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(New Toronto Courthouse Renderings Courtesy of Renzo Piano Building Workshop)
On February 22, 2017, IO and the City of Toronto launched a unique partnership to showcase artifacts found on the site of the new Toronto courthouse. Four displays were unveiled at Mayor John Tory's Black History Month reception. The inaugural display features artifacts significant to Toronto's Black history, and includes accounts of African-Americans who fled slavery and came to Canada by the Underground Railroad.
The displays are free and publicly accessible at City Hall, located by the elevators to the east tower on the main floor of city hall. These exhibits will be renewed with content from the site archaeology and other accounts of life from the site, while heritage interpretation planning continues throughout the construction of the new Toronto courthouse.
To prepare the site for construction of the courthouse, IO undertook a complex archaeological excavation that uncovered thousands of artifacts from when the site was part of St. John's Ward, one of Toronto's earliest immigrant settlements. The work will ensure that the historical value of the site is documented and preserved.
A large-scale, commemorative art installation was installed on the construction fence around the site. The exhibit showcases a collection of stories and photographs from those who trace their ancestral roots to the historic neighborhood.
IO is committed to keeping the lines of communication open with the communities with ties to the site. A Heritage Interpretation Working Group, with representation from government and various community groups, has been struck by IO to provide a forum for information sharing, feedback, guidance and advice regarding appropriate considerations and suggestions for public interpretation themes and approaches.
Work is underway to develop a plan outlining the permanent and variable measures of commemoration and interpretation that will be designed into the new Toronto courthouse.
These project documents are being made available on this website for informational purposes only. Neither Infrastructure Ontario nor the Ministry of the Attorney General makes any representation or warranty regarding the accuracy or completeness of the content or form of these documents.
Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of the Attorney General, at their sole and absolute discretion, may choose to make available on this website amendments, revisions, modifications or replacements to these documents. These documents remain open for further revision, modification, replacement or cancellation by Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of the Attorney General at any time and in no event shall either Infrastructure Ontario or the Ministry of the Attorney General be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on the content of these documents.