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Serving Toronto's most liveable community with the Annex Gleaner

CHATTER (Summer 2024)

October 15th, 2024 · Comments Off on CHATTER (Summer 2024)

Cornfest returns; Koreatown’s inaugural street festival; street closure at Bloor and St. George streets

Cornfest returns to Jean Sibelius Park on Sept 15 (3-5pm)

COURTESY MIMI TOMPKINS/ARA

The Annex Residents’ Association is again hosting its annual Cornfest. All are welcome to this rain or shine event to enjoy the sweet seasonal treat together with baked goods, games, and live entertainment!

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Tags: Annex · News

GREENINGS: Our trees are in crisis (Feb. 2023)

March 27th, 2023 · Comments Off on GREENINGS: Our trees are in crisis (Feb. 2023)

ARA to resurvey all the trees in the Annex 

By Terri Chu

There’s a lot to love about the Annex: cultural vibrancy, a wide variety of local independent businesses, walkability and trees. 

Can you imagine this place without the big, beautiful maples? The streets would feel empty and dystopian. 

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Tags: Annex · Life · Opinion

FORUM: Bill 23 is the province’s Big Lie (Dec. 2022)

December 13th, 2022 · Comments Off on FORUM: Bill 23 is the province’s Big Lie (Dec. 2022)

Residents’ associations come together to condemn move

By the HVRA and the ARA

Bill 23, the provincial government’s promise to build 1.5 million homes by 2031 is nothing short of an early Christmas gift to developers.

There’s no guarantee homes will be built, there’s nothing to ensure they will be affordable, and there’s no help for renters.

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Tags: Annex · Opinion

FOCUS: Wiener’s Home Hardware 100th anniversary a day to remember (July 2022)

July 18th, 2022 · Comments Off on FOCUS: Wiener’s Home Hardware 100th anniversary a day to remember (July 2022)

On June 18, Wiener’s Home Hardware celebrated their 100th anniversary with a block party hosted by the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area, Annex Residents’ Association, and the Harbord Village Residents’ Association. The community enjoyed live music, food, and got a chance to learn about the history of the family-run store (pictured top-right). The block party gathered four generations of the Wiener family to celebrate (pictured above). Marty Wiener also accepted a plaque from Mayor John Tory, presented by Councillor Mike Layton, on behalf of the Wiener family commemorating the store’s contribution to the community over the past 100 years (pictured right). This celebration will surely be a day Annex residents will remember. —Fox Oliver/Gleaner News.

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Tags: Annex · News · Life

CHATTER: Annex Residents’ Association AGM covers pressing issues (May 2022)

May 17th, 2022 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Annex Residents’ Association AGM covers pressing issues (May 2022)

The ecological restoriation of Paul Martel Park (formerly Ecology Park) was one of the agenda items at the ARA’s AGM. The park is now home to a Bloor Annex BIA-sponsored mural created by First Nations artists led by local artist Joseph Sagaj. NEILAND BRISSENDEN/GLEANER NEWS

The Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) held their annual general meeting on April 21 via Zoom. Those in attendance included members of the ARA, residents and representatives from development teams, city council and Toronto Police Service. The most notable discussions were about improving safety on Avenue Road, the West Annex Heritage Project, vandalism at St. Alban’s Square and the restoration of Paul Martel Park. 

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Tags: Annex · News

NEWS: City green-lights garden suites (Spring 2022)

April 11th, 2022 · 1 Comment

Amendments to bylaw increase density in established neighbourhoods

New bylaw allows backyard buildings to be residences. FOX OLIVER/GLEANER NEWS

By Joshua Snow

The City of Toronto has been talking about garden suites for years, and on Feb. 2, council agreed to a policy that allows homeowners to build a detached suite in their backyards. 

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Tags: Annex · News

DEVELOPINGS: Developments on your doorstep (Spring 2022)

April 11th, 2022 · Comments Off on DEVELOPINGS: Developments on your doorstep (Spring 2022)

New and continuing developments in the Annex

By MADELINE SMART 
with files from HENRY WIERCINSKI, Annex Residents’ Association 
Photos by BRIAN BURCHELL, renderings from developers’ and city’s websites



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Tags: Annex · News

NEWS: Too close for comfort (Winter 2022)

March 14th, 2022 · 2 Comments

Side-by-side condo tower development on Davenport

The site of the former Just Desserts restaurant is slated to be the new home of Designers Walk Building, a 22-storey “vertical forest” with trees on every terrace. The condo tower by Cityzen and Greybrook Realty Partners will be the first of its kind in Toronto.
COURTESY CITYZEN AND GREYBROOK REALTY PARTNERS

By Nicole Stoffman


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Tags: Annex · News

NEWS: A tribute to Edward Leman (Dec. 2021)

December 17th, 2021 · Comments Off on NEWS: A tribute to Edward Leman (Dec. 2021)

Modest yet forceful ARA volunteer left his mark

Never a NIMBY, Edward worked hard to persuade developers to work with the community and make adjustments and improvements to their proposals. COURTESY THE ANNEX RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

By David Harrison

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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: ARA’s ambitious tree audit planned for renewal in 2022 (Fall 2021)

November 11th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: ARA’s ambitious tree audit planned for renewal in 2022 (Fall 2021)

This 400 year old oak tree off Spadina Avenue is one of the oldest trees in the city. The ARA is about to update its survey of all 10,000 trees in the Annex. New data will help protect the tree canopy from developers, says project lead, Terri Chu. GLEANER FILE PHOTO/COURTESY MICHAEL LOW

In 2009 the Annex Residents Association (ARA) took on the impressive task of cataloging over 10,000 trees in the Annex neighbourhood. A team of forestry students and numerous volunteers worked over the course of four summers logging the trees’ species, age, varieties and their ownership. Now, 12 years later, they’re looking to do it all over again.

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Tags: Annex · News

NEWS: The race to preserve Annex heritage (July 2021)

August 16th, 2021 · 1 Comment

ARA, city, seek to find ways to accommodate growth

(From left) Jessica Bisson (project administrator and survey technician), Kristina Martens (lead cultural heritage specialist), Meredith Stewart (researcher and survey coordinator) and Rebecca Sciarra (principal-in-charge, not pictured) of ASI Heritage consultants will be surveying the West Annex’s 1,007 properties from September to November as part of the West Annex Heritage Project. ARA project lead, Sandra Shaul (right), hopes the research will convince the city to declare the West Annex a Heritage Conservation District.
NICOLE STOFFMAN/GLEANER NEWS

By Nicole Stoffman


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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: Annex Residents’ Association holds virtual AGM (June 2021)

July 15th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Annex Residents’ Association holds virtual AGM (June 2021)

Over 40 people were in virtual attendance at the Annex Residents’ Association’s (ARA) Annual General Meeting on April 22. Because of the pandemic, it was the first AGM in two years, but participation was up thanks to Zoom. 

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Tags: Annex · News

ARTS: Annex is still film set central (Feb. 2021)

March 5th, 2021 · Comments Off on ARTS: Annex is still film set central (Feb. 2021)

Strict COVID-19 protocols being followed

Rebecca Breeds, as the heroic Clarice Starling, and her fellow FBI Agents after catching a killer on Walmer Road in the TV series Clarice. COURTESY MGM TELEVISION AND CBS STUDIOS

By Nicole Stoffman

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Tags: Annex · Arts