Got out there today on the bike and was sorry to see that no work has been done since my last visit a couple of years ago. There also seems to have been no action on the Designation noted in the Report to the Planning Committee noted above.2020 Toronto Heritage Grant Awards Grant of $33,000 towards this work is up for approval at the Planning Committee on June 15.
As many community members know, the project was initially planned to take place in Summer 2020. However, due to the pandemic the project has been postponed. The current plan is to start restoration in Spring 2021, with programming and events to take place Summer 2021. Circumstances are changing daily, and as such plans will adjust as needed depending on the pandemic and Public Health Guidelines. We appreciate everyone’s understanding, support, and continued interest in this project; we want to assure you that the revitalization is still well underway, just delayed.
If approved by City council, as expected on Oct. 1, the designation will help protect the Oculus against the wrecker’s ball.
The pavilion narrowly avoided this fate in 2016.
It got a boost in 2019, when the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO), a charitable non-profit organization, and Giaimo, a Toronto-based architecture firm, proposed a rehabilitation project, using a $36,000 grant from Park People’s Public Space Incubator. The incubator is funded by the Balsam Foundation and Ken and Eti Greenberg. The project also had additional sponsors. https://parkpeople.ca/opportunity/public-space-incubator-2019/
The budget for rehabilitation was $90,000, including a City of Toronto heritage grant of $33,000, conditional on the structure being designated a heritage building.
The work was originally scheduled to be done in 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic.
This year, the exterior of the pavilion was cleaned and repainted, the flagstone refurbished, and new benches were placed at the site. The bathrooms were not part of the project and remain closed.
To encourage visitors and keep the site in the public eye, Stephanie Mah, vice-president of ACO Toronto, is working on developing programming for it.
“Cleaning it alone doesn’t ensure that it won’t become derelict again,” said Mah.
An exhibit offers self-guided tours and doubles as public art.
Walking tours are scheduled for the fall.
Musicians, attracted by the site’s impressive acoustics, have begun practising there.
PH26.12 | ACTION | | | Ward: 3 |
85 Stephen Drive (The Oculus) - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property Under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act |
Origin |
(August 25, 2021) Report from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning |
Recommendations |
The Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, recommends that: 1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 85 Stephen Drive (including entrance addresses at 75 High Street and 120 The Queensway) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 85 Stephen Drive (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (August 24, 2021) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning. 2. If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. |
Summary |
This report recommends that City Council include the property at 85 Stephen Drive (including entrance addresses at 75 High Street and 120 The Queensway) on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register, state its intention to designate the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value for its design and physical, historical and associative, and contextual values. The property at 85 Stephen Drive (including entrance addresses at 75 High Street and 120 The Queensway) is located within the South Humber Park, north of the Humber River Recreational Trail. It is bordered by the Humber River to the east, Stonegate Road to the north, Stephen Drive to the west, and The Queensway and the Humber Wastewater Treatment Plant to the south. Known as the South Humber Park Pavilion or "the Oculus," the purpose-built structure was designed in 1958-9 for visitors to the new South Humber Park and was set within the park's expansive picturesque landscape. The park was created in tandem with the adjacent Humber Wastewater Treatment Plant development and as part of citywide activity related to the flood control of ravines and valley lands after the destruction of Hurricane Hazel in 1954. The city-owned pavilion was designed by the architect Alan Crossley in collaboration with the engineer Laurence George Cazaly. The South Humber Park Pavilion contains three separate but conceptually linked elements which form a singular structure: a trapezoidal ground plane of flagstone pavers, a concrete shelter structure with an oculus to allow sunlight to penetrate, and a rounded washroom building that is faced in stone of varied sizes. The South Humber Park Pavilion is a local landmark, and running south of the structure is the Humber River Recreational Trail, which was installed in the 1980s and increased access to the pavilion. There was also a cairn stone drinking fountain to the side (west) of the structure, which has been removed. In 2019, The Oculus Revitalization Project, led by Giaimo and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO) – Toronto (ACO TO), was selected as one of the recipients for Park People's Public Space Incubator Grant (PSI). The grants will be used to transform the South Humber Park Pavilion into a community gathering space including temporary public art installation titled Brighter Days Ahead was installed in October 2020. Additionally City Council awarded a Toronto heritage grant $33,000.00 to the ACO – Toronto (ACO TO) to assist with the pavilion's restoration in 2021 with the condition that the pavilion be designated under Part IV Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in keeping with grant award requirements. Since the Oculus is a City of Toronto asset, ACO TO and Giaimo have been working closely with Parks, Forestry, and Recreation and Heritage Planning staff throughout the entire project. A related exhibition opened on August 3, 2021. Following research and evaluation undertaken according to Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for municipal designation, it has been determined that the property at 85 Stephen Drive merits designation under Part IV Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its design and physical, historical and associative, and contextual value. Properties on the Heritage Register will be conserved and maintained in accordance with the Official Plan Heritage Policies. |
Umm, slow reply from me, but yes, well, one of the pavilion but mostly of some interpretive plaques that I think should have stayed in some form. These were all taken back on October 2, 2021. Here they are for posterity's sake:Anyone have better pics?