The Bloor Street Viaduct is a historic bridge that connects eastern Toronto with the city centre. Completed in 1919, the controversial bridge spans 490 meters and 40 meters above the Don River valley. (Carr 165-166)Designed by Edmund Burke and promoted by Public Works Commissioner Rowland Harris, the bridge plays a central role in the history of Toronto and Michael Ondaatje's novel In the Skin of a Lion. The description of the construction of the bridge in the second chapter of the first book introduces the reader to several important characters and themes that run throughout the narrative but whose importance and connection are not fully realized until much later in the novel. Ondaatje tries to focus the reader's attention on the stories that take place behind the written history of the city. The Bloor Street Viaduct is a central part of the city's history, both written and unwritten. In his fictional narrative, Ondaatje connects real and created characters to paint a picture of the lives of working-class immigrants in Toronto in the 1920s and 1930s. In a moment of self-reflexivity Ondaatje reveals part of his experience with the story through Patrick. “The articles and illustrations he found in the Riverdale Library described every detail about the soil, the wood, the weight of the concrete, everything except information about those who actually built the bridge.” (Ondaatje 145) This statement is strikingly similar to comments made by Michael Ondaatje in an interview regarding his novel. “…I can tell you exactly how many buckets of sand were used, because that's the story of Toronto, but you don't talk about the people who actually built the damn bridge. They are not historical!”(qtd. in Sarris 186) Powerful scenes in... middle of paper... The city of Toronto recently had a barrier built to deter jumpers. Dereck Revington, the architect responsible for the Edmund Burke Bridge expansion, found inspiration in Ondaatje's novel. “'The character of Temelcoff has become something of an icon for me, the way he picks the black bird out of the sky,' Revington said, 'A barrier needs the same kind of elegance and grace as Temelcoff'” (Elve )The Bloor Street Viaduct serves as a catalyst in Michael Ondaatje's revision of Toronto's civic history to weave together the stories of those responsible for building the city, rather than the “officials and their visions” who ordered its construction. (Gamlin 68) “One of the main goals – and successes – of the novel is to 'betray the official story' and reveal, however faintly, the presence of the human element in Toronto landmarks such as the Bloor Street Viaduct. " (Sarri 188)