Apollo 11 an Annex favourite

Served every other Wednesday, co-owner’s Roula Gitzias’ homemade moussaka is an absolute treat. Apollo 11 welcomes many Annex regulars, and serves a wide range of comfort food like grilled cheese, egg salad sandwiches, and hot chicken sandwiches. GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS

By Linda R. Goldman

It may be the best kept secret in the Annex. Every second Wednesday, Apollo 11 (1093 Bathurst St.) serves a house specialty: homemade moussaka, as good as Yaya (Greek for grandmother) might make. Moussaka is a traditional Greek baked dish that features minced beef or lamb cooked in a tomato sauce layered with eggplant and béchamel.

Roula Gitzias, who has co-owned the restaurant with her husband Paul since 1991, makes the moussaka biweekly. They took over the place from Andy and Helen Diolitsis, who opened it in 1969, naming it after that year’s moon landing. It’s a theme that Paul and Roula keep up — they added pictures of the Apollo 11 landing when they renovated in 2010.

The restaurant has been as much of an Annex staple as the dish — for those neighbours in the know.

Martin Waxman and his son Jacob live around the corner on Albany Avenue. When Jacob was seven his parents let him walk over to Apollo 11 and buy a Coke by himself. Twenty years later, Jacob and Martin have a weekly lunch at the restaurant, and the whole family still stops by regularly for breakfast.

“This is the best place for breakfast,” says Martin. “I love the old style diner and the warm welcome I receive.”

“I stumbled across Apollo 11 one day [in 1978 when I was an undergraduate living at Dupont Street and Brunswick Avenue],” says Gary Waters, who eats at the restaurant every day.

“I’ve always loved comfort food and a nice quiet table where I could read my paper at lunchtime.”

His favourite meals are the vegetarian omelette with cheese, a club sandwich or hot chicken. He also speaks highly of Paul and Roula.

Paul talks about how the area has changed over the years.

In the early days the restaurant was open 24 hours, and attracted taxi drivers, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) employees, and police officers looking for a good meal. The taxi drivers mostly came from Royal Cab, which was located on Dupont Street, the TTC employees from a credit union at the corner of Bathurst Street. There were also newspaper delivery truck drivers from a city daily, and employees from the Weston Bakery, which is now Loblaws. Even actors like Jackie Burroughs, rehearsing around the corner at the Tarragon Theatre, were known to stop by for a quick meal.

But with so many chain restaurants opening up at gas stations, small owner-operated restaurants are feeling the pinch. And of course, Royal Cab, the credit union, and the bakery are all gone.

Many TTC employees still trek down from the main office at Davenport Road and Bathurst Street, but several trendy new cafés have opened and it is hard to compete. And food trends are changing — bacon, eggs, and fried foods aren’t as popular as they once were.

But regulars like David Douse of La Parete Gallery remain loyal.

“Every Saturday religiously seven art dealer friends of mine and I meet here for breakfast,” says Douse, who is a daily customer. “We love the bacon, [there’s] no bacon like it anywhere in the city.”

In addition to moussaka, breakfast and other diner staples, Apollo 11 also serves chicken and pork souvlaki on a bun or pita, Greek salad, and gyros. Apollo 11 is open Monday to Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and on Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Linda Goldman is an Annex resident and regular customer at Apollo 11. In addition to the moussaka, her favourite dishes are the grilled cheese, cheeseburger and fries, and egg salad sandwich, which she says is the best in Toronto. Goldman recommends Apollo 11 to anyone who asks her to suggest a good place to eat in the Annex.

GLEANER NEWS FILE PHOTO BY R.S. KONJEK: The CXTO Cookie Cross returns to Christie Pits on October 28. Open to riders of all skill levels and bikes, the event will feature Try a Cross, Elite and Masters races, and Bateman’s Bicycle Company will give away a Norco Threshold Cycle Cross Bike. For further information, please see www.cxto.ca.

Finding a place to live an urgent need

By Marielle Torrefranca

When Maureen Gustafson was searching for a place to live near the University of Toronto, she quickly hit a wall.

“I did think about graduate school housing for U of T,” said Gustafson, who just started a masters program in health promotion this year. “But unfortunately, by the time I looked into it a few months ahead, the wait list was a couple of hundred people long.”

