Davenport West

[Lilibet]

I'm not sure if I've picked the right spot for this, so if the powers that be on this forum think there's a more appropriate thread, then by all means move it...


I volunteer with a non-profit organization "Green Here" which has received funding enabling them to offer a free native tree to homeowners, to be planted in your back garden (upon approval of a free site inspection to determine if the location is suitable for a large shade tree).
I am posting flyers around the neighbourhood, but figured it wouldn't hurt to post the flyer information on here.
The area being covered has only 23% of the average tree canopy in the City of Toronto, hence the need for more trees. The boundaries for this project are Bloor St. West to St. Clair West, CN/CPR rail tracks (Old Weston/Dundas West) to Dufferin, although based on supply and demand these boundaries are not necessarily engraved in stone, so if you're located within a reasonable distance you may be accepted if you have a suitable location.
This is being offered March-May 2008.

Clean and cool the air. Free locally grown, backyard trees

Large canopy shade tree, growing to 15 metres

Free site visit and planting

Owner must water and care for the tree (which is critical during the first few years of it being planted)

Trees absorb air pollution and produce oxygen

Trees increase property value by 15%

Help improve the health of your neighbourhood, one tree at a time!

Contact Green Here at
416.656.8025 x 403
or visit
www.greenhere.ca

 

[TKTKTK]

Great project! Who could say no to a free tree?

 

[CDL.TO]

Definately a great project. As a city, we are going to have to work in the coming years to maintain the canopy.

What types of trees are you planting?

 

[Lilibet]

There are six varieties of native tree available. The type of tree selected will be dependent upon the site inspection which will determine which tree will do best in the location. With the exception of the White Pine, which is an evergreen, the rest are deciduous (meaning they will lose their leaves during the winter).
They will all potentially grow to be magnificent, beautiful trees!

1. Sugar Maple
2. Silver Maple
3. Red Oak
4. White Oak
5. Basswood
6. White Pine

 

[W. K. Lis]

But if in 20 years the tree grows up and is rubbing against your roof shingles, you have to pay $100 to the city for permission to trim it. (With inflation: $500?)
They should include one free inspection on a mature tree.

 

[Lilibet]

But if in 20 years the tree grows up and is rubbing against your roof shingles, you have to pay $100 to the city for permission to trim it. (With inflation: $500?)
They should include one free inspection on a mature tree.

It is a poorly sited tree that would be "rubbing up against your roof shingles."
That's the whole point of the free site inspection, to determine if you have a suitable location and if there is adequate space.
Planting a tree on your property is not unlike having a child. There is the responsibility of longterm care and maintenance that goes along with it, but the benefits (like a child) are very rewarding.
May I also remind you that Green Here are a non-profit organization, with limited funding, so the expectation of a free inspection of a mature tree (which is 10-20 years down the road) is unrealistic.

 

[vic]

Community Meeting, Wednesday May 28 7:00pm

----------------------------------------------------------------------
South Junction Triangle Residents' Association
http://www.southjunctiontriangle.ca/
----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT
A new Residents' Association for our Neighbourhood!

Attention residents of the South Junction Triangle:

Great news, introducing the South Junction Triangle Residents' Association (SJTRA)! A group of friends and neighbours committed to improving the spaces where we live.

WHAT: Community Meeting
WHEN: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
TIME: 7:00pm to 8:45pm
PLACE: Perth Avenue Public School, gymnasium. 14 Ruskin Ave.

Meet the SJTRA steering committee members and our special guests. Also present: representatives from many other community groups, friends of the community, and Castlepoint Studio Partners Limited:
* Adam Giambrone. City councillor Ward 18 Davenport
* Tony Ruprecht. MPP, Davenport
* Mario Silva. MP, Davenport
* Staff Inspector Thomas Russell. Unit Commander, 11 Division Toronto Police

These SJTRA sub-committees are looking for members:
* Environmental committee
* Development and Planning Committee
* Safety Committee
* Community Initiatives & Beautification Committee

Want to: Learn more? Get involved? Speak out? Be a part of a sub-committee? Meet neighbours who share your concerns and ideas? Join us on Wednesday May 28th, we look forward to meeting you!

