Lynne Dalgleish calls for compassion, patience, love, kindness, and empathy, in her passionate plea of hope. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
By Lynne Dalgleish
I had read about the “Andrà tutto bene” (everything will be alright) rainbow drawings that the people of Italy were putting in their windows to boost morale and delight children.
I am a graphic recorder by profession which means that I capture, in real-time, the conversation, keynote or discussion that is happening at a conference, workshop, or meeting. Usually, I scribe on big 8 x 4 ft. foam boards just like the one in front of my house. As you can imagine, all of my gigs have dried up and I haven’t had any work since the end of February.
After almost a month of being very unproductive, I found myself suddenly wanting to draw. It was a sunny Sunday and I was singing online with Choir! Choir! Choir! After feeling disconnected for so long, it felt great to feel connected to a broader community and I felt inspired to reach out somehow. At first, I started drawing on a small piece of paper and then I ran upstairs to get an 8 foot board and my easels because I suddenly realized I had a lot to share!
I started with the image of the rainbow and went from there. I drew all afternoon and late into the evening and then the next day. I was hoping that I could share the board with my neighbours and inspire them with the visual message to stay home. I wanted the idea of working together toward a common goal to be the focus. I filled the board with illustrations of activities we could hope to do in our newly discovered spare time, sharing messages of hope, compassion, love, patience and empathy. I also wanted to remind people WHY we are staying home: to contain the virus, to flatten the curve and to protect our heroes – the healthcare workers.
I built a frame, dug some holes, stapled the board to the frame, and stuck it in my front garden. Since the board has gone up, I have met many neighbours who have stopped to take pictures and thank me. I’m not sure how long it will last as it’s only on foam core. But the ink has held out through two rainstorms, a very windy day and even a little snow!
People have let me know about a Reddit thread dedicated to the board and BlogTO has posted pictures on Facebook and Instagram. Even Choir! Choir! Choir! posted an image of my board on their Facebook page where it has traveled around the world! Others have posted my board to Linkedin and I’ve made many new connections as a result. I have had inquiries from all over North America from people who wish to share it with loved ones working in hospitals or make posters for their own neighbours.
In this time of uncertainty and isolation, I am very grateful to feel connected to so many people. By reaching out to my community, I have received so much in return. And that has been a very valuable lesson!
May 1st, 2020 · Comments Off on FOCUS: Local resources for a global pandemic (Apr. 2020)
An updated guide of Annex resources
By Gleaner Staff
Staying home to help stop the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be the new normal for the foreseeable future.
Read on for our updated guide to Annex resources during COVID-19, the second issue since we all started to hunker down and stay together apart.
You’ll find information about doctor’s offices, pharmacies, grocery stores, and support for small businesses. Hours of operation and service were valid when we went to press, but could change.
The basics
Whenever possible please stay home, wash your hands, take care of yourself and your loved ones. If you have to go out, practice safe physical distancing, wash your hands frequently, and return home as quickly as you can. You can find the most up-to-date information at the City of Toronto’s dedicated website: www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/.
If you meet any of the criteria found there, contact your family doctor or Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. Let them know you used the province’s self-assessment tool.
There are three COVID-19 assessment centres that are near to the Annex:
Go to your nearest emergency department if you have severe symptoms like shortness of breath, chest discomfort, lethargy, drowsiness, weakness, or dizziness. If you have to use a car service, please wear a mask, sit in the back seat, and open the windows. If you can, note the company name and operator number of the driver.
If you are not well enough to make your own way to a hospital or assessment centre, call 911.
The doctor is in
For medical issues unrelated to COVID-19, please reach out to your primary care provider or family doctor. Many are now offering virtual appointments.
If you don’t have access to a family doctor there are several walk-in clinics still open. Please remember, if you are experiencing any flu symptoms, don’t go in person to either walk-in clinic, please call first:
GSH Medical – 481 Bloor St. W., second floor: open for people with non-flu like symptoms. They are also offering virtual appointments that can be set up by calling 416-928-0217 or emailing annex@goldstandardhealth.ca. There is no cost for this service, you don’t need to be an existing patient, and they are accepting all requests at this time.