[pullquote]What’s long been at the heart of the university’s argument is a need for as many as 2,300 new residence spaces by 2020 to meet demand.[/pullquote]

From there, she described her search for a home as “a tough go”. Gustafson, who was living in Hamilton throughout the summer, decided to search Toronto rental listings online, and was visiting the city sometimes two or three times a week in her search. She was left in limbo for nearly three months before she found a suitable home.

With that ordeal in mind, Gustafson had a positive take on the university’s proposal for a new residential building.

The proposed development includes a 23-storey mixed-used building containing a student residence, office, and retail space on Spadina Avenue. The residence would house 550 beds and 246 units in total, ranging from one- to four-bedroom units. A fitness centre, meeting rooms, and study rooms would be available to residents. An additional 3-storey townhouse development on Sussex Avenue is also included in the proposal. The proposal has outlined that the units are intended for a mix of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.

The proposed residence building is a development that has been in the works for several years now: a planning process that, since December 2013, has reached a stalemate. Issues regarding heritage designation, added noise, and density continue to be argued over. But what’s long been at the heart of the university’s argument is a need for as many as 2,300 new residence spaces by 2020 to meet demand. According to Scott Mabury, the University of Toronto’s vice-president of operations, the percentage of international students has increased from 3 to 30 per cent since 1996 and continues to rise.

For this reason, U of T’s student union has come out in support of the project.

“Given the current — and, it would appear permanent — shortage of on-campus housing for those 36,000 [St. George campus] students, the value of a new, 550-room residence cannot be overstated,” Mathias Memmel, the president of U of T’s student union, said in a statement. “However, our support for the proposal remains conditional — we require a guarantee that the new residence would be accessible to low-income students, as well as a substantive commitment to making on-campus housing more affordable.”

Arguably, it’s a crucial time for affordable housing, not only for students, but for all Toronto residents as the city deals with a rental crisis. Many tenants have reportedly been priced out of their homes due to skyrocketing rates. For example, a report by the Toronto Foundation says the average monthly rent near St. George station (one of the stations closest to the university) was among the highest in the city last year. A map in the report, which sorts rent prices by subway station proximity, shows one-bedroom apartments averaging from $1,900 to $2,000, and two-bedroom apartments averaging $2,700 to $2,800. According to Rentseeker, which tracks prices in real time, the average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment in the entirety of Toronto is $1,304.

However, a need for affordable housing is but one argument being challenged by a multitude of other concerns put forward by the community.

The Harbord Village Residents’ Association has raised concerns as the proposed development advances into a residential neighbourhood. Sue Dexter, the HVRA’s U of T liaison, consistently flagged the following in an interview, report, and letter to committee members: the residence building’s “excessive” height and density walling off the low-rise residential community nearby, the added vehicle and pedestrian density, concerns of “student behaviour” in the neighbourhood, “inadequate respect” for the adjacent Heritage Conservation District, provision for on-site green space in a community already lacking in this regard, and protection for the tenants currently living on the proposed development site.

Gustafson, who previously attended McMaster University in Hamilton, said concerns about “student behaviour” are familiar.

“The people in residential areas around McMaster had the exact same concerns,” she said. “In my opinion, some of those concerns are somewhat valid — it’s always a risk because you will get some students who are not respectful, especially in first year, but I don’t think those are the majority of students.”

The site is also home to the Ten Editions bookstore, which has been a fixture in the area since 1984. The store, which sits at 698 Spadina Ave., is part of a three-storey Victorian block built in 1885. The Toronto Heritage Preservation Board gave the building unanimous approval for heritage designation, characterizing it as a landmark in the late-nineteenth-century origins of the South Annex and Harbord Village.

That approval significantly protects the site, in effect causing conflict with U of T and the Daniels Corporation’s application to rezone the development area. The university is now appealing the heritage designation.

“The behaviour is just so unseemly and it’s not helpful to anything,” said Dexter. “There’s a pattern to it. They want what they want, [but] the university and the community should be partners.”