Please visit our website at: http://www.southjunctiontriangle.ca/
You will find more information about the group, a local events listing, message forums, a gallery of local photos and more.

You can email us at info@southjunctiontriangle.ca if you have any questions.

 

[junctionist]

On the new police station

From the Globe and Mail:

Heritage status to raise station costs, police say

JEFF GRAY
May 24, 2008

Toronto Police say a project to tear down a west-end school and put up a new police station could now cost an extra $6-million, after the city's preservation board recommended that city council list the 94-year-old building as a heritage property.

The $25.5-million plans to demolish the former Carleton Public School on Davenport Road near Old Weston Road and build a new 11 Division police station were approved by council last December.

But this week, the preservation board voted to recommend that the Edwardian brick building be listed, which would require the police to take its heritage into account in their plans, possibly requiring them to incorporate the south and east façades in the new structure.

Police officials, who say the new station must meet high energy-efficiency standards as well as be able to withstand various natural disasters, estimate that preserving the old walls would cost them $5-million to $6-million extra, while preserving the entire building's outer structure could cost as much as $10-million.

"It's an interesting building, but is it so unique that something would be lost to the city?" asked Alok Mukherjee, chairman of the Toronto Police Services Board. "Early 20th-century Edwardian is not that unusual."

Mr. Mukherjee said the request to look into the property's heritage value originally came from the office of local city Councillor Cesar Palacio, who did not attend this week's preservation board meeting and did not return calls from The Globe and Mail.

Police say they desperately need a new home for 11 Division, whose 190-plus officers are now crammed into the oldest functioning police station in the city, built in the late 1950s. Officials warn that preserving parts of the building could set back their schedule to reopen it by 2011 up to 18 months. Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), who sits on the preservation board, said the city and the police should have anticipated the need to save the building and should be able to afford the extra cost of preserving the city's history.

"The police should know better," Mr. Vaughan said. "...You don't come in and say it's going to cost too much to save the building when you haven't even designed the new building."

The city's heritage staff had actually recommended that the building be immediately designated a heritage structure, a tougher move that would have allowed the city to "manage change" on the site and encourage the retention of its historic attributes.

But Councillor Kyle Rae (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale), who also sits on the board, moved the less-drastic motion to list it as a heritage property, essentially directing police to start looking at what could be preserved in their plans.

He said the school board or the city should have had it designated long before the city agreed to buy it and hand it over to the police. It is still owned by the Toronto District School Board - which sent a lawyer and its real estate manager to this week's hearing - as the $8.7-million land deal has not gone through. The decision to list the building must still be approved by council.

 

[adma]

"It's an interesting building, but is it so unique that something would be lost to the city?" asked Alok Mukherjee, chairman of the Toronto Police Services Board. "Early 20th-century Edwardian is not that unusual."

Okay. Upon that quote, Jaye P. Morgan hits the gong...

 

[Lilibet]

There are a number of locals, myself included, who are just spitting mad at that quote. The TPS have insisted that they want to include the community in development decisions, and we have been pushing for months to have this building preserved, because as unspecial as Mr. Mukherjee seems to think this building is, architectural design aside, it contains a lot of history and memories for many residents, which seems to count for naught. Carleton Village (the neighbourhood) was given historic designation in 1989 yet sadly so little is left to show in its architecture due to demolition or alteration beyond recognition.
His comment amounts to a slap in the face.
I so dearly hope he attends the next "community" meeting.
I have my box of eggs at the ready.

 

[adma]

Exactly my point. A quote like that amounts to his laying his abject heritage amateurism on his sleeve...

