PHOTO BY R.S. KONJEK/GLEANER NEWS: Johnathan Solazzo (right) is greeted at home plate by his teammates after blasting a grand slam for the Toronto Maple Leafs on June 7 at Christie Pits.

Hometown Leafs battle foes and forecasts as season gets under way

By R.S. Konjek

It was a rainy May.

The elements proved to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ greatest adversary in the first month of the 2017 Intercounty Baseball League season. Three scheduled games at Christie Pits were rained out, as well as a road game in Hamilton.

“We only play every second Sunday now,” lamented Al Ross, a witty fixture on the Christie hillsides. “That’s what we should call the season: Every Second Sunday.”

[pullquote]“Fans will recognize the pattern: the Leafs have gotten off to neither a blistering hot start, nor a brutally cold one. They have been beating the lousy clubs, but getting edged out by the stronger ones.”[/pullquote]

The traditional showers of April arrived late this year, regularly drenching the city throughout the month of May. Pondering on it, one might start to believe that our planet’s seasons have become displaced, with the change of seasons shifting back a month.

Lately, April weather has been hanging around into June. Then summer will click on like a light switch and last deep into September, maybe even October. Things will cool off in time for Halloween, but then the autumn months will carry over into the new year. It barely ever snows in December anymore. When the snow does come, it’s for briefer periods, punctuated by flash storms rather than lasting snowfalls. Temperatures will finally rise above freezing sometime in March or even April, making for a delayed spring. And the cycle repeats.

I am not a professionally trained climatologist, nor am I in possession of a Ph.D. in any of the applied sciences, but I have a pair of eyes and my theory is this: the seasons are shifting. To what cataclysmic end this shift is taking us, no one can say.

In the meantime, we have baseball.

Rainouts aside, the Leafs have managed to play a good number of games to start the season. By early June their record stood at five wins and five losses, good for fourth place in the league standings.

Fans will recognize the pattern: the Leafs have gotten off to neither a blistering hot start, nor a brutally cold one. They have been beating the lousy clubs, but getting edged out by the stronger ones.

Case in point: in two games against the perpetually rebuilding Burlington Herd, the Leafs dispatched their opponents handily by scores of 11-4 and 8-2.

Against the defending champion Barrie Baycats, the Leafs have stumbled. On the opening day of the season, a close game got away in the seventh inning when Barrie scored four runs en route to a 6-1 victory.

More recently, the rival clubs battled it out in a classic Christie slugfest.

The game took place on June 7, a cool but dry evening in Toronto. The Baycats arrived looking to extend their perfect 6-0 record, while the Leafs were eager to hand them their first loss.

The game got off to a bang in the bottom of the first inning, when Leafs third baseman Johnathan Solazzo blasted a grand slam to give his club a 4-0 lead.

Barrie punched right back in the second inning with three runs of their own, and the slugfest was on. The home nine put two more runs on the scoreboard in the third inning, and three more in the fourth to take a commanding 9-3 lead.

The Baycats clawed their way back against starting pitcher Zach Sloan, who was making his debut for the Leafs. Sloan lasted into the sixth inning before handing a 9-6 lead over to Pedro De Los Santos, another new face on the Toronto pitching staff. De Los Santos could not halt Barrie’s momentum. The visitors scored three more runs and the game was tied 9-9 after six.

The score remained deadlocked until the bottom of the eighth, when it looked like the Leafs might sneak a win. Pinch hitter Greg Carrington hit a single and then stole second base. Solazzo returned to the plate and calmly knocked a double into the outfield. Carrington scored, it was Solazzo’s sixth RBI of the night, and with that, the Leafs were three outs away from victory.

The visitors, however, demonstrated why they are the three-time defending champions. Bowed but not broken, they jumped all over De Los Santos for three hits and two walks with an error thrown in. When the dust settled, they had scored four runs. Toronto was unable to respond in the bottom of the ninth, and Barrie made off with the 13-10 win. A frustrating loss, but not discouraging. The season continues.

Weather permitting, the Leafs play at Christie Pits every Sunday through the rest of June and July. Games start at 2:00 p.m. The Leafs also host the occasional night game on Wednesdays.