According to Dexter, negotiations have reached a frustrating deadlock due to U of T and Daniels’ lack of transparency, lack of communication, and unwillingness to compromise. While hearings mediated by the Ontario Municipal Board are supposedly on the horizon, it’s still a question of when.

“There’s been no movement on any of the other files they have,” said Dexter. “The OMB is so backed up it’s going to be a long time, and I would think the mediation on Sussex-Spadina would be a week in a room.”

There has been nothing to signal that U of T plans to strike some sort of settlement during mediations, said Dexter.

However, Gustafson remained positive. “It’s great they’re thinking of adding a new residence equitable to students who need it the most,” she said. “I really hope they can find a way to do it fairly.”

At press time, Mabury did not respond to an interview request.

READ MORE

NEWS: Regulating short-term rentals (August 2017)

CHATTER: The latest from the OMB (June 2017)

CHATTER (MAY 2017): University to appeal Ten Editions heritage designation (May 2017)

NEWS: New chapter for student residence? (February 2017)

NEWS: Preventing a wall of towers (October 2016)

CHATTER: Two new rezoning applications submitted to city (September 2016)

Sandra Laronde debuts new piece with Toronto Symphony Orchestra

By Geremy Bordonaro

Dance, as an art form, has the power to change lives. No one knows this better than Sandra Laronde, who wants to put Indigenous dance on the world stage.

She is leading her company as they work in tandem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) on a new piece called Adizokan that premieres on October 7. In some ways, it’s like a homecoming for Red Sky.

“Our very first piece was actually a 72 hander for the TSO called Caribou Song by Tomson Highway, adapted from a children’s book he had written. We staged it and orchestrated it,” explained Laronde.

“It was just a 15-minute piece but it helped us adapt other pieces and tour across the world. That was back in 2002 and now in 2017 we’re back with the TSO.”

Laronde, a resident of the Annex, founded Red Sky Performance in the early 2000s to demonstrate what Native American art could be like. She wanted to challenge accepted norms in Native art.

“I would go to shows and I would see and think about things that could be happening on stage and the moments that were missed,” Laronde said. “I’d see what was happening on stage and I’d say why don’t they go there or why don’t they do this. I noticed a gap.”

Laronde grew up in Temagami in northern Ontario. The small town of 500 nurtured her love of physical arts through sports.

Her family was also constantly involved with music. Everyone in her household sang or played an instrument. These two facets of Laronde’s life would naturally lead her into dance — something she values not just for the art itself, but what it could do for her people.

“I’m interested in the lift of art; something that you can’t find in the everyday world, something that lifts you above daily life, above politics, above everything. That’s the best way I can describe it,” Laronde said. “It’s something that is above. Something that provides sustenance [and] provides inspiration. It lives with you and gives you energy.”

This passion as well as her sense of leadership has led to an admiration among those who work with her.

“She is fantastic. Sandra has such a keen eye for certain things,” said Jera Wolfe, an associate artist with Red Sky who was a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. “I’ve done a lot of work with her and she just has that sense of what will work.”

This sense of what works and what doesn’t has helped in her collaboration with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

“Sandra’s work was perfect,” said Francine Labelle, director of public relations at TSO. “She helped in selecting the composer and guiding everything. She’s the curator of that whole program.”

The TSO invited Laronde and Red Sky Performance to be involved in their Canada Mosaic project as a part of Canada 150. Canada Mosaic aims to bring together Canada’s vast history of music and performance and highlight some of the best our country has to offer.

“We’ve been aware of Sandra’s work for a long time and we know Red Sky Performance does something very unique. The right occasion came along when we were working on Canada Mosaic,” Labelle said. “We want to put forward Canadian creators and Canadian culture. They fall exactly into this category where they are just perfect for the context.”

Balancing responsibilities between her own company and curating for the TSO may seem daunting but Laronde is up for the task.

“She’s handling it excellently,” said Wolfe. “For a lot of people balancing something like Red Sky against her curator work would be too much but she’s really got the focus and the drive to make it work so well.”

Adizokan has its world premiere on October 7. Backbone, a raw and ferocious look at the geography of North America through dance, runs November 2 to 12 at the Berkley Street Theatre.

Howland Avenue takes its name from noted reformer

By David Raymont

An Annex-area street recalls the contribution of one-time local business titan and politician Sir William Howland.

