People will soon gather along the shores of Toronto Harbour to witness a new spectacle once an aging industrial landmark completes its ongoing restoration.

Built in 1928 and expanded in 1944, the historic Canada Malting Silos at Bathurst Quay sat idle from the mid-1980s, and after a series of aborted visions to transform it into something new for the city.

The silos were designated as heritage structures in 2010 after decades of disuse, and are finally getting some love through the 2017-approved Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Plan, which included a long-term vision to refresh the concrete monolith into a cultural and community services-focused hub on the waterfront.

This refurbishment project is already well underway, and the recent removal of a scaffold and construction netting from the south side of the silo complex has revealed the first half of the silos' restoration.

Work is now moving on to the north half of the enormous concrete structure, a portion of the building destined to serve as a sprawling canvas for projections, including films and visual art projects.

BQNP Update #72: Going, going, gone - but not for good! When the north silo rehab is complete, this restored eastern facade will become a larger-than-life canvas for projecting public art and film from within planned new public space at Spadina Pier. In the interim… 1/3 pic.twitter.com/CNJY7TXiPo

— Bryan Bowen (@bryanmbowen) September 8, 2023

In early 2022, OCAD University announced that it was moving forward with a proposal conceived in partnership with the City that would be known as the Global Centre for Climate Resilience through Art and Design.

A 2022 press release explained that the Global Centre would function as a forum for dialogue on climate resilience, housing activities such as public arts programming, installations, exhibitions, and symposiums hosted in collaboration with Indigenous, local, national and international partners.

As part of the planning for this hub, OCAD U engaged with Trans Europe Halle, a Sweden-based social incubator with an extensive background in preserving abandoned structures.

One of the ideas discussed included using its large blank faces as canvases to support a year-round climate resiliency audio-visual projection festival, envisioned to include local film festivals and media arts partners.

The silos were previously used for projected screenings of art installations during the City of Toronto's #BigArtTO campaign in 2020, when The Bentway used the opposite side of the structure to display a work from artist Erika DeFreitas known as The Essentials.

Toronto's iconic malting silos could be getting year-round art projections https://t.co/CcglAWEWwo #Toronto

— blogTO (@blogTO) March 7, 2022

This large screen would be viewable from the proposed Bathurst Quay waterfront park planned across the Spadina slip from the silos.

The existing City-owned parking garage across the slip is to be repurposed into the base for a new waterfront park, adjoining a new structure over part of the adjacent Portland Slip.

Design work is expected to begin at the same time as the planned permanent closure of the parking garage in advance of a park construction award, as early as 2024, with the contract expected to be tendered toward the end of 2026.