Heritage Designation Win (Mostly)!

Between the ages of 8 and 10, I lived in a house in close proximity to a small plaza. Picture in your mind’s eye a big box store. Now shrink that down to 75%. That’s about the space the plaza would have taken up. There must have been a total of 5 business that I can remember. One being a HomeHardware (the old neighbourhood kind – narrow aisles and various home improvement supplies precariously perched atop much too high shelves). The other was a convenience store. I can remember walking to the convenience store with my brother in the summer – getting freezies. Today, all that is left of this plaza is a vacant lot and a nearby boarded up house.

I don’t remember ever seeing the process of the demolition of the buildings. They were just gone one day. I noticed that the few houses adjacent to the property were all boarded up, but oddly enough, never torn down. On my way home one day, I passed by the site and decided to read the Development Proposal. I found a lot more regarding the history of the lot online and with the City of Toronto. Turns out, the houses located within the development is of historical significance. With the heritage designation, developers are limited in what they can do with the home.

An article from My Town Crier looked at this site in 2010 and talked to the owners of the house. The owners, Ron Waine and his siblings, wanted to have their family home designated as a Heritage Building prior to selling to developers. The Arthur Waine House was built in the 1920s, making it the oldest residential home on the street. From a historical and cultural perspective, the house is a nod to North York’s mill and farming past.

Arthur Edward Waine House located at 172 Finch Avenue West is designated as being of cultural heritage value or interest under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Reading through official plan and zoning by-law amendment applications, it is clear that the developers faced road blocks when it comes to moving forward with their 6-storey mixed use development and their consideration of the heritage property. In October 2014, an application was made to the city to approve the demolition of the house. Soon after, a Notice of Refusal was issued by the City of Toronto – Heritage Designation win!

What is the status of this site now? Long story long, city council took a long time to make a decision regarding zoning amendments, in 2015 an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board was made basically forcing all parties to come to a decision. You can read the Request for Direction Report from 2015 online – it outlines the history of the application, appeals, and recommendations for the developers in dealing with the heritage property. Long story short, the house can be relocated within the property – a Notice of Decision was issued on May 17, 2016. There are still conditions for the developers to abide by when altering the structure which are all covered in the Notice. I’m impressed with the diligence the city has taken in order to respect the heritage designation.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover the historical and cultural significance of this property…and all I wanted to talk about was how convenient it was to walk to the corner store for some freezies!

Have you passed by vacant development lots and wondered why they’ve been sitting empty for so long? Do you know of a neighbourhood house that could be considered of cultural or historical value? How would you define “historical value”?  

David Gibson’s Apple Orchard? It’s a Condo Now!

Summer camp. The combination of these words can elicit a variety of reactions from both parents and children. I was put into various summer camp programs as a child – gymnastics camp, circus camp, mid-19th century history camp.

I must have been about 7 or 8 years old at the time. My mother signed me up for a one week day camp programme at the Gibson House Museum in North York. A travel back in time to the 19th century day camp at a historic home turned museum. Right now, I wouldn’t be able to recall the sequences of events with any certainty, but I remember baking cookies from scratch in a stone oven. And when I say “from scratch”, I mean I churned that butter until it was suitable cookie making butter. As it was summer, I also churned ice cream.

I remember the house/museum being surrounded by trees. I only came to realize it’s location years later – when the trees that used to surround the house were cut down in preparation for a condo. Two, actually.

Two condominiums are sitting on what used to be a green space with an apple orchard. The park land was originally purchased by an oil company who then leased the park land to the city. A development company then purchased the land from the oil company and long story short, we have a mixed-use development. Whenever I pass by the intersection where the two towers stand, I am struck by the preservation of one particular item from the park. One apple tree. The Toleman Sweet apple tree that stands in the redesigned parkette in front of the condos, is the last tree from David Gibson’s apple orchard, established in 1832. In somewhat museum like fashion, the tree is cordoned off by a chain – look, enjoy, do not touch.

The lone Toleman Sweet apple tree pictured in March 2017.

I can appreciate the attempt to preserve the significance of the area by incorporating the past with the present. It is easy to carry on our day-to-day business without ever taking notice of our surroundings and the depth of history that exists. To people new to the area, those who have moved into the two condos, the tree out front just might be a nice feature to their parkette. We don’t have to walk much further from the tree to discover that it’s roots (figuratively) are connected to a significant historical site. David Gibson was a land surveyor, who helped map out early Toronto, I wonder if his thoughts of the future ever envisioned towers 42 storeys high planted on his own property.

Gibson Square towering over the last apple tree in the “orchard”.

I haven’t been back to tour the Gibson House since that summer I went to camp there. I am planning on visiting soon and with far more appreciation for the historical context of this site.

Gibson House Museum

Have you been to the Gibson House? Have you been on tours of historical houses? What surrounds it today? Share your memories with me! 

Saying “Goodbye” Is Never Easy. Even to a Building.

Have you ever moved houses? If so, did you say “goodbye” to the house? Maybe it was while you did a final walk through of the place, or as you locked up one last time. And by “goodbye”, it could be in a sentimental “thanks for being a great home, bye” or not…

I’ve moved houses only a few times in my life and each time I can remember peering into each room and saying goodbye. Whatever that house meant to me by the time I was leaving, I had formed an emotional connection to this physical space. This experience is of particular interest because it highlights the interconnection between place, space and emotions.

A few weeks ago, a very unique event was held in Toronto to bid adieu to an iconic landmark – Honest Ed’s. This place was a one-stop-shop centrally located in downtown Toronto, known for their incredible bargains and deep discounts on everyday items. 

