Here’s what’s happening with former Captain John’s dock on Toronto waterfront

Captain John’s Seafood Restaurant, formerly located at the foot of Yonge Street, occupied a prime spot on Toronto’s waterfront for several decades before officially being towed out of the city’s harbour in 2015. 

In 1957, 15-year-old John Lenik escaped Communist Yugoslavia and arrived in Canada. In 1969, Lenik purchased a small vessel called the M.V. Normac and sailed it to Toronto, mooring it at 1 Queens Quay. Lenik expanded the business when he purchased the M.V. Jadran in 1975.

Aside from serving as a public restaurant, the Jadran also hosted countless private parties, banquets, weddings, and bar mitzvahs during its almost 40-year presence on the waterfront.

Due to over $500,000 in back taxes, the Toronto Port Authority terminated Letnik’s lease, and the water supply to the ship was shut off by the City, ultimately resulting in the restaurant’s 2012 closure. 

The Jadran was finally hauled away from its longtime mooring at the foot of Yonge Street in 2015 and broken up for scrap in Port Colborne.

Now, the area where the ship once called home is set to be transformed and designed to enable future eastern waterfront transit. 

Back in November 2023, the City approved funding to advance the detailed design for above-ground components of the Waterfront East LRT (WELRT) project — a forthcoming streetcar line that would serve Toronto’s East Bayfront and Port Lands areas. 

The City also identified two “early works” which are critical pieces of the project that must be addressed to make way for the future LRT construction. Yonge Slip was identified as one of the two “early works” to prioritize, with the other being the Queens Quay extension to Cherry Street. 

“Redesigning Yonge Slip is required as a first step to enable construction of the LRT portal that will connect the underground elements of the line with the above-ground section on Queens Quay at the head of the slip,” a post by Waterfront Toronto detailing the design reads. 

Based on an extensive study of the space, the organization has noted several challenges that will need to be addressed in the area’s design, including overlapping movements between pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles along Queens Quay adjacent to the Slip, which could be improved by clear delineation and signalization. 

Rendering of refined Yonge Slip design. Photo: Waterfront Toronto.

Using feedback from stakeholders, Indigenous communities, and members of the public, the project team has refined Yonge Slip’s design and set multiple objectives, including minimizing impacts to marine transportation uses and aquatic habitat, building a continuous public space amenity, and improving the area’s marine hub programming. 

The updated design also includes a signalized intersection at Yonge Street, clear paths for vehicles to access the Ferry Terminal, and a landmark public space at the foot of Yonge Street and along the Queens Quay corridor. 

The project team aims to complete the detailed design of Yonge Slip in 2025.