Downtown Doctors Walk-in Medical Clinic – 720 Spadina Ave., #100: still open for walk-ins. You can also call them to set up a phone appointment at 416-929-1530.
Watson Medical Walk-in Clinic, located inside Snowdon Pharmacy at 264 Bloor St. W. You’ll need to call first to schedule a phone appointment, and make sure you have your health card information when you do. You can reach them at 416-962-7304.
Pharmacies
The following pharmacies in the Annex are still open, and many offer special hours or delivery:
Snowdon Pharmacy – 264 Bloor St. W.: offering delivery to seniors and at-risk customers. 416-922-2156. www.snowdoncompounding.com.
Rexall – 481 Bloor St. W.: dedicating the first hour of shopping exclusively to those who are 55 and older. 416-929-8213.
Rexall – 474 Spadina Ave.: encouraging shoppers to allow seniors access to the first hour but will serve all who are in need. 416-413-1060.
Green Pharmacy – 620 Bloor St. W.: open with their regular hours. 416-530-4004.
Loblaw Pharmacy – 650 Dupont St.: free delivery, open to seniors only from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., pharmacy opens at 8 a.m. 416-588-4793.
Shoppers Drug Mart – 360a Bloor St. W.: phone orders, free delivery. 416-961-2121.
Shoppers Drug Mart – 292 Dupont St.: phone orders, free delivery. 416-972-0232.
UT?Pharmacy +?Print – 193 College St.:?open regular hours and weekends. Phone orders, free delivery, 647-351-1708.
Mental health
It’s okay to be not okay. If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety or other mental health issues, you can find information on government and community-based services from the province’s main service hub, 211 Ontario. Call 211 or visit www.211oncovid19.ca to get help. Live chat is also available online.
Unfortunately, Wiener’s Home Hardware at 432 Bloor St. W. has made the difficult decision to close for the time being. However, if you need a hammer, nail or tool, you can still place online orders for curbside pickup at the larger outlets and at New Canadian Lumber at 804 Dupont St.
Groceries
Retailer supply chains are still operating, so there is no need to panic shop.
“Supply chains across Canada are strong. There are no food shortages – just some empty shelves due to a sudden rush in shopping. Rest assured that items will soon be re-stocked,” said the Retail Council of Canada in a recent tweet.
Many retailers offer delivery and seniors-only shopping hours, and some local restaurants are also helping out.
Annex Animal Hospital (716 Bathurst St.) remains available for essential visits, food, and medication. Please call them at 416-537-3128 and they’ll accommodate you in the safest way possible.
Bark & Meow Pet Supplies (712 Bloor St. W.) is offering free local delivery and is open for call ahead curbside pickup. Contact them at 416-532-2275 or by email at 712barkmeow@gmail.com.
Global Pet Foods at 171 Dupont St. has curbside pick-up and can be reached at 416-964-0450.
Pet Valu at 339 College St. also has curbside pick-up, call 416-944-0314.
Closed for now
A recent survey conducted by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) found that 50% of businesses could not make all of April’s rent and 72% of businesses feel they will not be able to make all of May’s rent. The survey also found that 61% of businesses indicate they would close down for good within three months and 76% within five months.
You can chat live through the website, a feature also offered by the Toronto Board of Trade also has a help site with live chat assistance: https://supportbusiness.bot.com.
Eat and shop local
You can support local business by ordering online or buying gift cards to use later. You can call ahead and pay with credit or debit.
The City of Toronto and the TABIA have also partnered with distantly.ca. Vetted by mayor’s office, it’s a crowdfunding platform that supports small businesses in Toronto. You can donate directly to businesses for rent and payroll expenses.
While many local restaurants are closed to dining in, you can still order food for delivery through DoorDash, foodora, Ritual, Skip the Dishes, and UberEats.
But also check to see if you can order and pick up from the restaurant by calling them directly, which saves the restaurant up to 30% on delivery fees.