Howland’s speculation in land in the Annex area resulted in Howland Avenue being named for him. He also founded the village of Lambton Mills on the Humber River.

[pullquote]Howland dictated his memoirs at the request of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.[/pullquote]

A friend of George Brown, Howland was a leader in the Reform Party of the 1850s and 1860s. He participated in the London Conference of 1866, which drafted the country’s constitution — the British North America Act — and gave the federated colonies a new name “The Dominion of Canada”.

He was a cabinet minister in the first federal government of Canada and was later appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. His two sons, William Holmes Howland and Oliver Aiken Howland, both served as mayors of Toronto — a record yet to be beaten!

In 1906, Howland dictated his memoirs at the request of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was then prime minister of Canada. His lively memoir describes the negotiation of Confederation, as well as the plans of Toronto business people to trade with settlers and Metis in the West and attempts to renew a trade treaty with the United States. Some issues just don’t go away.

The memoir includes vivid descriptions of people he knew, including William Lyon Mackenzie, John A. Macdonald, and George-Étienne Cartier.

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation, two local heritage groups — the York Pioneer & Historical Society and Heritage York — collaborated to put in print his unpublished manuscript.

The memoir was given the title Dare to Do What is Right to recall Howland’s commitment to Confederation and as a reminder of how Canada continues to inspire the best in people.

Copies are available at www.yorkpioneers.com and make a great souvenir of Canada’s 150th birthday.

David Raymont is the president of the York Pioneers.

An excerpt from Howland’s memoirs

After languishing in archives, the memoirs of local reformer and a founder of Canada — Sir William Howland — were published this year. In the summer of 1866, Howland confronted his friend George Brown over support for Confederation and political strategy for the Reform Party. He recalled:

“The relationships between the delegates who went to England in April 1865 had not been of a very friendly character. Mr. Brown complained on his return of the treatment he had received…

He raised a dispute over a question of very little importance and left the cabinet table declaring his intention to resign — a proposal which caused me to feel great anxiety and concern.

I followed him to his lodgings and at his bedside proceeded to urge upon him not to take the course which he proposed.

I pointed out that if [I] went into opposition under his leadership and the majority of the Reform Party went with us…it would destroy the chances of carrying and completing [Confederation] for which the Government was specially formed and which was of such great importance to the interests of the country.

…He refused, however, to give any weight to my arguments on the subject and I finally said to him, “I came into this Government at your instance for the special purpose which the representatives of our party have fully endorsed and I will ask you as my leader to say to me what I should do under the present circumstances.”

This he refused to answer. I then said, “If you refuse my request, I will call together the Members of the House belonging to the Reform Party and will lay the whole matter before them and get their decision.”

He said, “You dare not.” I said, “I dare do anything that is right and I will do it.”

In the morning Mr. Brown [resigned and] …I carried out my determination and met the members of the Reform Party at Guelph, where the whole matter relating to Mr. Brown’s action was discussed.

They decided that it was my duty under the circumstances to remain in the Government and, if necessary, fill Mr. Brown’s place.…This plan was adopted. I then went as one of the delegates to England to obtain from the Imperial Government the Act of Federation, which we did….”

READ MORE

Harbord’s history a mystery (January 2016)

Early brewer the basis for Bloor Street’s name (May 2015)

PICTURE BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS Community members celebrated the advent of fall at the Annex Residents’ Association’s annual cornfest on Sept. 17 in Jean Sibelius Square.

The Toronto Police Service executed a search warrant at the Canna Clinic Dispensary in Kensington Market on September 11.

The police seized a large quantity of cannabis and cannabis-related substances including 169 kilograms of marijuana, 14.5 kilograms of marijuana oil, and 5 kilograms of a highly potent marijuana extract known as shatter. Approximately $14,000 in cash was seized along with the drugs.

Fifteen people were charged with drug-related crimes including three counts of Possession of a Schedule 2 substance, three counts of Possession of a Schedule 2 substance for the purpose of Trafficking, and one count of Possession of Proceeds of Property Obtained by Crime over $5,000. All of those charged are scheduled to appear at Old City Hall on October 23.