READ MORE

SPORTS: Leafs return with sights on a title (May 2017)

SPORTS: Late summer blues (September 2016)

PICTURE COURTESY?THE?ROYAL?ONTARIO?MUSEUM: The Family Camera, at the ROM?until October 29, invites viewers to consider family portraits with a different lens.

Music and art at the Gardiner

By Heather Kelly

Looking for something interesting and unusual? Consider enjoying family time and learning something new at an exhibition. Shining Stars: Celebrating Canada’s Walk of Fame is on at the Bata Shoe Museum, and while you are there, see the exhibition Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels, with footwear from privileged rulers, rock stars, cowboys, and bikers, including John Lennon’s original 1960s Beatle boot and platforms worn by Elton John in the 1970s. At the Museum of Estonians Abroad the Metsaülikool/Forest University 50! anniversary exhibition is on display, and the Toronto Reference Library TD Gallery looks at personal stories of migration in an exhibition called Destination Canada. Ocean giants awe and fascinate at the Royal Ontario Museum’s Out of the Depths: The Blue Whale Story, featuring one of the largest, most complete blue whale skeletons ever displayed.

Concerts and music-related events include The Royal Conservatory of Music’s New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, a major initiative by the conservatory to celebrate Canada’s cultural and musical diversity, with musicians from 12 different countries who now live in Canada. Alliance Française presents Les Petits Nouveaux on June 10 and talented young French artists Frànçois and the Atlas Mountain on June 15 and Fishbach on June 19. Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema will show Score: The Film Music Documentary, where the greatest film composers in the world discuss their craft, and launch the new series, Bob Dylan on Screen. The Miles Nadal JCC presents DRUMHAND and Nagata Shachu on June 10, the Children’s Musical Theatre Project on June 19 and 20, and the Royal Canadian Legion Concert Band Annual Gala on June 25, in the Al Green Theatre. The ROM’s popular Friday Night Live is back each week with music, food, and museum activities based on special themes.

A range of visual art can be explored, including an exhibition of Italian comic artist Paolo Bacilieri at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura until June 14, with original illustrations from his latest graphic novel Fun (in English), La Magnifica Desolazione and Sweet Salgari. Opening June 20 at the Istituto Italiano, Toronto-based artist Rino Noto contemplates candid human activity in Wave. At Alliance Française, photos from the Lycée Français Toronto’s photography competition are on view June 12-16, and I Remember: Vimy 100 by photographer Racheal MacCaig, opens June 20.

The ROM launches Anishinaabeg: Art & Power June 17, about the life, traditions, and sacred stories of one of the most populous and diverse Indigenous communities in North America, and continues The Family Camera exhibition looking at family photographs and migration. The Gardiner Museum presents SMASH: Voyeur*ish on June 22, with immersive contemporary art installations accompanied by food and music. The Japan Foundation exhibition, Road of Light and Hope: National Treasures at Todai-ji Temple, Nara Photographs by Miro Ito is on until June 28.

Heather Kelly is the founder and director of the Bloor St. Culture Corridor. Her column focuses on arts and culture events from the district.

Centre needs to address funding shortfall

By Clarrie Feinstein

The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (JCC) has resubmitted an application to erect a third party electronic advertising sign on the roof of its building at the southwest corner of Spadina Avenue and Bloor Street.

In 2015, the City of Toronto’s Sign By-Law Unit refused the JCC’s first application because it broke all its bylaw requirements. The current proposal, which Toronto City Council will consider on May 31, is exactly the same.

[pullquote]“These bylaws were created for a reason”—Zoe Newman, Huron-Sussex Residents’ Organization[/pullquote]

The sign would be 10 by 3 metres (three times the size of what is allowed), 2.5 metres away from the intersection (signs must be at least 30 metres away), and it would face the street and properties.

“New roof signs are prohibited in the city,” said Ted Van Vliet, manager of the Sign By-Law Unit. “Electronic signs are not permitted in residential districts — only commercial areas like Yonge-Dundas Square. This sign is high impact with variable light levels and is facing two arterial intersections and the size of the sign is visible from nearby residences.”