If you’re a homeowner and are interested in speaking with your mortgage provider about a mortgage deferral, please contact your mortgage broker, bank representative, or account manager.
Support for tenants
The Ontario government announced on March 16 that no new eviction orders would be issued until further notice, and asked the Sherriff’s office to postpone any currently scheduled enforcement of evictions.
If you’re a tenant who needs advice or assistance, please contact
MPP Jessica Bell’s office at 719 Bloor St. W., Unit 103, phone 416-535-7206, email: jbell-co@ndp.on.ca
stepstojustice.ca, offers step-by-step information about legal issues.
Locals help
Local organizations are helping and staying active as well.
The Good Neighbour Project is helping the vulnerable by delivering supplies and groceries and can be reached at 647-873-2230 or by visiting their facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/GoodNeighbourProject.
The Annex Residents’ Association would like to hear about and celebrate local acts of kindness. Please email your stories to aracares@theara.org.
Thank you
We know many of you work in hospitals, government, and in other essential support roles. Thank you for all that you’re doing to keep us safe.
Email us at gleanereditor@gmail .com if you have a story to tell. Because even as we all continue to stay, live, and shop local, we also think it’s important to celebrate local.
May 1st, 2020 · Comments Off on CHATTER: “A burger and a pound of butter please…” (Apr. 2020)
As social distancing rules cause hour-long line ups at the local Metro, people are also having trouble finding free time slots for grocery delivery. Fortunately for stressed-out shoppers, our friendly neighbourhood Paupers Pub is getting into the grocery game.
“Our customers were asking for certain provisions, and it started from there,” explains Pub Manager Shelby Larose. “Whether it’s sugar, a loaf of bread or butter, our list keeps getting bigger.”
As Canada’s food supply chain adjusts to the surging demand in domestic buying, Paupers continues to access the restaurant supply chain to bring fresh produce, dairy, meat and bread to customers. Even their eggs come with the “Foodland Ontario” stamp.
They’re also offering a $25 produce box, with something new added every day. The Annex mainstay that has been serving the neighbourhood for thirty years continues to serve it in trying times.
That same restaurant supply chain allows Paupers to offer provisions at a lower or only slightly higher price than the big grocery stores. For example, a pound of boneless chicken breasts runs you $9.00 at Metro, but is only $6.50 at Paupers.
“I think it’s great what you’re doing,” a local resident tells Ms. Larose, as she picks up her order.”They’re providing us things we’d rather not line up for.”
For those Pauper’s fans who miss the pub’s nachos and local draft brews, you can order a nacho kit and a six pack of beer with your food purchase, at only one to two dollars more than the Beer Store. Wine is also available at just a dollar or two more than the LCBO, a small price to pay for avoiding those long lineups.
Since we all need a little comfort these days, trays of meat or cheese lasagna, butter chicken, mac and cheese and chicken parmesan are still available to heat up at home for only $15 a tray.
Top it off with a piece of Oreo Cheesecake or Bourbon Crunch for five bucks, and it’s easy to imagine that Pauper’s well-loved first and third floor patios will twinkle again soon.
To place an order, call: 416-530-1331. Orders can be picked up at their take out counter or delivered to your vehicle outside. Mon-Sun 12-9 pm. Check www.pauperspub.com/grocery/ for updates.
Victory Cafe owner Nick Ndreka warms the hearth to make it ready for pizza. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
Victory Cafe at 440 Bloor St. W. is open for take-out and is offering gourmet pizza, prepared in a wood fire oven, at roughly 40% off the usual price ($10.95). Owner Nick Ndreka declared: “this is an emergency and people need a break!”
Some restaurants and bars, due to the nature of their business model, opted not to do take-out and delivery. One of those is Kilgour’s Bar Meets Grill. Co-owner Peter Kilgour, a direct competitor to Victory Cafe across the street, donated perishables from their fridge to Ndreka’s to help the cause. “We are all brothers [and sisters] at the end of the day,” Kilgour said as he delivered a sack of potatoes across the way. “We have to help each other,” he said.
Businesses not deemed essential are, of course, closed to retail but many are keeping an online presence for e-commerce.