—Geremy Bordonaro/Gleaner News

READ MORE:

NEWS (JANURY 2017): Open only a month (News 2017)

EDITORIAL: Mayo no, marijuana maybe (June 2016)

CHATTER: Marijuana dispensary opens (December 2016)

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is investigating three high-profile cases of aggravated assault that occurred in 14 Division within a few days of each other in early September.

On September 1 an 18-year-old man left a bar in the Bathurst and College streets area with a group of friends around 1 a.m. He was confronted by a group of men wearing dark clothing who hit him several times, knocking him to the ground, then kicking and stomping on him. After the assailants left the scene, the man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Another assault took place outside a bar in the same area on September 3 when two men got into an argument around 2 a.m. The argument became physical and one man was stabbed. A doorman from a nearby nightclub witnessed the incident, and was stabbed as he tried to help the victim. The suspect is described as being in his twenties, around 5 feet 11 inches tall, and wearing a green and white shirt with blue jeans at the time of the incident. His hair was braided in cornrows under a baseball cap, and he had gold dental jewellery.

A second stabbing took place at the intersection of Dupont Street and Manning Avenue on September 4 around 11 p.m. A 25-year-old male was jogging west on Dupont Street when he was approached from behind by a man brandishing a large hunting knife. The suspect stabbed the jogger in the back and then fled southbound on Manning Avenue. He was last seen around Manning Avenue and London Street.

Police are looking for information about all three cases, especially any video footage captured by witnesses. If you have information about these incidents, please contact TPS at 416-808-1400 or Crimestoppers at 416-222-8477.

—Geremy Bordonaro/Gleaner News

When confronted with the question of whether or not to support the city’s pilot bike lanes on Bloor Street, the Bloor Annex and Korea Town Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) commissioned a study on the economic impact of the bike lanes. The comprehensive evaluation yielded clear results and also found a discrepancy between the attitudes of merchants and the positive impact the lanes appeared to have on their bottom lines.

[pullquote]The comprehensive evaluation yielded clear results and also found a discrepancy between the attitudes of merchants and the positive impact the lanes appeared to have on their bottom lines.[/pullquote]

The Toronto Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT) worked with the University of Toronto to do a baseline analysis (pre-bike lane) in 2015, a post installation assessment in 2016, and another in 2017. They also established a control group on Danforth Avenue, which has no bike lanes, to account for other influences not attributable to dividing up the street for cars and bikes. According to Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), no one has ever implemented a more comprehensive study of a bike lane in North America.

The two major issues for merchants were the availability of parking spots and sales.

The pilot bike lanes cost 160 on-street parking spots, representing about 10 per cent of available transient parking. Many merchants reported in the baseline surveys that this loss would harm their businesses. It turns out these fear were misguided at many levels. Most customers don’t drive a car to shop on Bloor Street. Before the bike lanes were installed only 8 per cent of visitors reported they arrived by car. Curiously, that percentage went up slightly to 9 per cent for 2016 and 2017. Of this small group of shoppers, 92 per cent reported that finding parking was “easy or very easy” before the bike lanes were installed. Once the bike lanes were in place in 2016, this number dropped to 51 per cent, then bounced back to 86 per cent in 2017.

Sales went up over the study period, as did the number of shoppers.

According to the Bloor-Annex merchants themselves, during the baseline 50 per cent of weekdays had 100 or more customers per day. A year later it went up to 55 per cent, and by this spring it rose to 65 per cent. That’s a 30 per cent increase from the merchant self-reports. Visitors report a commensurate pattern: 48 per cent said they spent $100 or more monthly, before the lanes. In 2016 that group increased to 59 per cent and by 2017 it grew further to 65 per cent of respondents. There was also economic growth in the Danforth Avenue control area, so it’s important not to draw direct causal connections. However, it can be said with some confidence that business is better, and not suffering as a result of the bike lanes.

Business owners themselves have not been quick to embrace the bike lanes. It appears likely that some of them as individuals have had more negative travel experiences than their customers. At the beginning of the study 49 per cent of owners reported that they drove to work. By the third study period that number had not changed. The transportation challenges endured by the owners are not felt by over 90 per cent of their customers who walk, cycle, or take transit.

