After years of difficulties, Toronto tower finally de-Trumped

Workers start to take down the letters off a Trump Hotel in Toronto on Tuesday July 18, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Toronto’s skyline just got a little less “yuge.”

Cranes have begun removing the massive “TRUMP” sign from the former Trump International Hotel and Tower.

The 65-storey building is undergoing a major rebranding after the tower’s owner, JFC Capital, bought out management contracts from a unit of the Trump Organization.

Canadian company InnVest Hotels LP has since acquired the hotel and will rename it “The St. Regis Hotel.”

In the meantime, efforts are underway to officially remove U.S. President Donald Trump’s name from the structure. Crews were spotted Tuesday removing the president’s name from the facade, letter by letter.

For years, the hotel has been mired in structural problems and controversy.

It opened in 2012 after numerous construction issues. A swaying spire atop the tower caused police to close roads around it in 2015, and a cracked window caused a similar closure later in the year.

Two weeks after Trump won the election, a protest was held outside the building at Bay St. and Adelaide St., where protesters waved signs and broke out into “O Canada.”

Even before the election, there were calls to change the name. In the midst of the presidential campaigns in 2015, Toronto city councilor Josh Matlow said he believed the tower should rebrand after Trump first proposed his Muslim travel ban and called Mexican people “rapists.”

Vancouver’s Trump-branded building now remains the Trump Organization’s only hotel in Canada.

Trump never officially owned the Toronto building, but the Trump Organization licensed his name and operated the property.