Enercare Centre | |
---|---|
![]() Entrance on Princes' Boulevard | |
Former names | Direct Energy Centre (2006–2015) National Trade Centre (1997–2006) |
General information | |
Type | Exhibition complex |
Location | 100 Princes' Boulevard Toronto, Ontario |
Coordinates | 43°38′06″N79°24′40″W / 43.635112°N 79.411197°W |
Completed | 1997 |
Opened | April 3, 1997 |
Owner | City of Toronto |
Technical details | |
Floor area | one million square feet (93,000 m2) |
Website | |
enercarecentre |
Enercare Centre, formerly known as the Direct Energy Centre and originally the National Trade Centre, [1] is an exhibition complex located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. [2] It is used by the Canadian National Exhibition and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, as well as by various trade shows. In 2015, it hosted several sport competitions and the broadcasting centre for the 2015 Pan American Games.
The naming rights for the complex are currently owned by energy services company Enercare Inc., a subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.
Located just to the west of the Princes' Gates at the eastern end of Exhibition Place, it was previously the site of a streetcar loop and open space. The new building took over the frontage along Prince's Boulevard and connected to the existing Coliseum and Industry Buildings (also known as the Agricultural Annex), creating a large inter-connected exhibition complex. The existing southern entrance of the Coliseum was demolished and integrated into the new complex. The streetcar loop was moved to the north of the complex. The open space was previously the site of the Engineering and Electrical Building, opened in 1928 and torn down in 1972.
In 2005, the CNE Board of Directors entered into a ten-year agreement with Direct Energy Inc. to sponsor the name of the centre, effective in March 2006. The agreement pays fees to a reserve fund which is used to keep the centre in a state of good repair. In 2014, part of Direct Energy was sold to Enercare Inc., including the name-in-title of the centre. [3] The agreement was recently extended for another ten years to end in 2026, at a value of $7.5 million. [4]
At the 2015 Pan American Games, the venue hosted the sports of volleyball in Hall A, handball and roller sports figure skating in Hall B, racquetball and squash in Hall C and gymnastics in the adjoining Ricoh Coliseum. Pan American Games organizers referred to the centre as the "Exhibition Centre". [5] The building was also the location of the Main Press and Broadcasting Centre for the Games (in Hall D).
The Exhibition Place Board of Governors and the City of Toronto intend to study an expansion of the facility. The proposed expansion would add an additional hall connected to the west end of the main building. [6]
Designed by architectural teams Zeidler Partnership Architects and Dunlop-Farrow Architects, the building officially opened on April 3, 1997, with its first show being the National Home Show. [7] It has seven exhibit halls with one million square feet (93,000 m2) of exhibition space. Four of the halls are separated by removable walls to create configurable space. Additionally, the Coliseum and Horse Palace can be integrated into an exhibition. The project cost CA$180 million [8] (CA$313 million in 2023 dollars) [9] . The cost was shared equally by the Toronto, Ontario and Canadian governments. [10]
The entire southern frontage is a long hall, linking the exhibit spaces with various offices. Most of the southern wall of the hall is glass, providing light to the entrances to the exhibit halls which have no windows. At the eastern end of the hall is a small open exhibition space, sometimes used as an art gallery, used by the CNE for cat and dog shows. At the eastern end of the hall is a "living wall." Under the main exhibit space is an underground parking garage, providing 1,300 spaces, [8] which is connected to the Beanfield Centre in the Automotive Building to the south by a tunnel. Along the top of the hall at towers above entrances are four rotating spotlights which are illuminated when shows are being held at the centre. The external southern frontage differs along its length. The eastern section mimics the building style of the Automotive Building, using masonry and columns, while the western section is steel and glass, described as "flamboyant futurism". [10]
To the north of the new addition is the "Heritage Court" hall, oriented west–east, which links the Coliseum, the Annex and the new addition. It is 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) in size. [10] The western entrance to the complex is at the western end of the hall and serves as the main entrance to the Coliseum. The entrance is mostly glass and has a canopy extending to the west, where a canopy extends to the north, between the Horse Palace and the Coliseum, providing cover to those persons arriving from the TTC loop to the north. The original southern exteriors of the Coliseum and Industry Building, dating back to the 1920s, are preserved inside the hall. [10] The Heritage Court is situated on the site of the TTC rail lines that separated the Coliseum and Industry buildings from the Engineering and Electrical Building. Four of the original "Statues of Industry" which adorned the facade of the Electrical and Engineering Building are mounted in the Heritage Court. [11]
The Annex building is used to store cattle and small livestock during the Winter Fair and the CNE. Judging is done in small rings within the Annex, in the Coliseum and in a temporary judging area in the new addition. The area is also used by trade shows for demonstration space.
As well as being used as part of the Canadian National Exhibition, it hosts the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair annually. Trade shows such as the Toronto International Boat Show, the National Home Show and the One of A Kind Show are held annually in the complex. The Honda Indy Toronto IndyCar race also uses the hall for exhibit space. The City of Toronto uses various rooms for public meetings. It has also been a staple in hosting major volleyball events, such as 2019 Volleyball Canada Nationals and the 2023 Ontario Volleyball Championships.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre, commonly referred to simply as Eaton Centre, is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by Cadillac Fairview (CF). It was named after the Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it before the chain went defunct in the late 1990s.
The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Labour Day, the first Monday in September. With approximately 1.6 million visitors each year, the CNE is Canada's largest annual community event and one of the top fairs in North America. The fair is a combination of agricultural exhibits and events, carnival rides and entertainment, live music, food and special events. Special events include the Warriors Day Parade, the Labour Day Parade and the Canadian International Air Show.
Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The 197-acre (80 ha) site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, parkland, sports facilities, and a number of civic, provincial, and national historic sites. The district's facilities are used year-round for exhibitions, trade shows, public and private functions, and sporting events.
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, is a convention complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Front Street West in the former Railway Lands in downtown Toronto. The property is today owned by Oxford Properties. The centre is operated by the Metropolitan Toronto Convention Centre Corporation, an independent agency of the Government of Ontario.
Coca-Cola Coliseum is an arena at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, used for agricultural displays, ice hockey, and trade shows. It was built for the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in 1921. Since 1997 it has been part of the Enercare Centre exhibition complex. It serves as the home arena of the Toronto Marlies, the American Hockey League farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will serve as the home arena of the Toronto WNBA team when it debuts in 2026.
Exhibition GO Station is a GO Transit railway station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The station is one of the Lakeshore West line stations between Toronto and Hamilton. It is located west of downtown Toronto at Exhibition Place, an area of convention and exhibition venues, sports facilities, and other entertainment attractions, restaurants and nightclubs. It is also on the south side of Liberty Village, a former industrial area which has been redeveloped into a residential neighbourhood with retail and restaurants.
Exhibition Loop is the terminus for the 509 Harbourfront and 511 Bathurst streetcar routes, the 174 Ontario Place-Exhibition, and the 307 Blue Night Bathurst bus routes. Exhibition Loop serves Exhibition Place, Coca-Cola Coliseum, BMO Field and connects with GO Transit at the Exhibition GO Station.
The Automotive Building is a heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, containing event and conference space. In the 1920s, as a result of burgeoning interest in automobiles, additional exhibition space for automotive exhibits during the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) was needed. A design competition was held, and the winning design was submitted by Toronto architect Douglas Kertland. The building opened in 1929, and the "National Motor Show" exhibit of automobiles was held in the building until 1967. It was also used for trade shows. When it opened, it was claimed to be "the largest structure in North America designed exclusively to display passenger vehicles". During World War II, the building was used by the Royal Canadian Navy and named HMCS York. After the end of automotive exhibits at the CNE, the building was used for other CNE exhibits and continued to be used for trade shows.
The Horse Palace is a heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, containing stables, a horse ring and various agencies. It was constructed to support the equestrian events of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The ornamentation of the building is considered a fine example of Art Deco. It is a listed heritage building.
Alliant Energy Center is a multi-building complex located in Madison, Wisconsin. It comprises 164 acres (0.66 km2) of greenspace and includes the 255,000-square-foot (23,700 m2) Exhibition Hall, the 10,000-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the 29-acre (0.12 km2) Willow Island, several multi-use pavilions, and the 22,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) Arena. The Center welcomes more than one million people attending more than 500 events annually, ranging from local meetings and banquets to large sporting events and major concerts.
The International Centre is a multi-purpose convention centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, located near Toronto Pearson International Airport. The International Centre is privately owned and hosts over 450 shows and events each year.
The Toronto Congress Centre (TCC) is an event, meeting and trade show complex in the former city of Etobicoke in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located near Toronto Pearson International Airport. It has over one million square feet (93,000 m2) of exhibition space between two buildings, making it one of the largest facilities of its kind in Canada and North America.
The architecture of Toronto is an eclectic combination of architectural styles, ranging from 19th century Georgian architecture to 21st century postmodern architecture and beyond.
Dufferin Gate Loop, also known as Dufferin Loop, is a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus station and turning loop for streetcars near the southern end of Dufferin Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), the loop becomes a primary access point for visitors entering Exhibition Place via the Dufferin Gates. This west entrance to the CNE can be reached by the Dufferin Street bridges across the Lakeshore West railway corridor and Gardiner Expressway.
The 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games venues were mostly located in the host city of Toronto, Ontario, though some events required facilities located elsewhere. Besides Toronto, fourteen other municipalities in Southern Ontario hosted competitions: Ajax, Hamilton, Innisfil, Markham, Milton, Minden, Mississauga, Mono, Oro-Medonte, Oshawa, Palgrave, St. Catharines, Welland and Whitby.
The Pure Food Building was a facility opened in 1922 on Exhibition Place at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was demolished after the 1953 CNE to make way for the modernist Food Building, which still stands.
The Ontario Government Building, housing the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex since 2001, is a heritage building located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Built in 1926 to provide exhibit space for the Government of Ontario during the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), that function later moved to the Ontario Place complex. After a period of disuse, Toronto City Council approved a long-term lease with the Liberty Entertainment Group to use the building for private events.
The Horticulture Building, which houses the Toronto Event Centre, is a heritage building at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, containing event and conference space. It was built in 1907 for the display of horticulture during the annual Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), and it is a listed heritage building.
Hillcrest Complex, the Toronto Transit Commission's largest facility, is responsible for most of the maintenance work on the system's surface vehicles, including heavy overhauls, repairs, and repainting. It is located adjacent to the intersection of Bathurst Street and Davenport Road. The site is also home to the TTC's Transit Control Centre, but the operational headquarters of the organization remains at the McBrien Building, at 1900 Yonge Street.
Hotel X Toronto is a hotel and sports club complex on the grounds of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The hotel, part of the Library Hotel Collection, is intended to serve visitors attending conventions, meetings, and trade shows booked at the adjacent Enercare Centre and the Beanfield Centre. Hotel X Toronto is divided into three parts: the hotel tower, the Ten X Toronto (10XTO) athletic facility and the historic Stanley Barracks Officers' Quarters and foundations.