 

[Lilibet]

Carleton Village Public School Update

It seems fighting the good fight just isn't enough. Makes you wonder though just how worried the TPS are having Chief Blair show up in "surprise visit."
Many of the councillors were falling over themselves in a rather sickening display of brown nosing.


Community Council denies school heritage listing

June 12, 2008 01:13 PM
CYNTHIA REASON

Toronto's chief of police made a surprise visit to Etobicoke York
Community Council this week in a successful, albeit controversial, bid
to keep Carleton Village Public School - the proposed site of 11
Division's new headquarters - off the listing of city heritage sites.
City planning staff recommended that the property at 2054 Davenport
Rd. be included on Toronto's inventory of heritage properties - a
designation that would enable city council to manage change and
encourage retention of the building's values in any redevelopment of
the property. But Chief Bill Blair said that by greenlighting such a
move, councillors would jeopardize Toronto Police Service plans to
build there.

Chief among the chief's arguments was money. Blair estimated the cost
of maintaining the facade of the three-storey, early 20th century
school building - which was constructed by Toronto architect F.E.
Belfry using features of Edwardian Classicism in 1914 - would run
Police Services' tab upwards of an additional $7 to $10 million. And
that's money he said police simply don't have in their budget for the
project.

"We have to make a responsible decision here, using public dollars,"
he urged councillors at the monthly meeting on Tuesday morning, noting
that police have had to sit back and watch cost overruns delay, and
even cancel out, similar projects in the past.

That message seemed to get through to councillors, who expressed early
concern that, should they vote in favour of designation, police would
pull out of the deal.

"This $7 to $10 million is a make it or break it deal. We heard from
Toronto Police Service that they may decide not to relocate (to
Carleton Public School) with the cost impact associated with it," said
Ward 7 (York West) Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti. "Don't you think if
police decided not to relocate here, it could force the building to
sit empty for a long time to come?"

But a strong contingent of heritage supporters in the crowd said those
cost projections are totally off base.

"They pulled those figures out of a hat," contended Mary Louise
Ashbourne, chair of the Etobicoke York Community Preservation Panel.
"There are no plans yet, and if they haven't any plans drawn, then how
can they make an accurate assessment to the cost?"

Blair said the other issue with using the actual school as 11
Division's new headquarters is the building itself. The division's
current base, he said, is housed in a building constructed in 1957,
making it the oldest frontline facility in the city. It's too small,
too outdated, and does not fit the needs of modern policing, he said,
and it's been that way for a long time. Hence the need, both
operationally and for officer morale, for a new, state-of-the-art
headquarters.

"Money is not the only issue here," Blair said. "School buildings are
not physically conducive to the kind of work we do. This is a
three-storey building...we need everything closer to the ground, we
need the lock-up area to be located by the investigative areas."

The relocation of the headquarters from Mavety Street to Davenport
will also necessitate a redrawing of the boundaries between 11 and 12
Divisions - pushing the lines of 11 Division north - a move local
residents said was unfair.

Carolin Banjavcic, who lives half a block north of the proposed new
site at Davenport and Osler Street, said her community currently plays
a very active role in 12 Division, so to be reassigned to 11 Division
and be geographically separated from the rest of the division by three
sets of railroad tracks, will be a big blow to her neighbours.

"We're already in no man's land in terms of many things - we're a bit
of a little village unto ourselves - so this will only serve to
further isolate us," she said.

Ultimately, council voted against staff recommendations to list the
building as a heritage site, despite impassioned pleas to save the
building, described by many as a "gem" of the community.

"What about the cost to the community? Our loss? Our sentiment? Our
ambiance?" asked John Sweeney, a resident of Old Weston Road.
"(Carleton Public School) is our Casa Loma. This is our New York Times
Square. This is our Picadilly Circus. All we're asking is for you to
save us this gem."

