Metro Toronto Convention Centre

Sneaking up onto the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was certainly one of the most demanding adventures to date. It had a little bit of everything: some climbing, some bypassing, some improvisation and a lot of patience. Some techniques used: slithering across skyways, avoiding trains, “borrowing” ladders from Union Station, and employing the use of a grappling hook. Despite the hours of planning and tedious trial and error — and not moving a muscle for an hour while two workers changed a lightbulb within arms reach of me — when I finally emerged onto one of Toronto’s most unique venues, I knew that it had been worth it.

The enormous scale of this building is simply astonishing. It feels like you're exploring a dilapidated space station with the CN tower and Skydome looming off in the distance like moons from some far away planet. Buildings that once looked familiar transform in size and shape as you lose perspective traversing across the extraterrestrial mass. Rows of massive cooling towers line the south side of the roof —reeking of piss and mold. Rusty equipment and bird carcasses collect in an vacant, dirilect room three stories tall. Even after venturing deep inside the facility, the sheer vacancy of the exhibition halls makes them almost unrecognizable. Having people occupy the space is essential to its being, and nights like these are a reminder that venues such as the MTCC were not meant to be this lonely.