The BIAs wanted to take the emotion out of the question of whether or not bike lanes are good for business. It’s easy to be swayed by anecdotal reports and to heeding the loudest voice. There are plenty of strongly held views and those who are unaccustomed to embracing evidence-based policy.

It’s time to look at the numbers, which point to the conclusion that bike lanes are good for business.

Brian Burchell, the publisher of this newspaper, is also the chair of the Bloor Annex BIA.

READ MORE

EDITORIAL: Don’t sacrifice safety for political gain (August 2017)

EDITORIAL: Thank you Mr. Asti (July 2017)

EDITORIAL: A watershed moment (June 2017)

EDITORIAL: Revoke U of T’s unchecked “licence to build” (May 2017)

EDITORIAL: Westbank’s positive precedent (April 2017)

EDITORIAL: Foreign buyers tax a necessary cliff jump (March 2017)

Home to nearly 25,000 working artists

By Joe Cressy

Cities are more than bricks and mortar and places where people live. Great cities are vibrant and dynamic. And, great cities contribute to this by investing in arts and culture, not because they are a nice to have but because they make our cities livable.

Toronto, and downtown in particular, has a long and proud history as a cultural hub. The old cafés of Yorkville, the independent theatre movement, the musical corridor stretching down Spadina, film festivals large and small, and a literary sector that has woven tales of Toronto into our collective history. This proud history lives on.

Today 174,000 Torontonians work in the culture sector, including nearly 25,000 working artists who call Toronto home. As a side note, Ward 20 has the largest number of resident artists of any municipal ward in all of Canada. It’s a fact to be proud of. These artists build skills for the new economy, and bring tourists to our neighbourhoods and our local businesses. They give us joy, and they challenge us to think differently. To put it simply, arts and culture matter.

However, while Toronto may be a cultural city, as we continue to grow, the artistic sector is facing challenges. On the funding side the City of Toronto has made a commitment to fund arts and culture at a rate of $25 per capita. It’s a figure that looks good on paper, until you realize that in Montreal it is $55, in Vancouver $47, and in Calgary $42. If we aspire to continue as a world-class cultural city, we need to step up.

Like other successful North American cities, many of our downtown cultural organizations are also struggling under the weight of rising property values and the corresponding tax assessments. Bookstores just can’t compete on Bloor Street where rents as high as $20,000 per month make it easier to sell pints than novels. Music venues like the Silver Dollar on Spadina can’t compete when owners would make more selling to a condo developer than leasing to a historic venue. And everyone knows the example of 401 Richmond, arguably Toronto’s leading arts and cultural hub, which cannot afford to continue providing low market rents when the Province of Ontario assesses its tax rate on the basis of highest and best use — as a Gap and Starbucks — rather than its current use as a creative and community hub.

While I don’t think anyone could argue that you can take the arts out of Torontonians, if we don’t do more, we risk taking much of the arts out of the city. In our community we’ve been working hard with many leading art and cultural institutions to counteract these trends.

On Spadina Avenue, we’ve partnered with the soon-to-reopen El Mocambo on the Spadina Rock Walk, a new series of public art installations that will celebrate Spadina’s incredible musical history. From the Silver Dollar to the El Mo to Grossman’s, Spadina has long been home to a burgeoning music scene. We want to commemorate that history.

On Bloor Street, we’re working with the Bloor Street Cultural Corridor to promote this uniquely Toronto cultural district. With 19 partner organizations including French, Jewish, Italian, Estonian, Japanese, and Aboriginal arts and cultural institutions, this corridor reflects the diversity of city.

In King-Spadina we are working hard on a new policy to protect existing cultural organizations by mandating that any new development must incorporate existing cultural spaces into their projects. Our experience with the Silver Dollar, where we were able to mandate that the venue be fully rebuilt (including heritage attributes like the sign, stage, and bar) into the new development, shows that this is possible when you fight for it.

Perhaps most importantly, we’re also working hard to get the Province of Ontario to establish a new property tax sub-class in Toronto specifically for community and cultural hubs to ensure that we incentivize these organizations by taxing them based on their current use.

Taken together, these new measures will help to commemorate, support, and protect arts and culture in our city. Are they enough? Absolutely not.

