CNHS - Toronto Power Generating Station - Niagara Falls, ON
Posted by: 
ras258
N 43° 04.322 W 079° 04.453
17T E 656785 N 4770613
This former generating station on the banks of the Niagara River is now a Canadian Historical site.
Waymark Code: WMCKJR
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 09/17/2011
Views: 26
This beautiful building just upstream from the Horseshoe falls stopped operating as a power station in 1974 and has stood empty since that time. In 2007 the ownership was transferred to the Niagara Parks Commission and in 2009 it was designated as a Canadian Historical site which meant federal and provincial funds would become available to refurbish it and let it be used for another purpose. Currenty the building is surrounded by fencing but hopefully it will soon be reopened.
The plaque reads:
TORONTO POWER GENERATING STATION
Opened in 1906 to supply the Toronto market, this generating station was the first wholly Canadian-owned hydro-electric facility at Niagara Falls. Engineers adapted advanced European and American technologies to a difficult site in a bold and enterprising way. The station's palatial powerhouse was designed by the eminent Toronto architect E.J. Lennox to complement the scenic setting. Symmetrical, colonnaded and faced in limestone, it is an early and unusual application of Beaux-Arts design to an industrial site in Canada. Purchased by Ontario Hydro in 1922, the station operated until 1974.
"Description of Historic Place
The Toronto Power Generating Station National Historic Site of Canada is located on the banks of the Niagara River just above Niagara Falls. The Power House is a rectangular building measuring 132 metres by 30 metres with an imposing classical façade. Its symmetrical plan consists of a central block with a heavy Ionic portico flanked by two long Ionic colonnades. The Power House contains the generators and stands above the other principal engineering components of the installation that include a submerged dam, penstocks, and the wheel pit housing the turbines, and the tailrace tunnel. Official recognition refers to the building and structures on the legal lot at the time of designation (1983).
Heritage Value
The Toronto Power Generating Station was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1983 because:
- this generating station was the first wholly Canadian-owned hydro-electric facility at Niagara Falls;
- the powerhouse is an early and unusual application of Beaux-Arts design to an industrial site in Canada.
The Toronto Power Generating Station, associated with development of hydro-electric power in Canada, was a significant large-scale engineering achievement in its time and was important in the development of business, industry and technology in Ontario and Canada. The Generating Station and Power House was built for the Electrical Development Company of Ontario to supply hydro-electric power to Toronto. The installation was begun in 1903 with the Power House designed in the formal Beaux-Arts style by architect E.J. Lennox to complement the majestic setting. The Toronto Power Generating Station was opened in 1906, and was purchased by Ontario Hydro in 1922. It operated until 1974.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, November 1992."
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