Golden Mile, Toronto

Golden Mile
Commercial district

The Golden Mile along Eglinton

The industrial areas of the Golden Mile
Coordinates: 43°43′32″N 79°17′50″W / 43.72556°N 79.29722°W / 43.72556; -79.29722
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
City Toronto Toronto
Community Scarborough
Changed Municipality 1998 Toronto from Scarborough
Government
 • MP Bill Blair (Scarborough Southwest)
 • MPP Lorenzo Berardinetti (Scarborough Southwest)
 • Councillor Michelle Berardinetti, Ward 35 Scarborough Southwest & Michael Thompson, Ward 37 Scarborough Centre

The Golden Mile is a commercial district in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Situated along Eglinton Avenue East, east of Victoria Park Avenue, it was one of Canada's first model industrial parks. The original Golden Mile of Industry ran along Eglinton from Pharmacy Avenue east to Birchmount Road.

The area was farmland prior to World War II with settlement by Scottish immigrants beginning in the 1820s (notably by the likes of the McCowans and Thompsons) and prior to settlements by Europeans in the late 18th century was mostly covered by forests.

Industrial Growth

In the 1940s 250 acres were acquired by the federal government to build munitions plants for Canada's involvement in World War II. In 1941 General Engineering Company of Ontario (GECO) a massive munitions plant was constructed covering the area northwest of Eglinton and Warden. The facility was located in the area, which was then far from the city, to protect against accidental detonations. At its peak 5,300 people worked at the plant and 256,567,485 munitions were produced over the course of the war.[1] Following the war, the area and 14 buildings was purchased from the federal government by the Township of Scarborough. The township built municipal offices and a library[2] along Eglinton and sold the rest to private industry to develop the area as "The Golden Mile", patterned after the Golden Mile in London, England. In the 1950s and 1960s, numerous factories producing mostly consumer goods operated along the Golden Mile.

Golden Mile Plaza

Golden Mile Plaza was added west of the industrial "mile" in 1954 and was visited in 1959 [3] by Queen Elizabeth II marking the further transformation of the area into a series of strip malls.

The original strip mall on the north of Eglinton Avenue was anchored by a Famous Players movie theatre located at Pharmacy Avenue and Eglinton. The west section of the strip was severely damaged by a fire in 1986, which hastened the beginning of the transformation of the area into one of Toronto's largest concentrations of power centres and big box stores.

List of tenants at Golden Mile Plaza original 1954

Revitalization

Beginning the 1980s and 1990s industry began to disappear along the Golden Mile.

The newer Golden Mile Mall is notably renovating and revamping several aspects of its premise, offering the promise of a fresh face and continuous offering of essential retailers and services for its community. However, earlier in 2008, Fabricland, which is considered a bottom-feeder of strip-malls, also left this location for greener pastures.

Toronto Employment and Social Services, popular retailer Joe Fresh, Fit 4 Less, and a dollar store opened new premises at the Golden Mile Mall in 2010 taking up the space that Zellers and Fabricland had occupied.

Current tenants of Golden Mile Mall

List of businesses on the Golden Mile

See also: Eglinton Square

This list includes former and current businesses located in the area:

Eglinton Town Centre

Eglinton Corners

Smart Centres Scarborough West

RioCan Scarborough Centre

Provincial government

Several provincial government offices are located in the Golden Mile.

References

  1. ↑ The General Engineering Company of Ontario
  2. ↑ http://www.torontoplaques.com/Pages_STU/Scarboroughs_Golden_Mile.html
  3. ↑ Scarborough Archives
  4. ↑ solarfective.com

http://www.goldenmileshopping.ca

 Wexford
Victoria Park Village (North York) Ionview
   Golden Mile  
Clairlea

Coordinates: 43°43′34″N 79°17′17″W / 43.726°N 79.288°W / 43.726; -79.288

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