At the end of the day investing in arts and culture builds a stronger economy and more livable city, and that requires the city to step up its funding.

But, it’s clear that culture lives in Toronto and, with a bit more work, will continue to thrive.

Joe Cressy is the councillor for Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina.

READ MORE BY JOE CRESSY

FORUM: Address affordable housing (June 2017)

FORUM: Build a neighbourhood (March 2017)

FORUM: Conserving past to enrich future (January 2017)

FORUM: Our dynamic Kensington Market (November 2016)

FORUM: A new central park for Toronto (September 2016)

Heritage Toronto unveils Joseph Bloore plaque

PICTURE BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: Approximately 100 people gathered at 117 Bloor St. E. on Aug. 31 to celebrate the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Joseph Bloore. The plaque, located close to the site of Bloore’s home, includes a part of a previous one dedicated to the inspiration for Bloor Street and text by Heritage Toronto. It took more than seven years to create this new plaque, which may never have been unveiled if not for the passion and enthusiasm of local residents.

READ MORE

Remembering Sir William Howland (Fall 2017)

Harbord’s history a mystery (January 2016)

Early brewer the basis for Bloor Street’s name (May 2015)

Plus a spooktacular October weekend

PICTURE COURTESY BLOOR ST. CULTURAL CORRIDOR: The Toronto Jewish Film Society presents The Human Resources Manager on October 15. Adapted from a novel by A.B. Yehoshua, it tells the story of an HR manager who reluctantly takes home the body of a Romanian worker after she is killed in a suicide bombing in Israel.

By Heather Kelly

Art & Architecture Exhibitions

The Istituto Italiano di Cultura presents With New Eyes: Architecture for Toronto by Francesco and Aldo Piccaluga Architects, and opening on October 19, the Gardiner Museum presents Steven Heinemann: Culture and Nature. Gardiner Museum Executive Director & CEO Kelvin Browne and curator Rachel Gotlieb lead an intimate discussion with the artist on Tuesday, October 17.

[pullquote]Learn more about the music you love at the conservatory’s music appreciation classes.[/pullquote]

Alliance Française opens a new exhibition called Outcomes from the Edge, and at the Miles Nadal JCC, textile artist Sharon Epstein displays Jewish Chuppahs or “canopies” in the exhibition Blessings.  Continuing exhibitions include an Eiko Ishioka Poster Exhibition on view at the Japan Foundation, Building a Community: Estonian Architects in Post-War Toronto on view at the Museum of Estonians Abroad, and the ROM explores the connections between family photographs, migration, and identity with the original ROM exhibition The Family Camera until Sunday, October 29.

On the Big Screen

Alliance Française continues its Movie Thursday series, the Miles Nadal JCC presents darkly comic Israeli drama The Human Resources Manager, introduced by Adam Nayman, October 15, and the Bata Shoe Museum hosts a special screening of the short film 40 Years of Goth Shoes, October 19, including a Q&A with producer Liisa Ladouceur.

Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema’s Podcast Festival features Intercepted with Naomi Klein, Desmond Cole and Narcy, The Nod with guests Sarah Hagi and Vicky Mochama, Another Round, Canadaland with guest Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for The Toronto Star, and more, October 12-15. Doc Soup returns with a group of improbable heroes and their inspiring plight to make high quality healthcare available to everyone in Bending the Arc, October 4-5.

Catch a Concert

Tafelmusik’s new music director Elisa Citterio leads a grand tour across baroque Italy, from Vivaldi’s Autumn to Fontana’s sonatas, Steffani’s dramatic suites to Locatelli’s energetic concertos, in “Elisa’s Italian Adventure,” October 11-15 at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre.

Soundstreams’ 35th season opens with Northern Encounters on October 16 at Koerner Hall, where the Lapland Chamber Orchestra performs music by Jean Sibelius, Harry Somers, and Claude Vivier, with dance by powerhouse choreographer Michael Greyeyes, the world premiere of Soundstreams’ 35th Anniversary Fanfare by Canadian Anna Pidgorna, and gems by Stravinsky and Debussy.

