The funny thing is the Star's new address - 410 Front Street, is close to the Globe's old address of 444 Front (which was previously home to the Tely) while the Globe's new building is adjacent to what used to be 333 King East - the longtime home of the Toronto Sun - which being the big loser in this game of musical chairs, is now bunking in the same non-descript building as the National Post at Bloor and Shebourne which moved there after losing their own building which was up on Barber Greene Rd in Don Mills (down the road from Global TV'a longtime home).

Last edited by Hansa (December 29, 2021 2:50 pm)

I can honestly say it was the best-looking newsroom I've ever been in. I remember thinking it looked a lot like the Starship Enterprise, with the circular table and the view from that window. And there were some days we had to work at warp speed! 

I wonder whatever happened to all that equipment when the place finally closed down. We had those Ampex reel-to-reels that you couldn't destroy with a nuclear device and those great Ward-Beck boards. Maybe it's because I was just starting out, but I have very fond memories of the place. 

One of my favourites - MacLean Hunter fired many of the ops to save money, forcing the announcers to sit behind the board, some for the first time in years. One of those was the late, great John Woodbridge, the overnight man, who hadn't oped his own board in decades. I remember everyone was asking him, "John, are you nervous about having to do your own op-ing?"

"Are you worried about making a mistake?" 

"Aren't you scared?"

And on and on it went for a week. Well, the night finally arrived and Woodbridge sat down in the chair in the main control room, with those of us working the late shift gathered to watch. He cued up a record (which they still used in those days, the late 70s) and started it up. He then raised the pot, deliberately took it down to nothing, leaving a second or two of dead air, and then pushed the pot back up. "There," he said, as we stared at him in silence. "I got the mistake out of the way!" 

And then he laughed and the show went on without another hitch. He deliberately screwed up on his first night on his first song just to shut everybody up!

What a great place that was.

Yay. More condos... (lol) 
https://www.1yonge-condos.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhYKZhuqJ9QIVMxCzAB05kwBGEAAYASAAEgIRevD_BwE

I guess it's OK to reveal this now, because he's no longer with us. But on the top floor, there was a semi-hidden entrance to the room that controlled all the Hepa and air conditioning for the whole building. I well recall newscaster Dan Turner sneaking in there after his shift (and sometimes during, to be honest) to smoke a joint, knowing that the stiff artificial breeze blowing through that room would quickly dissipate all the smell and the smoke. 

Staid old CKEY, with its Laurie Bower Singers format, was hardly the place you'd think that kind of drug use would be going on, but I suspect he wasn't the only one who knew of that space.

As Maybo notes, a great building and a good place to work, with very talented people doing what they did best. 

I wonder what will happen to the virtual offices in the building. A lot of businesses pretend to have a prestigious address by using Alliance Business Centres on the 18th floor.
The radio advertising agency Torbay Partners lists its address in that spot.