Sean Lacey saw most coffee establishments shutter on Bloor St. due to the pandemic. He saw the opportunity and opened up his own take-out only coffee venue within the Victory Cafe (440 Bloor St. W.). Lacey, pictured above, makes his own fresh baked goods on the premises and sells coffee beans to go. The new business will move to Borden St. (just south of Bloor) when the Victory Cafe and other restaurants fully re-open.
Shana Tilbrook and her daughter making non-medical masks at home in the Annex. COURTESY BILL BEDFORD
By Nicole Stoffman
It’s week three of the global coronavirus pandemic and Shana Tilbrook has distributed over 100 handmade cloth masks in ten days.
“At first it wasn’t that busy, but as soon as Dr. Tam said we should be wearing masks, all of a sudden that’s when the requests went crazy,” says the Annex resident and former co-owner of Tryst Lingerie. She adds that most masks stay in the neighbourhood, but orders are coming in from as far as Milton.
Since she began offering her free masks on the Annex and Seaton Village Facebook groups, strangers have been dropping off elastic and fabric on her front porch, where she puts out the completed masks for pickup.
“I just got a package of pre-washed and cut fabric, and now I’ll be able to go a lot faster, because I have to wash and dry all of the fabric I get,” she explains.
As co-owner of Tryst Lingerie, Tilbrook became an expert bra fitter, training her staff and other store owners across Canada on the basics of bra fitting. Her Queen West store, known for being especially welcoming to LGBTQ+ clientele, closed in 2019 after 15 years, a victim of a general downturn in retail. She will move the store online and offer bra fittings in a showroom in her home, when circumstances allow.
Tilbrook has a theatre degree from Ryerson, with a major in costuming. Her masks come in a wide range of vivid and attractive colours and patterns.
“I want people to have masks that they are proud to wear so I give everyone a choice of 5 to 10 prints.”
Health Canada did not recommend that asymptomatic people wear masks until April 6, at which time Dr. Theresa Tam conceded that a cloth mask can be a protective measure for asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19.
For such people, a cloth or “non-medical” mask could protect others from their respiratory droplets in situations where it is difficult to always stay 6 feet apart. A cloth mask will not, however, protect the wearer from respiratory droplets from an infected person, so maintaining social distancing is still important.
Tilbrook’s sister is a doctor and has been offering consultation on this project. She has restricted orders to one mask per person, and instructs each recipient to wash it after each use with soap and water, to wash their hands before and after wearing it, and to only touch the elastics.
“I only have one, and my husband only has one. We don’t go out more than once a day,” says Tilbrook. “You don’t need more than one mask, unless you’re walking a dog.”
For Tilbrook, making masks is more than a public health service, it’s therapy. 2019 was a year of professional and family setbacks, so she took her young family on a recuperative 4-week trip to Israel, which was cut short by the pandemic. She came home, feeling depressed.
“I thought that if I could give masks to people and help people, then I would feel better. It really helped. People have been pitching-in and helping me. Every day I open my front door and there’s fabric or elastic. It’s been amazing.”
If you would like to sew masks, but don’t own a sewing machine, please contact Shana Tilbrook at wusister@gmail.com. If you would like a free mask, please send an email to this same address with “Free Masks” in the subject line. One mask per person.
“Canadians are kind and generous.” The Prime Minsister tells us this in his daily briefings on the COVID-19 crisis. In reality, this statement is part truth and part aspirational. Fortunately in the Annex, and in a great many other parts of our city, this is proving to be true. Many residents are acting as model citizens: staying home, sharing positive messages, and helping each other out.
This crisis is allowing us to see who is prepared to give and to be helpful. In the Gleaner’s distribution area it’s hard to find a neighbourhood where residents are not stepping up to help those who are vulnerable and in need.
Harbord Village Residents’ Association (HVRA) has launched the Harbord Village Mutual Aid Network to help each other during the COVID-19 global pandemic. To help the community and each other, HVRA started delivering flyers with HVRA names and contact information, so people could either email the association directly and get matched with a volunteer – or they could take up the offer of the person whose name was on the flyer. The volunteers pick up medication, groceries, and act as a listening ear on the other end of the line.
