Toronto’s well known shipping container market Stackt has announced it will be closing over March and April for planned city maintenance.
CityNews has learned that the City of Toronto will be conducting an environmental site assessment (ESA) of the area which will involve “drilling of boreholes, installation of monitoring wells, and sampling of soil and groundwater.” The work will require heavy machinery and equipment, necessitating the closure of the market and several of the businesses that operate therein.
The shops that run along Bathurst street on the outer edge of the market will not be affected and will continue to operate during the survey.
The City of Toronto tells CityNews the timeline of the survey was mutually agreed upon with Stackt to mitigate any losses to the vendors as March and April are typically slower months at the market.
Future park development
According to a 2017 city staff report, the plot at 28 Bathurst street is slated to become a park.
The grounds were previously used for industrial purposes including for the storage of coal gas in two large gasometres and as a lead smelting facility until the late 1980s.
“The east portion of the lands toward Bathurst Street is contaminated while remainder of the site was previously remediated. All remaining on-site contamination has been capped and is being monitored,” reads the report.
Stackt leased the land from the city in 2017 and after two extensions, the current lease is set to expire in March 2023. As per the 2017 city report, it “would occupy the site for a period of two to three years or until such time as the city converts the site to a park.”
The market opened its gates in 2019 and has quickly become a vibrant community hub with several small businesses running the gamut from hair salons to cookie shops. Throughout spring, summer and fall it hosts several artisan and food markets and serves as the site for several pop-ups and local events.
Stackt will have to vacate the plot when the city builds the park on the land. The city says depending on the outcome of the ESA and other protocols, it could potentially be three to five years before construction begins.