Photo By Brian Burchell/Gleaner News, Files courtesy of Gus “Rory” Sinclair 

Bloor Borden Market vendor Amanda Van Hart sells her produce at the end of a long growing season. The Van Hart family farm, located in the Holland marsh was started just after the Second World War by the Van Hart’s who emigrated from Holland. Amanda’s father Ron tends their farm while Amanda sets up her stall at farmer’s markets seven days a week across Ontario. The produce is all organic and more info can be had at:
http://www.vanhartsallorganic.ca/ourstory.html The market held each Wednesday in the Green P parking lot is now closed for the season.

Photo By Brian Burchell/Gleaner News

An estimated seven-hundred and fifty carved and lit pumpkins lined Harbord street just after dusk on November 1. The 6^th Annual Harbord Street Pumpkin Festival saw local residents bring their Halloween craftsmanship to display for all to see on tables provided by the Harbord Street BusinessImprovement are, a key sponsor of the event which is organized by volunteers of the Harbord Village Residents Association.

Adam Vaughan Vows to “Destroy” OMB

BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS [Read more →]

 In our blind bid to recycle we seem to have forgotten the first two “Rs”

By Terri Chu

The city has put up nice new garbage bins along the major streets around the Annex recently. There are separate compartments for trash and recycling.  Toronto is ahead of most major North American cities when it comes to recycling, but I fear there’s a lack of understanding about just how effective it is.  There are some people who would never leave home without a water bottle or travel mug while others gladly buy single-use bottles and throw away coffee cups.  In my hometown (London, Ontario), I met a woman complaining about city council’s bid to ban water bottles in city hall boldly announcing “I recycle, there is no environmental impact!”

At the time, I was helping a friend run (successfully in the end) for city council so I quietly facepalmed rather than take her on.  Had I known how handily my friend would have beaten his opponent, I may have tried harder to clarify the situation.

If you take the subway, you may have noticed plastic recycling ads encouraging you to put plastics into the blue bin.  They’re all full of guilt-free love reminding us that trivial acts can contribute to saving polar bears. They’re also lying. If you take a closer look at the fine print, you will notice that the ads are sponsored by the plastic industry lobby group. I realized that the misconceptions surrounding recycling were wide-spread when armchair environmentalists on Twitter starting decrying the fact that their cities didn’t accept Styrofoam recycling for takeout containers.  Exactly what they thought recycling companies can do with it remains a mystery to me.

There is no such thing as plastic recycling. There is, however, such a thing as plastic downcycling.  By law, food containers must be virgin plastic – presenting the first challenge to true REcycling.  The next challenge comes from the properties of the plastic itself. Coke tried to reuse the scrap plastic bits from its manufacturing process (pre-consumer) and even then could not get the clarity they needed in the bottles.  The most important drawback to consider, however, is the toxicity involved in the plastic recycling process.  Even if we managed to turn every Coke bottle into a designer fleece top to be discarded by the trendy fashionistas in four months, we would still have to deal with the fact that the effluence is going back into our drinking water supply which will eventually come back into our bodies.  My view of plastic recycling is that it is great propaganda cleverly designed to make people feel good about continuing to consume products to drive up GDP.  It’s highly polluting and you are much better off skipping the bottled water and hitting a fountain.

Glass and metal recycling is a much better process (assuming the material doesn’t end up in the landfill because of overcapacity at the processing plants), but both still take a lot of energy.  Our best bet is to reduce and reuse.  We seem to have forgotten the first 2 Rs in our bid to get everyone to recycle (and keep consuming).  If you can, shop at farmers’ markets where the farmer takes back and reuses the jars.  Shops such as Grassroots on Bloor (near Brunswick) will sell soap, shampoo, etc. by weight. You bring in an empty container, they’ll weigh it, you get what you want, they’ll weigh it again on the way out, and you pay for what you need with minimal waste.

Don’t buy into the propaganda. Recycling will not cure our environmental woes and, in many ways, it only makes them worse (because people lose the guilt and end up using more).  It is not guilt-free.  Any type of single-use container is highly environmentally damaging.  We need to bring back the 3 Rs and emphasize REDUCE and REUSE.  Recycling should be the last resort, not the first.