“I must say that has been one of the main points, to say you know, I’m here, I’m ready and I really want to help my neighbours,” said Margaret Procter who spearheaded the initiative. “That’s really very touching to see a sense of responsibility towards people, and older people especially,” she said. There are so many volunteers signed up to help in Harbord Village that they outnumber those who need it.
North of Bloor Street, the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) has launched a similar initiative. Gleaner columnist and ARA Parks Committee chair Terri Chu launched the Annex Help Group at the start of the lockdown out of concern for seniors. “I got a lot of very nice notes, saying they just appreciate knowing there is somebody they can call, should something happen,” said Chu. “It helped them to feel better, just to know there was a backup plan.” At press time, the group numbered 106 volunteers and has dropped 3,500 leaflets
“You might actually have COVID-19 — you don’t realize that you don’t really have any symptoms, but you could be passing it along. And the idea of wearing a fabric mask, so they are not taking any resources away from healthcare professionals, but the fact that you could wear a mask that would cut down on your droplets that you’re sending out there,” said Ingrid Nasager, PARA Membership Coordinator and Board Member. PARA has also provided a community service for seniors like grocery shopping or picking up medications.
Thirty-six restaurants on Bloor St. between Bathurst and Madison are doing take-out, pick-up and delivery, and trying their best to stay alive. Pauper’s Pub is one of them, but has also added groceries to the menu, and they’ve made those groceries available at reasonable prices. How creative and thoughtful is that? The Victory Cafe dropped its prices by 40% for take-out of its gourmet pizzas (less than its cost). Owner Nick Ndreka said, “this is an emergency and we have to help people.”
Clearly, neither business has chosen to profit from this pandemic. They each want you to remember how they acted in your hour of need.
This time will be remembered as an existential moment for many. How we recall the way we have treated others and how others have treated you will speak to the core of our value systems. We’ve realized who is “essential” and how we treat them. It’s far more than first-responders and health care workers, it’s the cooks, cleaners, grocery store staff, truck drivers, and the Uber Eats cyclist bringing you dinner tonight. We should reassert the good will we’ve summoned in this crisis and think about how we can create a more equitable society in the future.
This is a difficult moment in time for everyone. People across the continent are having to make substantial changes and sacrifices to their lives and routines in order to help keep them, their families, and others in their community safe. It is understandable to be confused, or feel anxious on a daily basis. People know they are facing a real threat, and that the choices they make have serious and immediate consequences.
“Many of you have really taken the need to socialize responsibly and from a distance to heart and your actions will be monumental to helping Toronto get through this”
Mike Layton, city councillor (Ward 11, University-Rosedale)
I want to reinforce that we are all in this together, and will be able to get through this because we care for each other. It has never been clearer to me that we are all connected. I am heartened by the community response I have seen throughout recent weeks. Beyond the official responses, there have been many grassroots initiatives that have quickly organized to make sure that any neighbour that needs help, receives it.
I have also been deeply encouraged by the number of you who have reached out to share your physical distancing activities and hobbies to bring some spirit to your neighbourhood. Many of you have really taken the need to socialize responsibly and from a distance to heart and your actions will be monumental to helping Toronto get through this.
In an effort to keep the momentum of local organizing going, my office has created a community resource guide that includes both community and government resources that can help Ward 11 residents dealing with issues arising from COVID-19.
You can access this resource on my website (www.mikelayton.to) or on my Facebook page. It is continually updated as we receive more information.
Those who require assistance like access to free food or financial support as well as those who would like to help others in need, will find resources that will help. It also contains information about mutual aid networks in your neighbourhood, our ward, and across the city, where neighbours have created systems to connect those in need with those who can offer services (e.g. deliver groceries to vulnerable residents). If there is anything you think would be great to add to this document, please let me know by emailing councillor_layton@toronto.ca.
