Save St. Stephen's Concert Announced!

[adma]

From the agenda of tomorrow's Toronto Preservation Board meeting...

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4.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 300 Bloor Street West (Bloor Street United Church) – Inclusion on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties
&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp (Ward 20 Trinity-Spadina)

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp (Speakers)

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp (Deferred from September 1, 2005 meeting)

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Report (August 5, 2005) from the Director of Policy and Research, City Planning Division.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Recommendations:

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp It is recommended that:

(1)&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp City Council include the property at 300 Bloor Street West (Bloor Street United Church) on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties; and

(2)&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

 

[urbanboyto]

wow that is incredible! but not unprecedented for sure.

Adding it to the heritage inventory means squat though. I don't think there is any teeth to that legislation. That lies at the provincial level I think, legislation that was brought in last year?

 

[Archivistower]

urbanboy, the new legislation gives the city the power to prohibit demolition, which it did not have before. The building has to be designated, not just listed, however. I presume that's what they are doing with the Bloor church.

 

[BrianHawkins1]

adma:

Anything of interest to report from the Preservation Board meeting you mentioned above?

 

[adma]

Wasn't there. Just reporting...

 

[shawnmicallef]

I finally got around to sending a press release about this today:

For Immediate Release:
Oct 3, 2005

[murmur] and St. Stephen-in-the-Fields!


Location based cell-phone audio documentary project establishes new site at historic church under threat of closure.


Toronto ON: [murmur] is pleased to announce that we have expanded our Kensington Market project to include a site at St. Stephen's in the Field church at 103 Bellevue Avenue (at College). We have recorded stories about this location that are sometimes personal, other times historic and always heartfelt – that get to why this church is important, and how it fits into the surrounding neighbourhood and city at large. The [murmur] sign is located on the front door of the church, and Torontonians are invited to walk by and call the number and hear the stories of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, a church struggling against a decision to bring and end to nearly 150 years of continued presence in the community.

This launch is a precursor to the [murmur] on Spadina launch that will take place on October 20th (press release to follow next week).


About [mumur]:

[murmur] is an archival documentary project that collects and curates stories set in specific Toronto locations, told by Torontonians themselves. At each of these locations, a green [murmur] sign with a telephone number and location code marks where stories are available. By using a mobile phone, users are able to listen to the story of that place while engaging in the physical experience of being there. Some stories suggest that the listener walk around, following a certain path through a place, while others allow a person to wander with both their feet and their gaze. [murmur] is set to launch a project along the length of Spadina, funded in part by the City of Toronto's "Live With Culture" program.

[murmur] was first established in Toronto's Kensington Market in 2003. That same year projects were launched in Vancouver's Chinatown and along St. Laurent Boulevard in Montreal. In 2004 [murmur] was awarded a Toronto Arts Council grant enabling it to spread north from Kensington to the Annex neighbourhood. In November 2004, a [murmur] site was established at The Drake Hotel. [murmur] was initially developed with the assistance of the Canadian Film Centre, Habitat New Media Lab.

About St. Stephen-in-the-Fields


The Church of St. Stephen-in-the-Fields is a contemplative, downtown, Christian Community. Our parish is diverse culturally, linguistically and spiritually. Our multicultural congregation and acceptance of diversity reflects our location in the Kensington Market neighbourhood. An Anglican church, St. Stephen's is part of the Anglican Church of Canada, in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, Parkdale Deanery. St. Stephen's was designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act on the recommendation of the Toronto Historical Board in 1977. St. Stephen's was built in 1857 by Robert Brittain Denison, member of a prominent Toronto family, on his property and at his own expense, the first Anglican Church to be built west of Spadina Avenue in the City of Toronto.

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For further information contact:
Shawn Micallef
[murmur]
shawn@murmurtoronto.ca


St. Stephen-in-the-Field
416 921 6350.
ststanglican@yahoo.ca

For more info and to listen to Annex, Kensington, Vancouver and Montreal stories go to:
www.murmurtoronto.ca