Here is a commercial from 1986 for Honest Ed’s:

The event was organized by Toronto for Everyone and The Centre for Social Innovation (read more about some of the events on my Storify). There were dance parties, immersive art exhibits on all 6 floors of Honest Ed’s, town halls, pay-what-you-can markets. Citizens out en masse to say goodbye to something more than just a building.

There was one particular exhibit that stood out to me the most – an interactive memorial. It encouraged attendees to share “their story” of Honest Ed’s by writing on the wall and on replica Honest Ed’s time punch cards. People were able to write their memories of Honest Ed’s and place them on the wall. I was told that each card would be photographed for posterity and placed back in the building, to be disposed of with the building on demolition day. How poignant.  What did the cards say, you ask? Here are a few…

“I moved to Toronto without ever visiting it. I knew no one here. On my second day here I passed Honest Ed’s. Seeing the lights made me excited for the first time. I believed I had landed in the right place and that everything would be ok.”

“Thanks Ed! You sold my parents their first dinner set 1969!”

“This place was magic! I used to come in here and just wander for hours! I will miss it here!!”

“Thank you for welcoming us to Canada 22 years ago. We still have the utensils we bought at Honest Ed’s.”

“My mom has a peacock statuette from here that she bought in the 60s.” 

Many people had expressed their gratitude not only for the physical items they had acquired from Honest Ed’s over the years, but for it being a space they felt welcomed in, and were able to wander as they pleased. These memories are important because they exemplify the emotional aspects of our urban experiences. These aspects contribute to forging strong communities and creates a sense of belonging.

I have high hopes for the redevelopment plans of the Honest Ed’s area. I am looking forward for this new space providing a welcoming atmosphere, with room for aimless wandering nestled in between the towering condos.

Yonge and Sheppard: Northwest Corner

1996. 21 years ago, I remember standing beside my brother and father on an exceptionally cold winter’s day. We were watching a house being hoisted up into the air and set down as gingerly as one could set a 463-ton house down onto a flatbed. Dempsey Brothers’ Hardware Store. I have no recollection of ever being inside the store, but I remember being in awe of this unimaginable operation. And being cold…

Shepard, Joseph, shop, Yonge St., north west corner Sheppard Ave. W., Toronto, Ont.
James Salmon, 1953 Courtesy of Toronto Public Library.

2017. Imagine: You are standing in the middle of an intersection. On the northwest corner, a low rise building, home to 7-11, McDonald’s, and a FedEx Office store. On the northeast corner, a mid-rise building, with a bank, Tim Horton’s, and SO MUCH CONSTRUCTION! It is the future site of an L.A. Fitness and a some standard restaurants. On the southeast corner, a massive high-rise, with a Rexall drug store and a Whole Foods market. Over the to southwest, a parking lot. But future home to high-rise buildings. Welcome to the burgeoning north end of Toronto – Yonge and Sheppard!

I work in this neighbourhood, and every so often, I’ll make a stop at the McDonald’s for a cup of that black gold.

Looking towards the northwest corner of Yonge St. and Sheppard Ave. – February 2017.

A TTC interchange, GO bus and TTC busses stop at this intersection – it is always busy in the morning. I often think about what used to be here. I wonder if any one else remembers what was here. Surprisingly, thanks to the TTC and City of Toronto, we can learn about the history of this very spot on a plaque just outside McDonald’s!

A nod to the past, a plaque tells of the Lansing Historic Site.

The plaque reads: “A prominent landmark building, the Joseph Shepard House/Dempsey Brothers Store once occupied this corner of Yonge Street and Sheppard Avenue.

Built in 1860, by Joseph Shepard II, the building was constructed as a general store and originally included the Shepard family’s residence. In 1886, a post office was added. The post office, and subsequently the immediate surrounding community, was called “Lansing”. The store served as a depot for the coach from Yorkville to Richmond Hill. It then became the milk depot for local farmers and was the main source for all manufactured goods in the vicinity. In 1888, Benjamin F. Brown took over the operation of the store. He purchased it in 1904 and sold it to George and William Dempsey in 1923. From that time, the building operated as the well-known Dempsey Brothers Hardware Store and was owned by a member of the Dempsey family until the late 1980s.

The building and property were sold to developers in 1989. In 1996, the building was relocated to its present park site just north of here at 250 Beecroft Avenue. The City of North York rehabilitated and restored the Georgian Survival building, returning its original storefront appearance and superimposed late Victorian verandah. In the early Fall of 1997, the Dempsey Store was officially reopened by the City of North York as a municipal archival storage and research facility.”

The house was moved just a stone’s throw away from it’s original site. I actually don’t know what route they took to roll the house to where it sits now – I’m not even sure if the road that exists today was there in 1996. You can find it at 250 Beecroft Road. Half of the building is now home to The Shining Through Centre for Children With Autism. The other half, curiously enough, is empty.

The Dempsey Store in 2017.

There is a wonderful book by Scott Kennedy titled, “Willowdale: Yesterday’s Farms, Today’s Legacy“, which recounts the historical significance of this lot – from the year it was built in 1860, to the great move of 1996, and then some.

I asked my father if he’d done any shopping at the hardware store when it was around. He sent me a text telling me he’d purchased screws, stain for wood, sand paper (and more) to complete a kitchen table and our wall-to-wall bookshelves. And, what read like a Yelp review, he added, “Great service!!!”

Both kitchen table and bookshelves are still being used to this day. Thanks, Dempsey Brothers!