During the pandemic, advice and instruction can change quickly and it continues to be extremely important that we get our information from reliable, informed sources. There is no better source for this than Toronto Public Health and I have full confidence in our Medical Officer of Health to lead us through this situation and keep the public safe.
The city has needed to take significant measures in line with the advice from public health professionals to try and stop the spread of the virus, including the initiation of our Office of Emergency Management (borne from lessons learned during the SARS outbreak) and scaling back services to essential and emergency levels. You can learn more about what this means at www.toronto.ca/covid19.
Remember to regularly check in on your loved ones and vulnerable neighbours, and take a moment to thank our essential workers at any opportunity. We will get through this, together.
Mike Layton is city councillor for University-Rosedale.
COVID-19 has changed our world. Many of us are anxiously living in private, reading our screens, and feeling helpless. At the same time, the essential workers among us are working overtime to keep us fed and safe. They are our farmers, our scientists, our truckers and cleaners, our midwives, postal workers, doctors, and supermarket staff. We see you and appreciate you all.
“The pandemic has laid bare the utter unfairness of our economy on so many people,”
Jessica Bell, University-Rosedale MPP
Our phones have been ringing off the hook as we grapple with the pandemic and its impact on our health care system, our economy, and way of life. We get calls from residents who can’t pay rent and fear eviction. From workers who are being told they must work even though their workplace doesn’t enforce physical distancing. From health workers who don’t have enough personal protective equipment. From residents who want the construction near their home to stop. From seniors who can’t leave their home and are relying on the kindness of strangers. This is a very hard time, and the worst is yet to come.
I have been looking for insight to help me draw meaning and comfort, and this is what I have found so far:
The pandemic is bringing out the best in humanity. Volunteers have stepped up to create local neighbourhood pods to leaflet their neighbourhood and then help people who need it. We care about each other, and my hope is this deepening compassion for our neighbours lives well beyond this time.
The decline in car and airplane traffic is something I have never seen before. I am savouring the clean air and the quiet streets. It is true that this peace has come about through our temporary forced hibernation, but even so it is letting us imagine what our cities could be and what we are capable of. If we can reduce air and car traffic for a pandemic, we can take these kinds of steps to tackle a climate crisis that threatens our very future.
The pandemic has laid bare the utter unfairness of our economy on so many people. Deena Ladd, the executive director of the Workers Action Centre, explained it well when she talked about the working conditions of janitors on the CBC. During COVID-19 janitors are doing the invisible work of helping stop the spread of the virus, and we treat them so badly for doing so. Many janitors get minimum wage or less, they have no access to benefits, like paid sick time, they have less money saved for hard times, and many are not even eligible for government help if they are fired because some have no social security number.
What is true for janitors is also true for many of the low-paid workers who are keeping our economy on life support, from our delivery drivers to our security guards. They are overwhelmingly poor women of colour. As we recover from this pandemic, I hope more of us will work to make our economy fair. For a start, that means demanding governments raise the minimum wage and guarantee decent benefits for all.
Someday soon things will come back to normal. It will be easier to be happy again. My hope is that when we look back we will remember this period not just for its boredom, anxiety, horror and grief, but also for it being a turning point where humanity changed for the better.
Until then, stay home, wash your hands, and practice physical distancing. You are saving lives.
Please contact our office at 416-535-7206 if you want to know what all levels of government are doing, what we are advocating for, or if you want to receive or provide help to others.
May 1st, 2020 · Comments Off on NEWS: Clinton’s Tavern on Bloor closes after 83 years (Apr. 2020)
The tavern that’s been serving the west-end community with drinks, dance parties, and DJ nights announced in mid-February it will close permanently.
In a post to social media pages, Clinton’s Tavern announced its sudden closure.
“Clinton’s has always been a bar with a lot of heart. The people who have worked at Clinton’s throughout the years have shown incredible loyalty to this place. Unfortunately, we have some sad news to share. Clinton’s has closed,” the statement reads in part.
According to the staff’s statement, the closure appears to be permanent and was not related to issues with the landlord, but with the owner of the bar.