PICTURE COURTESY BLOOR ST. CULTURAL CORRIDOR: Legendary Chilean music ensemble Inti-Illimani teams up with poet, songwriter and activist Nano Stern to celebrate their 50th anniversary at Koerner Hall on October 27. Evocative of Chile’s unique culture voice, the ensemble has inspired artists like Peter Gabriel, Sting, and Bruce Springsteen.

Chamber music takes centre stage at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music, with Enrico Elisi’s From Public Stage to Private Parlour: An Introduction to Rarely Performed Piano Works from Rossini’s Years of Silence on October 2; the New Orford String Quartet performing Gellman, Ravel, and Tchaikovsky on October 5; and the Toronto Symphony’s Joseph Johnson with the Gryphon Trio’s James Parker on October 30. The U of T’s free Thursdays at Noon concert series will feature the Toronto Symphony’s Jonathan Crow and Joseph Johnson on October 19, and Musical Chairs II featuring Elizabeth McDonald, Giles Tomkins, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, and Kathryn Tremills on October 26.

As the Royal Conservatory of Music’s concert season begins, the Miles Electric Band comes to Koerner Hall on October 14, Flamenco Legends by Javier Limón: The Paco de Lucía Project performs on October 21 (in a related event, the documentary film, Flight of the Guitar: Dreaming of Paco de Lucía, will be screened at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on October 24), and renowned Chilean band Inti-Illimani celebrates its 50th anniversary on October 27.

The Istituto Italiano di Cultura will present Giovanna d’Arco in a new production by Teatro Regio di Parma, on October 5 at the Alliance Française Spadina Theatre. And the 918 Bathurst Centre for Culture, Arts, Media and Education is partnering with the Music Gallery to bring X Avant Festival concerts to 918 Bathurst starting October 11, and Teo Milea’s Piano Soundscapes will be there on October 29. On October 27, the Estonian girls choir Elis from Pärnu will be performing a PWYC concert at 7 p.m. at Tartu College.

Take in a Talk

The ROM feeds curious minds on October 3, when spectacular finds unearthed from an undisturbed burial site are the focus of ROM Speaks: The Griffin Warrior of Pylos. On October 17 is ROM Speaks: Ways of Knowing – Archaeology for the 21st Century, and on Tuesday, October 24, iconic visual and performance artist Kent Monkman is at ROM Speaks: Art & Identity.

At the Royal Conservatory of Music you can learn more about the music you love at Music appreciation classes offered in mornings, afternoons, or evenings. Alliance Française presents four talks this month: Literary Encounter – The Search for Heinrich Schlögel: Music and Post Cards on October 4; A History of Beauty on October 18; Political Feelings: Moving Society on October 25; and Discussion with the writer Sylvain Prudhomme on October 24.

At the Miles Nadal JCC, daytime adult cultural talks include a three-part art lecture series: Modigliani Unmasked with Osnat Lipa beginning October 16; Jewish Folk Tales That Have Become Operas with Dr. Joseph Gilbert on October 19; and Honouring the Past, Imaging the Future: The Legacy of Honest Ed with Bill Gladstone on October 26.

Fundraising Events

Three fundraising events take place at local cultural organizations this month. On October 1, the museum of Estonians Abroad and their partners present Northern Spirit: Estonian Fashion and Design Experience, a fundraising fashion event with fashion shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Tartu College. The Gardiner Museum sees the 25th anniversary of its Empty Bowls fundraiser on October 12 with delicious soup by some of the city’s top chefs and attendees choose a ceramic bowl to take home, all in support of Anishnawbe Health Toronto. The Randolph Centre for the Arts presents the Encore Gala, on October 23, to celebrate 25 years of educating and preparing artists for a career — and life — in the performing arts industry. The evening will feature a silent auction, casino, cabaret performances, and a gala concert with appearances by alumni, current students, and friends, with special musical guests.

Halloween Fun

The ROM invites adults to come dressed in Halloween costumes to party with fellow ghouls and ghosts at Friday Night Live: Wicked on Friday, October 27. The Bata Shoe Museum is planning a “spooktacular” weekend of family fun activities on October 28 and 29, where kids in costumes get in free. Alliance Française presents a film for children, A Monster in Paris on October 29 at 2 p.m.