Unique Parent-Child Cafe’ Provides a Safe Harbour

Photo By Brian Burchell/Gleaner News

An inside view of a space welcome to child and parent alike, a very well executed renovation of the site of the former Toronto Women’s Bookstore.

By Erika Murray

As a new mother in 2002, Nathalie Robertson initially struggled to forge a social network amongst other moms. While she was commuting from Toronto to New York for work, Robertson found Moomah, a parent-child oriented café in New York. The atmosphere of Moomah left a distinct impression on her, and eleven years later she has set up RedFish BlueFish Creative Café, her own parent-child café that focuses primarily on fostering community between parents. “Nobody really tells you this, but when you don’t have that kind of community as a new parent, it can be very isolating,” says Robertson. “The CBC recently did a study on how women in urban centres are more likely to suffer from post-partum depression, and a contributing factor to that is poor social support from other parents.” After Robertson joined a moms’ group and realized how absolutely necessary this kind of support was, she remembered Moomah. “When we saw how much better parenting can be when in a community, that’s when we really thought ‘Let’s do this,’ says Robertson. “The main goal is to create an outlet for parents to get out of the house, have coffee, and talk to other parents.”

While the target consumers of RedFish BlueFish Creative Café are parents and their children, Robertson wants to emphasize that it is not an establishment exclusively for families. RedFish BlueFish is meant to be a neutral, non-threatening space where adults can come without children and still feel comfortable. The first floor is a kid-friendly café area with tables and chairs for family seating and an arts and crafts table for children, which leads to an outdoor backyard patio with a small garden and a fence overlooking Knox Presbyterian Church. “This main floor is meant to be an area where the friend of a new parent can come and feel comfortable and is oriented towards to the entire community to feel free to come inside and have a coffee. The second floor is more like kids-a-palooza, as it is where the children’s programming will take place,” Robertson says. Located on the outskirts of University of Toronto’s St. George Campus, RedFish BlueFish Creative Café receives a considerable amount of traffic from students in search of caffeine and free Wi-Fi.

RedFish BlueFish Creative Café opened on June 11, 2013, and Robertson says that the community response so far has been amazing and that “even already have regular customers who have made us a part of their routines.” Thus far, there has been no grand opening of any kind, but there is hope to have some celebration in September, after they have established themselves and received more feedback from customers. As it is still in the preliminary stages, the first year for RedFish BlueFish is going to be an experimental period. “We really want to hear from people about things they’d like to see or do here,” says Robertson. The café’s current hours, 7:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. during the weekdays, and 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM during the weekends, are subject to possible change as management observes the needs of customers. An after-school club is in the works, and Robertson is currently reaching out to moms’ groups as well as to homeschooling parents who may want to explore the environment of RedFish BlueFish.

“Kerry Clare’s essay ‘Love is a Letdown’, on how becoming a mother for the first time is a storm, is required reading for all baristas hired as it is crucial to understanding and empathizing with parents as customers,” says Robertson, adding, “A safe harbour in that storm is totally what we want this place to be.” The baristas are all students who have received thorough reference checks and often have had some form of experience working with children beforehand. A lunch menu has recently become available through Foodbenders, a vendor that works with nutritionists to create nutritionally balanced lunches for kids. Currently all the baked goods in RedFish BlueFish are coming from the bakery Desmond and Beatrice, and hopefully by September, individually pre-packaged gluten-free and allergy-friendly baked goods will be integrated into the menu for children with diet restrictions.

The café’s website RedFishBlueFishcafe.com is not yet in place, but they can currently be found on Facebook, and they are located at 73 Harbord W. in the location that was formerly the Toronto Women’s Bookstore.

When a big store means more than just a place to shop: the future of Bathurst and Bloor

By Simone Blaiss

In any intersection in downtown Toronto, transformation is inevitable, but the changes occurring to the four corners of Bathurst and Bloor has that area’s diverse community particularly up in arms.  This summer’s announcement that Honest Ed’s was to be sold has many residents concerned for the future of the landmark discount store and, more importantly, the gentrification that it symbolizes.

