On January 1, 1920, Toronto voters approved by plebiscite a proposal by the Royal Agricultural Fair Association to construct, at a maximum cost of million, a new arena for livestock. The City of Toronto government (City) made a call for tenders in the fall of 1920 but the lowest tender was million, exceeding the mandate approved by plebiscite. The size of the planned building was reduced by half in an attempt to get the cost under million and a new call for tenders was done. The lowest tender received was from Anglin-Norcross Ltd. of Montreal for to build the building to City Architect F. W. Price's specifications. There was reticence to hire a Montreal firm, and the city held off on awarding the contract while Price sought out construction offers from local firms to do the work using day labour, although the legality of this was questioned. Another issue raised was that the revised arena design needed to be expanded to meet the fair's needs. Anglin-Norcross offered to do the work at a further . It took two City Council votes, but Council finally approved the awarding of the contract to Anglin-Norcross on May 26, 1921. Demolition of existing buildings (likely the area with livestock stalls) on the site commenced a few days later and arena work commenced in June 1921. The cornerstone was laid by Toronto Mayor Thomas Church on July 27, 1921 and Robert Fleming, President of the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) declared that the building would be the largest of its kind in the world, with a floor space of .