400 McDermot - Downtown Letter Carrier Depot

Place: Canada Post Downtown Letter Carrier Depot (Website)
Address: 400 McDermot Avenue (Map)
Size: 18,000 sq ft
Cost: $5.5m
Status: Opened September 2011

When Canada Post announced that it was vacating their central post office on Graham for a new sorting facility near the airport, they needed to find a new Letter Carrier Depot for the 80 letter carriers who service nearly 10,000 addresses in the downtown and West End, (the R3G postal code).

In 2008 Canada Post purchased the former Midway Chrysler lot on Portage Avenue east of Maryland. Following the announcement a campaign sprang up at the neighbouring Gordon Bell High School who wanted the land for a sports field.

Canada Post and the city worked to find an alternate piece of land for the depot. One proposal was at Higgins and Main but it was rejected for being too far outside the service area. They finally settled on a site on McDermot Avenue between Frances and Ellen Streets, adjacent to the Number One Fire Hall.

In summer 2010 construction began. The facility officially opened in September 2011.

Related:
Canada Post decision delivers space for Gordon Bell Free Press
Photos of the construction:

April 2010

July 2010

December 2010

With fire hall in background

February 2011



July 2011