“If we don’t look at [the four corners] together then we could end up with a patchwork… that doesn’t serve the community,” Mike Layton said at a city council meeting looking, for the first time, at the intersection as a whole.

The influx of newer bars attracting younger people has residents annoyed by the late night noise, and the speeding cars on Bathurst have many worried that it is no longer a safe street.  But above all, the biggest concern remains the potential loss of Honest Ed’s, the 65-year-old landmark. Residents’ recollections of the building are laced with nostalgia and many want the building to be protected as a heritage site.  The building itself may be preserved but if the actual business chooses to leave, that is beyond the city’s control.  Mike Layton points out that “If we protect the building, we’re essentially protecting a big box store because if the business chooses to leave, the only person who could fill it is a Walmart or another very large format retailer.”   The city will not push for the preservation of the building as a heritage site at this point.  The decision is solely up to the commercial operation.   If a large commercial store does move in, the preservation of ma-and-pa stores and of Mirvish village is at stake.  Although Honest Ed’s was technically a large commercial store, small retail has still been able to thrive despite its presence.  And on a more street level, “It wasn’t a faceless big box.  It had a face.  It had a very real face,” Layton points out.

Councillor Adam Vaughan tried to reassure the group of 100 or so residents and store owners by letting them know that “The individual who is looking at this site… has an interest in building for the future generation.”

What that future generation will encounter is far from finalized, but it is clear that whatever that might be it may be met with some community resistance.

An old fashioned recipe never goes out of style

By Susan Oppenheim

My maternal grandmother gave me a copy of  The Naomi Cook Book first published in 1928 the Hadassah Women.  All the donated recipes are clear and simple. Things pop up like “cook in medium oven till done” quite often. My copy has the inscription “When you finish this book you will be a good cook–love Bubbie Goldie.”  The book I have had for over 40 years now is held together with rubber bands and lovingly used very often.  Everyone would drop in to my British-born grandmother’s house for afternoon tea, seven days a week, around 3 p.m.  Everything we ate was freshly baked that morning and her apple pie was simply great.  We avoided sweetening our tea and always put the milk in the cup first. Why?  Because you do not have to stir it and dirty a spoon!  Into her 80’s she was supplying baking to Just Desserts when it first opened on Davenport  Road. She lived to be 102 years old and was a popular resident at Baycrest the last four  years of her life.

Pie is only as good as your ingredients. It can be challenging to find good locally grown cooking  apples. Last week I regret to say I was shocked that my closest grocery chain offered none. I  guess people do not cook with apples very much anymore. It boggles the mind.  Make sure you  get the right ones.  My favourite brands to use are Spy Apples or Macintosh.

For this recipe I use either a glass pie plate or a metal one. A nice deep dish works best. You want height to show off the feathered layers of slices.

Apple Pie

6-8 good sized cooking apples

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Peel core and thinly slice apples. Mix with ingredients evenly. (Told you it was simple!)

Line pie plate with single pastry.  If you don’t want to make it yourself, you can buy frozen shells  at the supermarket.  Using your rolling pin, jelly roll it up, then unroll without tearing on to the  pie plate.  Pat it into place and stretch slightly to cover evenly, making sure there is some extra  hanging off the sides.  Sprinkle some bread crumbs or flour on shell to seal it.  Pile the apple pie mixture into the pie plate and dot generously with sweet butter.  Prepare the finishing top pastry layer as you did the bottom, starting at one end to unroll over filled shell and when in place, pinch all the edges with three fingers of both hands.  Trim edges with knife, not too tight to allow for shrinkage when baking, and add your personal signature.  This could be fork holes in a pattern, a centre hole using a cookie cutter (you must allow air to escape in the baking), or a ceramic pie funnel purchased from a kitchen shop. A shiny finish can be an egg wash using a pastry brush (yolk and 1 tbsp water) or a milk wash.  Dust white sugar and cinnamon on the top for colour.  Bake in centre of hot oven 425 degrees for 15 minutes, reduce to 400 and bake another 30 to minutes (crust will be brown).  Serve with whipped cream, cool whip, frozen yogurt, ice cream, or cheddar cheese.  Once again here is the pie pastry recipe for those who missed it last month.

