 On Wednesday March 6th, 2002, the Toronto Police Service celebrated the official ground breaking for the construction of the future 51 station. Councilor Pam McConnell, Toronto Police Services Board Vice-Chair, Gloria Lindsay Luby and Chief of Police Julian Fantino broke ground at the site of an abandoned building at Parliament Street and Front Street.
 No. 51 Division will have a new home likely in June of 2003, which will showcase a brilliant facility to better serve the community. The Toronto Police Service is excited to begin construction on the abandoned building and members of 51 Division are looking forward to the benefits anticipated to working in a spacious and productive facility.
No. 51 Division has suffered through some hardships over the decades in making the best of less than admirable working conditions at 30 Regent Street, the current station. Things are crammed into every nook and cranny to make things work. The station has grown with personnel and community needs but the facility couldn't grow with it. Many members of the Service are looking forward to see an improvement for 51 Division and it couldn't come soon enough.
Check the web-site for more photos at www.torontopolice.on.ca/d51/
Background:
The history of 51 Division, formerly Number 4 Division, begins back in 1870 when No. 4 was built on the north side of Dundas Street just east of Parliament. Back then the policing boundaries were Prince Edward Viaduct and Bloor Street to the north, the waterfront to the south, the Don River to the east and Jarvis Street to the west, the same we see today.
The Toronto Telegram reported the most recent and current facility, located at 30 Regent Street as a "dazzler", still called No. 4 Division in January 1956 when it was completed. At a cost of $400,000 dollars it was apparently described by some as "the continent's most modern" police facility for its time.
The future 51 Division station will introduce an innovative police facility not yet seen before for the Toronto Police Service. The facility, located on the north east corner of Parliament and Front Streets, a former Consumers Gas plant built in the 1900s, will combine old with new structures. The plans are to restore the abandoned industrial building and blend it with a modern extension to the north of the original facility.
The estimated price tag for the new facility at $16 million dollars certainly overshadows 51 Division's previous bill but the station will be able to provide an open and inviting atmosphere for the community that is well worth the cost. Anticipated time for occupancy is in June 2003, when a formal ribbon cutting ceremony will take place.
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