{"id":58613,"date":"2013-09-25T12:06:47","date_gmt":"2013-09-25T16:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.buzzbuzzhome.com\/?p=58613"},"modified":"2013-09-25T12:27:28","modified_gmt":"2013-09-25T16:27:28","slug":"toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures","title":{"rendered":"Aviation and expansion: The history of Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport in images"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h4>

The city is locked in debate about whether Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport\u00a0at the foot of Bathurst and Lakeshore should be allowed to expand and let jets take off in the space. It’s such a fractious topic that the yay and nay sides are split almost evenly. According to a new survey commissioned<\/a> by the city, the plan was supported by 47 per cent of respondents and nixed by 45 per cent.<\/p>\n

But before we got to a time of pedestrian tunnels<\/a> and raccoon mascots, the airport was a Depression-era work project, a\u00a0training base for the Royal Norwegian Air Force and a starting off point for fast trips to Newark, Quebec City and Montreal.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look back at the airport’s history:<\/p>\n

\"Airport<\/a><\/p>\n

A photo of Hanlan’s Point on October 1, 1937. Back then, the space was home to houses, an amusement park and the stadium where Babe Ruth hit his first professional home run. Photo: City of Toronto Archives<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"O'Ryan,<\/a><\/p>\n

Though the\u00a0Toronto Harbour Commission came up with an island airport proposal in 1929, the airport didn’t open until 1939 .O’Ryan, Harbour Commissioner Thomas Jenkins, and pilot-owner O’Connor at the opening. Photo: City of Toronto Archives.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"airport<\/a><\/p>\n

An aerial picture of the airport from the rooftop of nearby grain elevators, 1939. Funding came from the federal government’s\u00a0Canadian version of the New Deal. Photo: City of Toronto Archives.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Island_Airport_and_Centre_Island_Toronto_1944\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A 1944 photo of the\u00a0Toronto Islands airport and Centre Island. The original terminal building was a designated a\u00a0National Historic Site of Canada in 1989. Photo: Wikicommons<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Little_Norway_1940<\/a><\/p>\n

Pictured here in November 1940, the space was used at the start of World War II as a training facility for the\u00a0Royal Norwegian Air Force after the Nazis occupied Norway. Photo: Wikicommons<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Proposed<\/a><\/p>\n

Expansion has been a hot topic since the late 1960s. The Leslie Street Spit was even floated as a potential expansion site.\u00a0Photo: City of Toronto Archives<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/a><\/p>\n

The airport in the 1970s. Photo: City of Toronto Archives<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/a><\/p>\n

While the 1970s island airport didn’t have free cookies and wifi, there was unlimited tanning (weather permitting). Photo: City of Toronto Archives<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Toronto<\/a><\/p>\n

Contrary to what this image suggests, the de Havilland planes did not fly to Russia during the 1970s. Photo: City of Toronto Archives<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re for or against expanding the city airport, you need to check out these vintage pictures charting the airport’s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":58622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11118],"tags":[11117,11116,3595],"coauthors":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nAviation and expansion: The history of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport in images | Livabl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Photos of Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto from the start of the project on Hanlan's Point.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aviation and expansion: The history of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport in images | Livabl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Photos of Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto from the start of the project on Hanlan's Point.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Livabl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-25T16:06:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-25T16:27:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/City-Airport-Toronto.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1050\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"734\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Monika Warzecha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Monika Warzecha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures\",\"name\":\"Aviation and expansion: The history of Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport in images | Livabl\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/City-Airport-Toronto.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-25T16:06:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-25T16:27:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/ae605b8bce30bdcb3dc9ea1e8050db5e\"},\"description\":\"Photos of Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto from the start of the project on Hanlan's Point.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/guides\/toronto-billy-bishop-airport-history-pictures#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/City-Airport-Toronto.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/City-Airport-Toronto.jpg\",\"width\":1050,\"height\":734,\"caption\":\"Toronto Island & Island Airport. - 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