5½ cups of all-purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1 lb lard-use from the fridge–always better slightly chilled–or all vegetable Crisco

1 tbsp vinegar

1 egg, lightly beaten

Ice water to make 1 cup of liquid

Mix flour and salt well in a large bowl. With pastry cutter or two knives, add chilled fat product  and cut it with downward motion into small coated bits. In a glass measuring cup, combine  vinegar and egg.  Add iced water to one cup level and mix well with a fork. Pour liquid into flour mixture and toss with fork gently to combine. Gather the dough into a ball and divide into six equal portions. Do not overwork the pastry–keep it light. Wrap the portions and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes, if you are using right away, or freeze for future use. Roll out each portion on a lightly floured surface, about ¼ inch thickness. If the dough is sticking, chill again for another hour or two.

By: Olivia Chow and Joe Cressy

Those of us who live in the city all know the aggravation that can come with unreliable public transit and gridlock.  Being squeezed into an overflowing subway. Watching packed streetcars pass you by as you wait in the cold, already late for work. Sitting in a car in traffic and fighting that temptation to scream.  The reality, for far too many, of not having a fast and reliable source of public transit within walking distance of your home or work.

Let’s face it, while we may like public transit, at times it can be tough. Commuters are increasingly frustrated and business leaders are feeling the negative impact on productivity and competitiveness.

Part of this frustration arises from the fact that travel time directly affects our quality of life. Take for example, commute times. Last year the average commute time in the GTA was over 80 minutes.  Think about how much more time you could spend with your family, enjoy your hobbies, or lead a healthy and active life if it was reduced.

But transit impacts more than just the quality of our lives, it hits us in our pocket books. Gridlock in the GTA last year cost our economy $6 billion. And that’s to say nothing of the negative impacts on our long-term economic prospects.

So, what’s to be done? How can we get our city and country moving again?

In the last year individuals, businesses, civic organizations, and governments have taken the issue on.  Organizations and alliances like the Toronto Region Board of Trade and CivicAction have convened some of the best and brightest to work on solutions. Local campaigns, like our own I HEART Public Transit initiative of the Trinity-Spadina NDP, have sought to build awareness and advocate for change.  Individuals from across our city have spent their evenings in consultations hosted by the City of Toronto and Metrolinx.

This is a good development. There is now an urgent discussion taking place about how to pay for existing and new transit and how to cut commute times. At the municipal and provincial level, debates about the best form of dedicated, transparent, progressive, and fair revenue sources are being held. The search for that elusive consensus on transit funding is on.

All of us who engaged in these discussions know a few simple truths: If we don’t invest in and fix our existing transit infrastructure, gridlock will get worse and commute times will increase.  Our ridership is growing. Simply put, more people are using public transit and more cars are on the roads. And, if we don’t invest in building the next generation of transit, everyone in our city will be worse off.

However, in all of these discussions, one important piece of the puzzle has been missing: the federal government. For years the federal government has been missing in action on public transit.

A couple of simple facts help to make this clear.  Fact–Canada is the only G8 nation without a national transit strategy. Fact – nationally, our public transit system faces an $18 billion gap in the next five years without any commitment from the federal government to fix it. Fact – the economic benefits directly resulting from public transit in Canada are over $10 billion annually.

This needs to change.

Across Canada cities are struggling. They receive only eight cents of every tax dollar and their property taxes have to pay for a wide range of local services, from parks to police to libraries. Recent promised improvements with the gas tax transfer to cities have been an important step, but our cities remain cash-strapped. On transit, they can’t manage alone.

What Canadian cities need is permanent, long-term, and predictable investments in transit. Building and operating transit can’t be done overnight. It requires vision and planning. And it certainly can’t be effectively funded with one-time commitments from the federal government.

On the very weekend we sat down to write this op-ed the news arrived that the federal government would provide $660 million for a subway in Scarborough. Let’s be clear, we need the federal government at the table and the news that they would be funding transit is a step in the right direction. But, they can and must do better.

Municipal and provincial officials in Toronto and across Canada are looking to improve transit and we can’t do that with just ad hoc and one-off commitments from the federal government. We need long-term and predictable funding to make transit investments work.

