property will finish early in February.
The first signs of construction activity will appear by the middle of February with work on shoring of the streets around the excavation and the pouring of the first piles for the Sports and Entertainment Centre.
[MTS Centre Construction Demolition Archive]