“Behind the scenes we’ve been fighting a tireless battle to keep our doors open – trying to push beyond lies and greed, trying to ignore the carelessness of the owner, and trying to work for each other because we all loved Clinton’s fiercely. We rallied together to do whatever it took, often without pay, to keep things going,” the post reads.
All scheduled events were cancelled or relocated, including Choir! Choir! Choir!, a singing event hosted at Clinton’s every Tuesday. Choir! Choir! Choir! has since held a fundraising event for the staff members “who are not only owed a lot of money but are also for now, out of work.”
“Clinton’s closure is part of a larger trend. Across Toronto, local and independent businesses are struggling to survive,” said MPP for University–Rosedale Jessica Bell. “The closure of an institution like Clinton’s is a big loss.”
Bell expressed her support to the hard-working staff and management of Clinton’s Tavern.
—Tanya Ielyseieva, Gleaner News
Comments Off on NEWS: Clinton’s Tavern on Bloor closes after 83 years (Apr. 2020)Tags:Annex · News
May 1st, 2020 · Comments Off on FOCUS: Apartment plan for Huron Street meets opposition (Apr. 2020)
Maintaining historical built-form at odds with need for rental units
Heritage conservation activists oppose the demolition of this classic Annex home to allow for the building of an apartment complex. TANYA IELYSEIEVA/GLEANER NEWS
By Tanya Ielyseieva
The demolition of classic Annex houses built in the late 1800’s will be required in order to build a proposed four-storey apartment building with 48 new residential units at 661-665 Huron Street. While the proposal aims to address housing affordability, it is drawing criticism from local residents and Heritage conservation advocates.
The Annex Flats would replace single-family homes at 661-665 Huron Street with a total of 19 rental units in two buildings including 12 one-bedroom units, 6 two-bedroom units, and 1 three-bedroom unit.
“Rental accommodations are essential in attracting new, talented labour streams that contribute to a city’s upward trajectory,” says the developers, Originate Developments Inc., in a statement. “In Toronto, quality rental properties are in dramatically short supply. With Annex Flats, our vision is to address this need with personality-rich accommodations ideally suited to the area’s student and arts/culture populations.”
Sandra Shaul, Chair of Heritage Conservation for the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA), said that the project developers first approached the ARA to collaborate on July 3, 2018. After meeting with city planners, the developer revised the project design and presented again on April 2, 2019. Several improvements had been made (circulation, parking, deliveries, unit sizes, Huron facade), but Heritage Preservation Services needed to be consulted before a formal application was made. The developer did not contact the ARA again and simply submitted a formal application on Nov. 22, 2019, according to Shaul.
“There are good ways to intensify and they require a certain amount of imagination. And there are less good ways. And I would say that this building would simply take down houses, in my opinion unnecessarily, and replace them with a building that albeit at only four storeys is still out of character with the neighborhood,” said Shaul. “But you do want to build in ways that through the massing and the height, you can create something that is new, but fits in with the rest of the streetscape and doesn’t destroy it.”
According to Shaul, the developer brought a heritage architect for an assessment of the buildings.
“They basically discounted these houses because they are not by known architects, [decided that] they’re not a special interest to the street and essentially ignored the continuity they give to a heritage streetscape,” she said.
The application to the City of Toronto states that both properties comply with the designation criteria laid out in Ontario Regulation 9/06 but states that their integrity is “degraded”. The application proposes their demolition but recommends that they are commemorated with an internal display in the new building and by a plaque on the exterior.
According to Originate Development Inc., Annex Flats will feature “an exterior of red and black brick, plus rich medium-brown wood and black stainless-steel accents, it comfortably fits within the Annex community fabric while making a distinctive architectural statement”.
“I think the developer felt that by keeping it to four storeys, which is still considerably taller than the buildings on either side. And by sloping the roof a bit, he is paying homage to the historic buildings,” said Shaul. “And that’s where we disagree.”
“Some of us have called this home for over twenty years; and we believe that it would be a shame to tear down such a unique structure, and replace with a very modern-looking complex, with much higher rents,” said Catherine Tramsek in an email to the Gleaner.
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