TTC celebrates newly installed skylight at Glencairn Station
The TTC is celebrating recent upgrades and improvements to Glencairn Station, including a colourful new skylight. As part of this project, the TTC replaced the leaking skylight and structural supports.
The previous skylight and station roof were installed in 1977 and became prone to leaking over the years. Due to the conditions, the original art work by renowned artist Rita Letendre, entitled Joy, deteriorated and was eventually removed. The TTC commissioned the artist to reinterpret the original artwork and integrate it into the new skylight using digital technologies.
Original painted art glazing was replaced with art colours sandwiched between two glass panels – over 800 in total – from Germany. The structural steel was also fully replaced by new structural steel, which arrived from a Canadian company based out of Montreal.
The $11-million construction cost was split between the City/TTC and the Federal government through the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF).
“Canadians rely on public transit every day to get to work, to shop, and for essential services,” said the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Member of Parliament for Eglinton-Lawrence. “The new skylight and support structure at the Glencairn TTC Station will offer riders a safe and enjoyable experience on their journey. When all levels of government collaborate, our communities benefit from modern and resilient infrastructure.”
“Investments to our TTC stations is most welcome by our city and one way in which we can continue to improve and upgrade our system and the transit experience for our riders,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory. “The newly installed skylight at Glencairn Station is a great example of what we can accomplish when we work with other levels of government. I want to thank the Federal government for investing with us in our city and the TTC.”
Two other skylights on the University side of Line 1 at Yorkdale and Eglinton West stations are part of the larger $18.7 million Skylight Program funded under PTIF with the Federal government and City of Toronto both providing matching contributions of almost $9.4 million. The skylight replacement at Eglinton West Station was completed in 2018 and Yorkdale Station is in its final phase of design with construction scheduled to commence in 2021.
“This is the perfect example of multiple levels of governments working together for the benefit of the community,” said TTC Chair Jaye Robinson. “This is one of many projects we’re currently collaborating on and we look forward to continuing to make much-needed improvements to our transit system with the support of our partners.”
“Projects like this are only possible when all orders of government work together to maintain and improve our infrastructure,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary. “I want to thank all our partners for bringing this beautiful and functional work of art back to life.”