One way to measure quality is through recognition by peers and other members of ones industry.
The TPA has received a number of awards over the years. The most noteworthy are itemized below.
International Parking Institute (IPI - formerly IMPC)
The Authority received the highly coveted "Award of Excellence" for the best parking facility in North America in 1999. The award was for CarPark 1 - Charles/Hayden Garage. In addition, the Charles/Hayden Garage received the City of Toronto Urban Design Award the same year. The Charles/Hayden Garage represents a combination of the best available technology matched with the highest design and construction standards. This 430 space garage is at the terminus of the Yonge corridor linear park system and employs a state of the art pay on foot system.
Canadian Parking Association
Queen/Victoria Garage - 1990 Award for Outstanding Parking Facility. The Queen/Victoria Garage was constructed as a 470 space (since expanded to 650 spaces) sloped floor garage. The garage incorporates street level retail users and provides head office facilities for TPA on the upper floors. The garage serves a variety of downtown users including the Eaton Centre, St. Michael's Hospital and many local office towers.
St. Lawrence Garage - 1990 Award of Merit. The St. Lawrence Garage was constructed in two phases each containing 1,000 spaces. The garage is five levels above grade with a 300 unit public housing facility integrated into the structure. The garage supports the core commercial area of the city as well as the regional entertainment facilities (hummingbird Theatre and St. Lawrence Hall), as well as the St. Lawrence Market.
Ontario Masonry Association
1995 Masonry Project Design Award. Industrial/Commercial Project winner - Corso Italia Garage. The Corso Italia Garage is constructed on a site connecting a busy commercial strip with a stable residential area. The garage was designed to be consistent with both of these urban forms. The garage incorporates high level materials as well as state of the art technology and security systems.
Other Notable Achievements
In its 50 year history, the TPA has many firsts. Among others, built the first municipal parking garage in North America (1956), largest underground garage in the Commonwealth (1958), the first mechanical garage in North American (1957), the first joint development of municipal garages and housing (1979), and introduced both pay-on-foot automated garage systems and on-street pay-and-display technology to North America (1995 and 1998 respectively).
