The 50th Anniversary of Warehouse 52 in the Port of Toronto

This fall, the Port of Toronto marked the 50^th anniversary of Warehouse 52 (W52), which was officially opened on September 17, 1970.

The St. Lawrence Seaway, constructed in the mid-to late 1950s, provided a new, direct link to the Atlantic Ocean via a system of locks and canals, giving rise to a revolution in Great Lakes shipping. In response, the Port of Toronto built the $2.5 million dollar W52 distribution centre, which boasted 126,000 square feet of air-conditioned storage and office space, including dry storage, freezer rooms and a cooler room. 

Today, in addition to serving as a storage facility for various cargo, including steel cables and rebar as well as other weather-sensitive equipment and materials, the W52 building has a range of uses. Further to providing office space for Logistec, responsible for cargo management within the port, and Studio City Scaffolding, a company that supplies materials for Toronto’s booming film and television production industry, W52 also houses PortsToronto’s extensive archives, a collection of some 30,000 images and records documenting more than 100 years of waterfront development in Toronto.