Journal: Doors Open Toronto: Billy Bishop Airport

This weekend I spent the morning checking out the 17th annual Doors Open Toronto. Every year when Doors Open Toronto comes around the corner, it gives the public free and rare access into 130+ buildings. I always look into the building list and find several interesting locations to visit. I tend to notice my preferences lean towards transportation and entertainment.

The previous years, I have visited Toronto Transit Commissions's (TTC) Roncesvalles Carhouse where we explored the streetcar wash and learned about streetcar history. I have also visited TTC's Greenwood Subway Yard, which we explored subway history, explored the maintenance shop and rode the subway through specific sections of the area.

This year's theme was Re-used, Re-visited, and Revised. Among the list, there was the TTC's new Leslie Barn, but we visited the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport instead. Our self-guided tour started at the New Pedestrian Tunnel. The main method of getting to the island airport was via one of the shortest ferry ride (90 seconds, every 15 minutes) in the world (121 metres to be exact).



After coming up at the airport side, we wandered around and looked at the booths that they had set up. There was information about border services, the airport, and the security. The tour also led to the hangars which are usually closed to the public.




We visited the ORNGE hangar and checked out explosives from the Toronto Police. There was also an ORNGE helicopter to check out as well!



Afterwards, we went to the hangar around the corner and checked out the maintenance department. We saw the large snow removal vehicles and the fire trucks as well! There was also a section about falcons as well.