Ten people attended a community consultation at Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church and Centre on April 20 to voice their concerns about the visual impact the sign would have on the neighbourhood.

“These bylaws were created for a reason,” said Zoe Newman, representing the Huron-Sussex Residents’ Organization (HSRO) at the meeting. “What concerns me is that no changes have been made to this proposal. Two years ago the same concerns were made by residents. This should be a collaborative process with community members and this proposal isn’t reflective of that.”

While the sign would provide the JCC with more funding, residents are worried that permitting it would set a precedent for future sign proposals that also do not follow the bylaw requirements.

Yet none of the residents from the buildings the sign would impact most were at the community meeting to provide comment.

The sign would have electronic moving advertisements that would change approximately every 10 seconds. The JCC would advertise its community services, including the fitness centre, swimming pool, in-house theatre, Jewish schools, adult night classes, film programming, and child day care.

“We would have complete veto power over the third party advertising if it didn’t fit in with the mandate of the JCC or the community at large,” said Ellen Cole, executive director of JCC. “We would inform the neighbourhood traffic of what is constantly going on inside the building.”

The city receives approximately 10 to 20 sign proposals a year, most of which are not approved. Indeed, city council has granted only two third party roof signs since 2010.

The JCC has been in the Annex for over 60 years, and it serves both Jewish and non-Jewish communities.

“Our membership is made up of 50 per cent non-Jewish and 50 per cent Jewish members,” added Cole. “People always ask us if they have to be Jewish to be a member. A sign like this can really show that we provide services for everyone. It’s a Jewish centre and community centre.”

The JCC is entering a period of uncertainty with sponsorship, leaving them with few available options to provide substantial revenue.

“We will lose our sponsorship from United Way next year, losing $100,000,” said JCC representative David Sadowski at the community meeting. “This will be the first year the JCC will be in deficit. Having this third party sign will bring us in a revenue of $100,000 annually without having to increase membership prices or cut programming.”

“It’s an innovative and entrepreneurial way for us to get revenue,” said Cole. “People can say no all they want, but what alternatives do they have? This is the best option we’ve got.”

Exhibition features musical memorabilia

PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: Rexall Brunswick features many nods to history and community, such as this street sign.

By Annemarie Brissenden

It was a grand opening for a grand old dame. Approximately 45 community members, music aficionados, and company dignitaries celebrated the transformation of Brunswick House from a notorious student dive bar into a boutique flagship drugstore when Rexall/Pharma Plus officially opened Rexall Brunswick on Bloor Street West late last month.

“It’s a remarkable renovation, and well beyond what would have been required in terms of scale,” said Brian Burchell, chair of the Bloor Annex BIA, who also publishes this newspaper. “The biggest thing Rexall has achieved in the Annex is bringing the building back to life.”

[pullquote]“What they’ve done as a chain store is adapt to the community that they’re in”—Gus Sinclair, chair, HVRA[/pullquote]

Great care has been taken in the restoration. The limestone walls have been polished, the exterior brick restored, and barrels that used to serve as seating and serving stations have been incorporated into the decor. The keg barrel bar is now the main checkout area.

“We were committed to building and operating a store that respected and recognized the history of the Brunswick House,” explained Derek Tupling, Rexall’s director of Communications and Government Relations. “All of the original archways and chandeliers have been incorporated into the store. When we were digging back into the building, we found a window behind a wall, and it’s now a really cool feature.”

The splashy April 27 opening emphasized the building’s history as a live music venue, and featured radio broadcaster and music historian Alan Cross.

He curated the Rexall Brunswick Music Artifacts Exhibition, featuring memorabilia from the artists who had performed there including Jeff Healey, Oscar Peterson, and Etta James. Representatives from each of the donated artifacts were also on hand to explain each item’s history. The exhibition will remain on display until May 11, after which it will become part of the Studio Bell’s permanent collection at the National Music Centre in Calgary.

“The musical component was an obvious choice. Some of the most well-known and recognizable names in Canadian history have played there,” said Tupling. “We wanted to play homage to what it meant to so many people for so many years.”