While the final decision stipulated that Toronto Police Service
attempt to preserve as many historical elements of the school as
possible, Ashbourne said the ruling puts all the power at the
discretion of the police - a move that has not bade well previously
for heritage enthusiasts.

"Relying on good will has no teeth or weight to it," she said, noting
that council did, however, recommend police take more heritage-minded
people into its project planning committee.

"I'm disappointed because this decision gives very little leverage to
the community...and I don't understand how they don't see it as an
asset to community relations to keep the school building's facade,"
she added. "It's been a part of the streetscape of the community since
1914. It'll be a big loss if they choose to demolish."


[Source: http://www.insidetoronto.ca/News/Villager/article/49874]

 

[junctionist]

How can the cost of a police station determine the heritage value of a building?

If it's really that expensive, why not build it beside the old building? It's a large piece of land for this area.

 

[Lilibet]

How can the cost of a police station determine the heritage value of building?

If it's really that expensive, why not build it beside the old building? It's a large piece of land for this area.

They seem adamant about what they don't want but have yet to produce any sort of rendering or draft of their proposal. They haven't hired an architect yet, so it appears they are also pulling figures out of the air.
They are being presented with an opportunity to really be a part of the community, and do another wonderful job of preservation like they did with 51 division but it seems a real lack of vision is in play here.

 

[Lilibet]

Globe & Mail June 18, 2008 Carleton Village Public School

HERITAGE BATTLE

Plan to level school for police station gets failing grade
JEFF GRAY AND TIMOTHY APPLEBY

June 18, 2008

Plans to demolish a 94-year-old west-end school to make way for a new police station will face a challenge when city council meets next week, local politicians say, accusing colleagues who approved the project of sacrificing a heritage building to kowtow to the force.

The Toronto Police Service wants to level the former Carleton Village Public School on Davenport Road near Old Weston Road to create a $25.5-million new home for its cramped, fast-deteriorating 11 Division station.

Listing the First World War-era school as a heritage building and preserving substantial portions of its facade, as the Toronto Preservation Board wants, would cost an extra $6-million, the force says.

After hearing from Police Chief Bill Blair last week, the Etobicoke York community council agreed that almost all of the old building should be razed, while "selective demolition" would allow a few features - stone work, doorways, cornices - to be incorporated into the new one.

Print Edition - Section Front
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'When kids are sitting there scratching and they can't concentrate on their little test, it just breaks your heart'
Details would be worked out through an advisory group that would become part of the design committee.

"We would do the best we can to try and preserve some of the features of the old building," said Tony Veneziano, the TPS's chief administrative officer. "If that passes at city council, I think we're on our way."

Some councillors, however, are vowing to fight to secure the heritage listing.

Councillor Peter Milczyn (Ward 5, Etobicoke-Lakeshore), an architect, said the actions of his colleagues in Etobicoke and York were "embarrassing," and he termed the police force's cost estimates "very exaggerated."

The city cannot demand that private developers spend money on preserving heritage buildings while tearing down such buildings itself, he said.

"It was, I think, councillors tripping over themselves to be seen to be supporting the police. This is not a policing issue."

Mr. Blair disagrees. Retaining the building's three-storey structure would not only be expensive but would also produce an inefficient police workplace, he told last week's meeting.

Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), a member of the city's preservation board, said he too would resist plans to flatten the school. "This is a unique building. ... It's part of the heritage of the community."

A local residents group - some of whom were originally opposed to building a police station on the site at all - also wants at least part of the building preserved.

Liz Sweeting, who belongs to the residents committee lobbying on the school's behalf, said it belongs to an era when the city embarked on a school-building spree to improve areas it had recently annexed.

The building has classical architectural elements, she said, with entrances framed by attached columns made of limestone, built at a 55-degree angle to fit the odd intersection on which it sits.

"It's not some amazing architectural feat, but at the same time it has a lot of beauty," Ms. Sweeting said.

"It's an important part of the neighbourhood, and it fits in beautifully."