The Toronto Harbour Commission Building is a six-storey

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

erected in 1917 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Alfred Chapman Alfred Beck Chapman (September 6, 1829 – January 16, 1915) was a Los Angeles real estate attorney and investor. He was one of the founders of the city of Orange, California. Personal Chapman was born on September 6, 1829, in Greensboro, Alab ...

and McGiffin (Clare V. McGiffin and Robert B. McGiffin) for the joint municipal-federal agency

Toronto Harbour Commission The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built both ...

. The building exterior consists of Indiana and Queenston

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. It was also used by its successor agency

PortsToronto The Toronto Port Authority (TPA), doing business as PortsToronto (PT), is a port authority that is responsible for the management of the Port of Toronto, including the International Marine Passenger Terminal, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airpor ...

, a federal agency formerly known as the Toronto Port Authority. The lower floor is home to Harbour Sixty Steakhouse. Formerly sitting on the waterfront, infill over the years has left the building on dry land, and civic expansion has left it dwarfed by nearby buildings. Since 1953, the building has been rumoured to be haunted by the

ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

of Thomas Cates, its former

janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...

, who died of natural causes while working his night shift. He is most often seen in glimpses in the north-western stairwell, where he will be sweeping or mopping the floor. The building was sold by PortsToronto in 2017 for million to developer Oxford Properties. It is to be part of a commercial office development named ''The Hub''. It was originally built at a cost of $247,000.

References

{{coord, 43.642027, N, 79.378442, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Toronto Beaux-Arts architecture in Canada Harbourfront, Toronto Chapman and Oxley buildings