Gus Sinclair, chair of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association, said he’s pretty pleased with the restoration.

“What they’ve done as a chain store is adapt to the community that they’re in,” he said. “Brunswick in its last incarnation was not conducive to a good relationship with the community. It’s no longer a blight at the top of the street.”

For Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), that aspect — heritage restoration — was the most important.

“Rexall has taken great care to get this right, and to ensure that the building itself continues to reflect what was once there.”

The councillor added that Rexall was fully engaged with the city through the restoration process, and addressed long-standing issues with the site, like the placement of dumpsters.

“They have been good partners with us and in the community. They have been really pro-active and positive partners.”

Cressy, Sinclair, and Burchell all agree that Rexall has taken great pains to integrate seamlessly into the fabric of Bloor Street.

“It’s certainly consistent with what the city hopes to do with maintaining that scale along Bloor Street,” said Burchell.

Sinclair pointed out that “the stable built form of the street is pretty much the same as it has been for one hundred years.

“As bad as the Brunswick was, I like the idea of the building’s history being respected.”

According to Burchell, “If the choices are Rexall or Brunswick House, we certainly welcome the change. It adds more reasons to stay in the Annex, a village unto itself with an eclectic mix of businesses and dining options.”

“We’re very comfortable and very confident that we have lived up to our commitment to restoring the heritage elements and incorporating them into to the broader design of the store,” said Tupling.

—with files from Geremy Bordonaro

Correction: The photo credit in the print version made reference to a file photo. The picture was taken at the April 27 event.

READ MORE

NEWS: Rexall replaces Brunswick House (April 2016)

NEWS: Brunswick on the block (December 2015)

PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS: A fire destroyed a large portion of the dome’s surface for the field at Central Technical School on May 15.

A large portion of the roof of the dome that covers the field at Central Technical School was destroyed in a fire on May 15. The dome was in storage for the summer after it was dismantled on April 27. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but the Toronto Police Service has not ruled out arson.

Students were out on the field around mid-afternoon when smoke was spotted coming from the dome’s storage area. Police shut down Bathurst Street south of Bloor Street for a few hours to conduct their investigation, and damage is expected in be in the range of one million dollars.

—Geremy Bordonaro/Gleaner News

READ MORE

NEWS: Central Tech field renewal back on track (May 2016) 

LETTERS: HVRA still on board for CTS plan (March 2016)

EDITORIAL: Ship to wreck (February 2016)

Construction halted at Central Tech: Student athletes launch online petition by Marielle Torrefranca (February 2016)

Agreement reached for Central Tech field (April 2015) by Annemarie Brissenden

To dome or not to dome, that is the question (February 2015) by Terri Chu

Editorial: Mobs don’t rule, nor do pawns (February 2015)

Dome plan inches closer (February 2015) by Brian Burchell

School board appeals ruling and loses, again (October 2014) by Brian Burchell

Editorial: A strategy run amok (September 2014)

Dome plan quashed by courts (September 2014) by Brian Burchell

Raucous meeting on CTS field (April 2014) by Annemarie Brissenden

Over 20,000 attendees and 120 craft and unique food vendors are expected to descend on Bloor Street between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street on June 11 for the 21st running of the Annex Family Festival.

The festival will once again feature a street parade with marching bands, and a main stage music venue at Bloor Street and Brunswick Avenue. There will be performances for the younger crowd, and a children’s village with an interactive hockey experience, street hockey, basketball, button-making, life-sized chess, and skateboard lessons.

Sponsored by the Bloor Annex BIA (whose chair publishes this newspaper), and organized by the Miles Nadal JCC, the event will also feature sidewalk sales and run rain or shine.

—Brian Burchell/Gleaner News

ARA holds annual general meeting

By Geremy Bordonaro

Development dominated the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) annual general meeting on April 27.

The area has seen an increase in developments over the last few years, most notably the Westbank Projects Corp.’s Mirvish Village development, and that coloured every topic of discussion, from bike lanes to community housing.

