By Jamie Bradburn

Cumberland Terrace gets no love. While the 1970s time capsule of shopping mall design still sees excited holiday shoppers, most are passing through on their way to other nearby destinations to drop their dollars or to access the subway. Commentators on architectural web boards have dreamed of knocking it down. Even the centre’s current owners have admitted that the site sticks out as an eyesore amid the current wave of redevelopment in Yorkville.
Cumberland Terrace touted itself as “the nicest way from Yonge to Bay” from its opening on October 14, 1974. A steam calliope was stationed at Bloor and Yonge to entice first-day shoppers. The early tenants were a mix of chains (Classic Bookshops, Dack’s Shoes, DeBoer’s Furniture, LCBO) and oddly-named independent retailers (Copygraph, The Elephant Crossing, Mr. Eat ‘Em). There have been occasional attempts at renovations but much of the centre retains the brick and brown/orange colour scheme that were popular when it was conceived.
You may have to act fast to capture the old elements. If all goes as proposed, wrecking ball operators will be busy in late 2009/early 2010 transforming the site into two residential towers, street-level retail topped by villa-style residences, and above-ground parking.
Source: Toronto Life, December 1985