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A sprawling Toronto power plant that has been out of commission and in varying states of decay for over 40 years could soon finally get a new lease on life.
The cavernous Hearn Generating Station looms large over the fast-changing Port Lands, a relic of the area’s industrial past that operated as a coal-fired plan from 1951 to its closure in 1983.
The titan of a heritage building has sat derelict for decades, but a new plan tabled with the City in December aims to transform the hollowed-out structure into a new destination that would attract visitors from around the city.
The Hearn has long faced uncertainty and was even temporarily barred from hosting events due to safety concerns, though the mothballed facility was eventually brought up to meet the safety standards of Toronto Fire Services in the late 2010s.
While largely abandoned since power generation ceased in 1983, the plant remains a favourite for movie directors looking for that revered industrial/post-apocalyptic aesthetic, and has built up quite the portfolio of film and television appearances over the years.
The Hearn Generating Station as seen in 2016. Photo by Jack Landau.
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) announced in 2018 that it had sold the entire site to Studios of America Corporation for $16 million. Studios of America had already been leasing the property from OPG since 2002 and was maintaining the plant as an “enclosed feature film and TV production complex.”
Approaching six years after that deal closed, a longer-term plan for the Hearn has finally been revealed.
Developer Cortel Group has pitched an ambitious vision that would repurpose the Hearn into a new mixed-use destination called The Hearn District.
Architects Partisans and SvN have forged an impressive concept for the disused plant that would transform it with a series of commercial, entertainment and film production spaces in a configuration not unlike the new megaproject The Well at Front and Spadina.
The repurposed Hearn would become the centrepiece of a new district served by a series of proposed internal streets that place priority access on cyclists and pedestrians.
These pathways would actually filter through the building itself, giving the City a new weather-protected hub for shopping and dining.
Planning documents explain that “the overall size, scale and internal makeup of the spaces within the Hearn building present many opportunities for active reuse and dynamic programming.”
“Uses contemplated for this space include a wide array of retail and service commercial uses, recreational and entertainment uses, and production-oriented uses, such as those directed toward film.”
The Hearn’s cavernous structure is just one component of this sweeping plan, which also includes a large central gathering space south of the building, referred to in plans as Smokestack Plaza.
This space is designed alongside a realignment and extension of Unwin Avenue, and is to be bookended by a pair of mixed-use developments. Plans state that a staggering 8,400 condo units are proposed on the broader 440 Unwin Avenue site as part of these developments, though renderings of the residential components are not included in the current submission.
Other major public spaces planned include an apron of publicly accessible open space along the south side of the plant,and flanked by the bend of Unwin Avenue to its south, known as the Hearn Plaza.
A space referred to as “The Portage” will run north-south along the west side of the mammoth building, linking the ship channel and outer harbour with a new landscaped pedestrian promenade that will provide connectivity and even offer opportunities for water-based activities planned along the waterway.
Other minor public spaces known in plans as “Side Connections” will occupy the remaining open areas around the site.
However, these connections only serve to foster walkability in the immediate surrounding area, and the Hearn remains isolated from the city centre. A lack of outside visitors would pose obvious challenges to the project’s viability, but the project team has clearly given this some thought.
Aside from a future LRT connection that has no timeline for realization, two key connections are planned for The Hearn District.
Plans explain that “to support the success of the Hearn as a City-wide destination, it is envisioned that the ship channel promenade also serve as a water taxi landing.” This quick-fix solution to the isolation issue would move people to and from the central downtown and Toronto island water taxi berths.
And for those not willing to shell out the cost of a water taxi ride, the district master plan also includes a future pedestrian/cycling bridge extending over the ship channel connecting to the Media City lands to the north.
The Hearn’s new plans may take many more years to come to fruition, but it’s a bright future for a facility best known for decades of belching out coal soot and decades more as a vacant white elephant in a forgotten corner of the city.