[pullquote]“We’ve got to figure out a way to accommodate people, move those people efficiently and safely”—Albert Koehl, vice-chair, Annex Residents’ Association[/pullquote]

“Our time here at the ARA in the past year has included a very strong focus on planning and development. As we discussed last year, the Annex has a lot of different developments around our ward,” said David Harrison. “We became somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of development activity that we needed to be on top of and participate in.

“It’s my estimate that between Yonge and Bathurst [streets] along the Bloor Corridor if you take all of the development that has been approved there could be up to 20,000 more people in that strip. And there’s already difficulties moving people around.”

The traffic and transportation committee reported mostly on matters of public safety concern, which it believes are being alleviated by lower speed limits on side streets and the implementation of the Bloor Street bike lanes.

However committee member Albert Koehl, also the organization’s vice-chair, sees a new trend coming as new buildings are completed and filled with residents.

“If you look at the dozen of development applications for our neighbourhood you’ll see that the future is not going to be single-occupancy cars,” Koehl said. “We cannot accommodate new residents if they insist on being in single-occupant cars.”

A big believer in bike lanes, Koehl has advocated for the Bloor Street pilot bike lanes as a part of Bells on Bloor. He said that more support for public transit and bike lanes is necessary to accommodate the ever-growing Annex population.

“We’ve got to figure out a way to accommodate people, move those people efficiently and safely. That’s got to mean better transit, more walking, and more cycling,” he said. “With the bike lanes we’ve seen some people change their behaviour. We’ve seen more cyclists on Bloor [Street] and fewer cars. That’s got to be the way of the future.”

“Our ward is sort of the heart of [development in the city],” said Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) at the meeting. “Right now one quarter of all proposed development in the entire city is in Ward 20.”

Speaking of the community’s future, Cressy said that the city needs to change in order to keep up with the demand.

“On one hand we are thriving, but on the other the cracks have emerged…. Our infrastructure is 40 to 50 years old. And it’s not always sexy to invest in what is below the ground. But it is needed.”

READ MORE

CHATTER: Annex Residents’ Association app tracks developments (April 2016)

The University of Toronto plans to appeal Toronto City Council’s March 9 decision to designate 698 Spadina Ave. as a heritage site. The university intended to demolish the building and build a 23-storey student residence on the site.

Home to the much loved Ten Editions bookstore, the building itself is considered a key piece of Victorian-style architecture dating to 1885. It is typical of a type of business from that era: a window storefront with a residence on the second floor.

The appeal will go to the Conservation Review Board. However, the board’s decision is not binding, and only city council call repeal the designation.

The Harbord Village Residents’ Association has stated that it intends to oppose the appeal.

—Geremy Bordonaro/Gleaner News

READ MORE

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)

The University of Toronto is seeking broader powers to do as it pleases with respect to developing new buildings in certain designated large swaths of its campus. In effect, it wants to be an off-leash development dog, a request that has the community wary. The City of Toronto should be too.

Twenty-five years ago the university convinced the city to adopt its Master Plan.

[pullquote]“Consider what the university has done with its “as of right” building envelopes over the past couple of decades.”[/pullquote]

Formalized as a city bylaw, the plan gave the school the right to greater density, height, and less set-back on 29 specific building sites. The university packed more into these envelopes than any single property owner could have hoped to achieve. There was a certain quid pro quo at play that worked so well then that the university is trying it again, dressed up in the latest planning language speak.

Here’s how it goes.

First U of T will point to its vast inventory of heritage buildings and wide-open green spaces. It will undertake not to build new buildings there or on top of Hart House or University College. Then, while residents are supposed to be feeling grateful for the university’s stewardship it will ask for some flexibility elsewhere so that it can, in effect, move that lost density opportunity onto other parts of the campus.

Though the argument was strategically successful, it was, and remains, deeply flawed. The university was trading something it did not and does not possess. There is no way an application to plop a high rise on the front campus would succeed, and neither would filling in the University College quadrangle with office space. The argument is a sleight of hand.

Further, consider what the university has done with its “as of right” building envelopes over the past couple of decades. About one half of the sites were developed. Part of the original argument was that an approved master plan would avoid a lot of process and negotiations. However, many required a trip to the Committee of Adjustment, as U of T wanted to pierce the theoretical envelope in one way or another. The time saving argument did not exactly hold.