For years, Torontonians and residents of cities across Canada have needed to get to work and school faster. They’ve been let down. But the recent focus and attention on transit should give us all hope. The time is coming for discussions to make way for action. It’s time to get Canadians moving again.

– Olivia Chow is the member of parliament for Trinity-Spadina, the NDP transport and infrastructure spokesperson, and the vice-chair of parliament’s transport committee.

-Joe Cressy is the president of the Trinity-Spadina federal NDP and one of the co-founders of the I HEART Public Transit campaign.

Shows in thirty-five venues dazzled audiences

By Beth McKay

The Toronto Fringe Festival held its 25th anniversary from July 3rd to July 14th and, to celebrate, a whopping 148 shows were performed at 35 venues and entertained countless theatregoers. Though it may have been difficult to attend all of the Fringe shows because of the high number of performances, one that should not have been missed is I Hired A Contract Killer, a play performed by the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts. This show initially appears heavily dramatic; upon viewing however, it is fantastically comical. The play portrays the serious and common issue of job loss, and juxtaposes this element with the extreme measures that the main character, Henri Boulanger, takes to fill the emotional void of losing his job. In response to being fired, Boulanger hires a contract killer to murder him when he least expects it; however, he has a change of heart before the murder comes to fruition. This bleak plot line creates a humorous atmosphere to which audience members can relate and chuckle at the measures Boulanger takes after being laid off. The plot line is partnered with a unique and ingenious dramaturgy which both the director and Randolph Academy students have carefully constructed.
I Hired a Contract Killer is originally a 1990 cinema film, and the Randolph Academy has used the basis of the film to their theatrical advantage. “It was written as a film. There are 57 scenes in the movie, and we got it down to 47. This play is basically an adaptation,” said Bruce Pitkin, the play’s director. Pitkin has been with the Randolph Academy since 2006 and this is the fourth Fringe Festival play which he has directed. Though he has travelled the world working in theatre, he explained that he greatly enjoys the Toronto atmosphere. “Students here [ at the Randolph Academy] access a joy in their work that doesn’t exist in other places. They have a skill set that is very different; each student brings their own special talent,” Pitkin said.
Pitkin further expressed that he cannot replicate film on the stage, but rather he plays with the audience’s visual perspective. A narrative was written for the screenplay, and Pitkin has adapted the film narrative to suit his rendition, which creates a hybridity of live performance and film. “At times we turn the whole piece around and let the audience see it from another side,” he explained, while making a conscious effort to not reveal any of the play’s surprises.

Randolph Academy Students Matt Raffy (left) and Brittani Byrne (right) star in I Hired A Contract Killer during the Toronto Fringe Festival’s 25th anniversary.

Randolph Academy student Jordi O’Deal expressed her excitement for this play and explained that this is her first major role at the Randolph centre. “There are ten people in the cast and we have all been working together since we started school, so since last January,” O’Deal said. She has multiple roles in the play including the landlady and a thug, and she also plays the  guitar in the performance.Pitkin and O’Deal explained that the students create all of the soundscape for the play, as there is no recorded sound. “It goes from creating a subway train, to a thunderstorm, to bar scenes. Some sounds we do in a unique way which provides humour,” Pitkin said. Randolph Academy student, Jordi O’Deal expressed her excitement for this play and explained that this is her first major role at the Randolph centre. O’Deal has multiple roles in the play and explained, “There are ten people in the cast and we have all been working together since we started school, so since last January.” If you did not get a chance to see this performance visit www.randolphacademy.com for upcoming show times

