St. Lawrence Market Gallery

St. Lawrence Market South Building
View from north-west
General information
Type	Public market
Address	92 Front Street East
Town or city	Toronto
Country	Canada
Opened	1845 (as city hall and municipal complex) 1902 (as public market)
Owner	City of Toronto
Technical details
Floor count	2 +2(former city building)
Floor area	111,458 square feet (10,354.8 m2)
Design and construction
Architect	Henry Bowyer Lane (1845 building) John Wilson Siddall (1902 rebuild)

The St. Lawrence Market South building is a major public market building in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southwest corner of Front and Lower Jarvis Streets. The south building is located at the corner of Lower Jarvis and Front Street. It, along with the St. Lawrence Market North and St. Lawrence Hall comprise the St. Lawrence Market complex. The current building was opened in 1902, and incorporated the 1845 Toronto City Hall building into the structure. The building was restored during the 1970s.

The building has two main floors. The upper floor is the primary space. The upper floor extends the full length of the building. It is one large open space with the large overhanging roof structure, and windows on each side. The lower level is partly underground, opening to the outdoors on the south end of the building. The lower floor does not extend the full length of the building. The market is located on the edge of the former lake shore, and the elevation drops over 10 feet (3.0 m) between the north and south ends. The south end of the lower floor opens to ground level at The Esplanade street. Surrounding the building along the east, west and south sides is a mezzanine. Seating and some tables are available.

On the upper floor, over 50 vendors sell fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses daily, while the lower floor has a portion that is non-food. Each vendor has an allotted stall space and there are several aisles. Several stalls sell sandwiches, such as the staple back bacon sandwich, and beverages such as coffee and tea. There are also craft and art vendors and kitchen supplies.

At the north end is a remnant of the old City Hall, providing two small upper floors. It houses the Market Gallery, operated by the City of Toronto, on the second floor and a cooking school (market kitchen) on the mezzanine floor. Opened in 1979, the Market Gallery offers changing exhibitions dedicated to Toronto's history, art and culture, and programs for school and community groups. The gallery space was formerly the 19th century city council chamber from 1845 to 1899.

The St. Lawrence Market is one of the two locations in Toronto that house the majority of businesses accepting the Toronto Dollar, a local currency that raises money for fighting poverty. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the South Market building, provided by Wireless Toronto.