One building currently under construction is 47-55 St. George St., or Site 10 in the Master Plan. In 1993 the university undertook to make that building no taller than 23 metres, but then turned around and got approval from the city for 44 metres! The new building could put part of the adjacent heritage Knox College on St. George Street in shadow, but since the university also owns that building there was no one to advocate against the increased height. In this case, U of T has used the super-sized envelope as a spring-board to even greater height and density and appears to have simultaneously ignored its own heritage interests.

Enrolment at the university is not predicted to increase in the next ten years, though there is an intention to shift to a greater percentage of graduate students, but not more students in total. Why then is there need for more buildings? The institution is silent on this question.

The Official Plan amendment would apply to 108 hectares bounded by Bloor Street, College Street, Spadina Avenue, and Bay Street, even though those buildings are not governed by the university. Yet none of the other building owners appear to be at the table, and it’s a big omission: what’s good for one, may not be best for all.

The draft document suggests that the university should endeavour to transition its new built form into adjoining local communities. Sounds good on paper, but the institution long ago breached its borders, buying property west of Spadina Avenue and south of College Street. For example, it’s planning to build a 23-storey student residence on the northwest corner of Spadina and Sussex avenues. That is hardly a transition step to Harbord Village where a typical Victorian house is two-and-a-half stories. Further, the site includes Ten Editions bookstore, housed in a 100-year-old building recently designated by the city as heritage. The university has appealed that designation, a move that does not exactly advance its case as a heritage protector.

The University of Toronto has not demonstrated it can be trusted with a “licence to build” without permissions. The leash shouldn’t be thrown away; it should be shortened.

READ MORE

NEWS: U of T seeks to expand planning exemption (April 2017)

EDITORIAL: Westbank’s positive precedent (April 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)

NEWS: Tall tower before OMB, as city battles back with block study (August 2016)

NEWS: Planning for the future (May 2016)

DEVELOPINGS: Annual review reflects tension between community activism and OMB (March 2016)

More how nice!

EDITORIAL CARTOON: The Grand Tory (April 2017)

FORUM: Celebrating 20 years of cartoonist Brett Lamb (April 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: A second chance! by Brett Lamb 2037 (February 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: Not really! It’s actually nice! by Stumpy the Subway (January 2017)

TABIA argues for tax fairness across Ontario

By John J. Kiru

In 1998, Ontario took over school boards’ authority to set property tax rates. Residential education rates were immediately equalized across the province and an advisory panel recommended moving quickly to equalize business education tax rates as well. It is now 19 years later and Ontario has failed to adopt this recommendation to provide tax fairness to businesses across the province, although the current government has repeatedly promised to do so once the deficit was eliminated.

[pullquote]“The province uses an arcane rate-setting system that arbitrarily burdens some jurisdictions over others for no added benefit or service.”[/pullquote]

The province uses an arcane rate-setting system that arbitrarily burdens some jurisdictions over others for no added benefit or service. Remember, the education tax is now a general revenue tax, just like the corporate income tax.

That means a dollar less in education tax is offset by a dollar more in provincial grants, keeping total school board funding at the targeted level.

Businesses taxed at a higher rate than others receive no added benefit. Consider that:

• A Toronto business property worth $5 million pays $15,500 more annually than it would in Halton Region — a 34 per cent premium for no added benefit or service
• ?London, Waterloo, and Windsor businesses pay some of the highest rates in Ontario and pay 61 per cent more than Halton Region for no added benefit
• 5.3x ratio of commercial-to-residential education tax rates for Toronto as applied by the province
• 7.5x ratio of commercial-to-residential education tax rates for London, Waterloo, and Windsor as applied by the province.

The Province of Ontario succeeds when its businesses succeed. When choosing where to locate or expand a business, our province has a lot to offer in terms of an educated and talented workforce. The next step is showing businesses a commitment to long-term economic competitiveness, which includes a stable, business-friendly tax environment.

John J. Kiru is the executive director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA).