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After nearly three decades at the 299 Queen Street West studio, CP24 is moving to CTV’s Scarborough facility. The move marks a new chapter for the broadcaster, but the Queen West building will forever be a significant landmark steeped in Toronto’s history! Here are a few cool things to remember about this iconic building:
Heritage landmark
As we previously reported, the neo-Gothic heritage building on the southeast corner of Queen St W and John St landmark was built more than a century ago in 1913, originally housing the administrative offices of the Methodist church. The building was designated as a heritage building in 1986 but has literally been a prominent feature of Toronto’s urban landscape for more than a century!
MuchMusic (aka Much)
In August 1984, Canada’s pioneering music television channel “MuchMusic” began broadcasting out of a leased studio space at 299 Queen W (the building wasn’t owned by CHUM at that time). The channel was the first in Canada to be completely dedicated to music programming and it quickly became a cultural phenomenon, especially since this was well before the days of music streaming! “MuchMusic” became “Much” in the 2000s, and the channel’s focus shifted from music videos, live performances, and music interviews to reality shows and episodic programming.
CHUM-City building
In 1985, CHUM Limited bought the property and used it as its headquarters. The CHUM-City building became a major media hub, hosting everything from Citytv to MuchMusic. When the building was acquired by Bell Canada Enterprises in 2011, it became the primary headquarters for other media operations, like BNN, E!, Investigation Discovery, and various popular CTV programs, like The Marilyn Denis Show, etalk, and The Social.
Citytv
Citytv was launched in 1972 as Toronto’s first independent television station, hosting original programming like Jeanne Beker’s FashionTelevision and the outspoken Speakers Corner. CityNews (formerly CityPulse) was founded in 1975 and quickly became known for its unconventional, almost maverick-style in-depth local news coverage.
Speaker’s Corner
Well before the days when people could openly speak their minds on social media, Speaker’s Corner was the place to open up to a bunch of faceless strangers! The street-level video booth was launched in 1990 — members of the public would enter and record messages, opinions, or even performances. Select clips were then broadcast to Citytv’s Speakers Corner. The series ended in 2008.
Electric Circus
This live dance music show was broadcast on Citytv/MuchMusic from the Queen W building from 1988 to 2003. The show was so popular that dancers from local clubs volunteered to grace the stage and hundreds of fans lined the streets outside the building, turning the show into a giant street party.
Iconic Citytv truck in the wall
One of the first things that people think of regarding the Queen W building is the iconic van bursting out of the side of the wall! The City Pulse Chevrolet G-Series van dates back to the late 1970s, and many believe it should remain there.
“My understanding is that the truck is the original one used for on the scene reporting, and might be either the first one ever used for that purpose in Canada, or the world. This was from a time before we had wireless internet, so I think that to do live broadcasts, they would have required an uplink via the CN Tower,” one Reddit user stated about the truck. “If that’s true, then it’s a part of our history and should be preserved.”