By Beth McKay

The Green P parking lot is nestled in between Bloor Street and Lennox Street, and though this lot appears ordinary, it is yet another example as to why the Annex is such a thriving and eventful community. The Green P parking lot is used for cars throughout the week, but on Wednesdays from 3:00pm to 7:00pm it is the location of the Bloor Borden Market, which is one of four markets in Toronto’s MyMarket program. This program aims to bring certified local farmers into the city to sell their locally grown products, while simultaneously enabling them to share the importance of purchasing food from farmers rather than the common grocer.
The Bloor Border Market has consistently drawn cuisine conscience crowds from the downtown community who enjoy learning the benefits of using local products. The market also gives farmers big city business, and provides area residents with the opportunity to purchase food directly from certified local farmers; an option that is not always available in the downtown core.
The Bloor Borden Market is an energetic scene in where live steel drum music permeates the Green P lot. People carry cartons of fresh strawberries, bags of local carrots, and crates of cheese. Amongst the exchange of cash for produce there is an interaction between seller and purchaser that cannot be found in a grocery store and it is this individualized contact that farmers and customers greatly enjoy. “We take pride in quality produce, and thoroughly enjoy working one on one,” explained Gary Godelie, owner of Godelie Family Farm in Otterville Ontario, which is just South of Woodstock Ontario. Godelie grows his produce on his own farm, and therefore he speaks confidently of his products.“We only sell what we grow, and we enjoy meeting our customers. My wife even works a roadside [produce] stand at the farm in Otterville,” he enthusiastically said. The Bloor Borden Market has been occurring for six years, and Godelie has been attending since the market’s beginning. Godelie is not the only one who likes customer interaction though, as customers alike benefit from meeting the famers.
John Harstone, an Annex resident who lives minutes from the market, has been attending the Bloor Borden Market for the past five years. He explained that he frequently asks questions regarding the food which he purchases and enjoys hearing a response that is straight from the beginning of the production line. He also noted that the Bloor Borden Market has a very different culture than others in the area, such as the Trinity Bellwoods Market. “The Bloor Borden Market is more affordable, and it has all certified farmers. Whereas Trinity Bellwoods is not all certified farmers but it is all organic,” Harstone compared. He expressed the importance of attending as many of the downtown markets as possible as they are all different but all equally unique.
“Business is not as busy for us, but it is always steady and consistent,” said Stacy Denhaan of PrimerRidge Pure cheese farm. Denhaan has made the two hour drive from Markdale Ontario to the Annex for the past two years, and she frequently makes the trip alone. Though her cheese stand does not experience the high frequency of customers that the Godelie Family Farm stand experiences, she expressed that the loyalty of her customers is invaluable. “It is great to see how interested people in this area are when it comes to purchasing their food,” she said.
Though Denhaan only frequents the Annex weekly to attend and sell her products at the Market, some of her cheeses are sold at the local Rowe Farms on Bloor St. “Some of the best things that go on at this market are stores working together,” recurring marketer Harstone explained. “Rowe Farms and Cobs Bakery interchange products, and now Rowe sells this [PrimerRidge Pure] cheese in their shop” he said, gesturing to Denhaan’s cheeses. Therefore, though the market occurs only once per week, some of the fresh products linger in the Annex and surrounding regions year round giving shoppers the ability to buy these market fresh foods whenever they desire. This beneficial overlap of products would likely not have occurred had the Bloor Borden Market not introduced certified local farmer’s products to the Annex.
The Bloor Borden Market is an experience that neighbours and tourists alike should take the time to both shop around and be entertained with live music and the charismatic personalities of the certified local farmers. The MyMarket program is volunteer run and is one of the great benefits of living in the Annex. “There is a good energy at this market,” explained Amanda Vanhart of Vanhart Greenhouse. “The market seems to get busier each year, and we have been coming here for six years.” She said. Be sure to attend the Bloor Borden Market as it runs every Wednesday from 3:00 to 7:00 throughout the months of June to October in the Green P parking lot.

Community and officers welcome the modern police facility

By Andrew Russell

Police officers, political dignitaries and community members packed the entrance of the new home of Toronto’s 14 Division at 350 Dovercourt Road.

Minister of International Cooperation Julian Fantino, police Chief Bill Blair and councilor Frances Nunziata representing the absent mayor Rob Ford, were among some of the important figures attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new, modern police facility.

“The priority for the Government of Canada is providing the men and women in uniform with the resources and equipment the need,” said Fantino, a current MP and former Toronto police chief, who began his career working seven years at 14 Division.

The new building, which officially opened Nov. 2, sits directly across the street from the old precinct.

