Surrounded by condo development on all fronts, a familiar sight stands proud to anyone entering the Downtown Core from the west by highway; Mr. Christie's Bakery. Once filling the air around it with the delicious smell of baked treats, the plant now sits idle, closed by owner Mondelez International and throwing 550 employees out onto the unemployment lines.
Location | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mimico | ||||||
(Toronto, Ontario, Canada) | ||||||
Built :: Closed | Status | Difficulty | ||||
1948 :: 2013 | Demolished | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ | ||||
Hazards Risk | Security Risk | AUE Rating | ||||
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ | ||||
Hazard Observations | Security Observations | |||||
None Specified | Security Patrols |
The current bakery is not the first opened by Christie's in Toronto, having only been built in 1948 by then-owner Nabisco. It was preceded by the original factory in the Old Town district of Toronto in 1871, and worked alongside a factory that opened in East York in 1949. However, the Lakeshore location remains etched in the minds of Torontonians when Christie's is mentioned, partly due to it's prominence and iconic water tower abutting the Gardiner Expressway.
It was announced in November of 2012 that the site would be ceasing operations, with Mondelez citing aging infrastructure and the gentrification of the surrounding area as key reasons for the closure. Just under a year later, the plant ceased operation.
Local councilors stated that Mondelez hoped to rezone the lands for residential, with word of a 27 tower condo development on the 27 acre site. The site currently sits in limbo, though, with the development having fallen through after neighbouring residents fought it.
Until then, the factory continues to stands silently, with few outward signs of the cessation of production, while it's mechanical internals are slowly pulled out and auctioned away.