Harbord Collegiate celebrates 125 years By Annemarie Brissenden There will be a little bit of Oola and a whole lot of Boola when Harbordites gather later this month to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Harbord Collegiate Institute. Opened in 1892, it’s the third oldest school in the Toronto District School Board, something alumni are quick […]

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Site recommended for heritage list—impact on development unclear By Annemarie Brissenden City Planning announced its intention to designate 698 Spadina Avenue under the Ontario Heritage Act and list the property on the City of Toronto’s Heritage Register last month. The announcement came four days before a community consultation meeting on the University of Toronto’s application […]

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Three Annex veterans recall war service By Annemarie Brissenden Georgette Caldwell remembers the exact moment she decided to join the Women’s Royal Naval Service. It came after the first firebombing of London. Walking along the churchyard of St. Paul’s Cathedral, “you could smell the wood burning, and the cobblestones underneath my feet were still steaming.” […]

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Crossing Bathurst Street with A Different Booklist   By Annemarie Brissenden The Postman, a 2015 play about Albert Jackson, Canada’s first Black postman, opens with an invocation. “Toronto the Good. Toronto, the White. Toronto the Christian, Irish, Scottish, English. This is happening right here in this neighbourhood: Harbord, Major, Palmerston, Brunswick, Euclid, Borden,” says Jackson. […]

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Recommendations for mandating community participation By Annemarie Brissenden Four local residents’ associations, collectively representing the north end of Ward 20, banded together late last month to submit commentary on the province’s review of the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). In their letter to the Province of Ontario’s planning policy branch, the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA), Harbord […]

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Captain Owen Stanley (1811-1850) painted this watercolour based on drawings he made while on Sir George Back’s Arctic expedition in 1836 and 1837. He served on the HMS Terror, which almost a decade later would be lost after returning to the Arctic for the Franklin Expedition. Stanley was not part of the ill-fated voyage, having […]

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Phase one to include removal of fence By Annemarie Brissenden Plans are afoot to green the Annex campus of Monsignor Fraser College, but help — lots of help — is needed to raise the $300,000 it will cost to make that happen. Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustee Jo-Ann Davis (Ward 9, St. Paul’s, […]

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The Scott Mission at Spadina Avenue and College Street opened a free toy store for parents of the city’s neediest children. From Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, registered clients of the Mission were able to shop for a bagful of new children’s items including books, sports equipment, puzzles, and games. The Mission has also provided […]

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Pacifico Life (444 Bloor St. W.), a marijuana dispensary, opened its Toronto doors late last month with a mission “to educate, empower, and alleviate”. The Hamilton-based business sells many different products derived from the plant, including bath bombs, lip salves, oils, and soaps. It also dispenses the flower itself, but only for medical use. The […]

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Year in review reflects community initiatives By Annemarie Brissenden Little did we know last year that our annual holiday cover — a reproduction of a painting by Lawren Harris — would be quite so appropriate for 2016. Harris enjoyed a renaissance this year as the subject of both an Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition curated […]

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Thomas Fisher Rare Books a treasure trove unto itself By Annemarie Brissenden You may know that a maritime mystery was solved this September when Arctic researchers found the HMS Terror, one half of the Franklin Expedition that had set out to seek the Northwest Passage in 1845. Her sister ship, the HMS Erebus, had been […]

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One Spadina Crescent integrates new into old By Annemarie Brissenden On a cool, crisp morning in early November,­ two architects in anticipation flit about a light-filled atrium like children on Christmas morning. Their excitement is palpable as they prepare to unveil a sneak peek of One Spadina Crescent, which for the past several years has […]

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