Toronto police services Chair Alok Mukherjee, Councillor France Nunziata, PoliceChief Bill Blair and Minister of International Cooperation cut the ribbon officially marking the opening of the 14 Division’s new headquarters. PHOTO BY ANDREW RUSSELL

14 Division is a unique police division in Toronto. Serving approximately 152,396 residents in a 15.7 sq./km, it is considered one of the smallest yet busiest divisions within the Toronto Police Services.

“The community came together with police to design this new station and that is truly extraordinary,” said Chief Blair.

Initial plans for the building, which rests on approximately 1.86 acres, began in 2008 when Toronto Police Services first took control of the land from the old Heydon Park Secondary School.

In 2009 the architecture firm Stantec, which has been involved in a number of recent construction projects for the Toronto police, was chosen to design the new facility and in 2010 ground was officially broken.

Throughout the planning process a group five community members worked with the police to ensure the building would be accessible to the public.

“The community had input every step of the way,” said Sergeant Jeffrey Zammit, who acted as the liaison between police and the community. “This is one of the only residential police divisions in the city, so we wanted to make sure we worked with the public as much as possible.”

One of the main features of the new building is the green technology employed throughout the building.

“It’s a much more efficient and greener building,” said Sgt. Zammit. “A clean place is a happy place for officers who look forward to coming to work and are happier when they’re out on the street.”

Some of the green technologies used at the new facility include low flow water systems, interior lighting that adjusts according to the amount of external light and a living roof that collects rainwater.

“The roof is made of moss that collects water so we can reuse it to water the lawn and other plants,” said Constable Gord Reid, a community relation’s officer.

Residents in the area will also no longer have to worry about police cruisers taking up valuable parking spaces.

“As part of the design we had to build down,” said Cst. Reid. “Parking is entirely self-contained. All police and emergency vehicles will occupy the bottom (two levels of the station).”

$6.2 million renovation to make Carnegie Library performing arts centre

By Ryan Saundercook

After 33 years of a somewhat unstable nomadic existence, the Theatre Centre has broken ground on the renovation of its first permanent home – the Carnegie Library, a 104-year-old heritage property located at 1115 Queen St. West.

The $6.2 million renovation project kicked off Oct. 11, 2012 and has reached 84 per cent of its funding goal.

“We’ve been in this community for the last 23 years … For us, moving out of this neighbourhood didn’t make a whole lot of sense because of the commitment we have to the community,” said Franco Boni, General and Artistic Director of the Theatre Centre in an interview with Gleaner News. “And because the neighbourhood itself very organically became an arts and culture focused area. So it was important for us to be a performing arts anchor.”

The funding has largely been funded by federal, provincial and local government. The federal government and the Department of Heritage have donated $1.8 million. $1.2 million has come from the province, $500,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and $1 million from the city of Toronto.

An artist’s rendering of what the renovated structure may look like upon completion. COURTESY OF THE THEATRE CENTRE

“The fact that the three levels have come through with something for this project is just sensational. It’s rare when that happens,” said Boni. “And it’s also important to understand that we’re an arts organization … but we’re not a large company. For the government to recognize our importance in the arts ecology is truly extraordinary.”

The new establishment will include a performance space with seating for up to 200 people, a rehearsal laboratory, a multi-purpose café that will serve as a casual performance space, and a gallery for visual art. The building’s historic façade will remain untouched.

“I believe what we do and what the Theatre Centre provides is an incubator for new work and new performance,” said Boni. “That kind of space is very much needed in the arts ecology and cultural ecology of the city.”

Toronto City Councillor Ana Bailão praised the lasting influence The Theatre Centre has had on the area in a press release:

“I am overjoyed with the Theatre Centre’s new location, and join with the local community in celebrating the groundbreaking ceremony,” she said. “The Theatre Centre has been performing a vital role as promoter and developer of local theatre programming for more than 20 years and will continue to anchor this area as the West Queen West arts scene continues to develop.”

In the centre’s 33 year history it has helped produce a number of successful productions, garnering over 20 Dora nominations and awards.

The Theatre Centre is currently making its home at a temporary location at 1095 Queen Street West and is expected to make the big move in 2013.