Monthly Archives: March 2015
DANIELS CORP., BUILDERS OF REGENT PARK, UNVEILS ‘CITY OF ARTS’ PROJECT FOR EASTERN WATERFRONT
A 1.3-million sq. ft. ‘City of the Arts’ will soon rise on TORONTO’s eastern waterfront. Developed by Daniels Corporation, the company that’s transforming Regent Park into a new community, the project is to be built in two phases. The south phase, nearest the lake, will include office space in two buildings, retail space at ground level, and a 150,000-square-foot Creative Industries Hub that will house a cluster of arts organizations.
Non-profit (and very active) arts development organization Artscape is moving into the complex, along with a talent management firm, an entertainment law firm, Manifesto (whose programs empower disadvantaged youth through arts and culture), and the Remix Project (a non-profit organization working with youth in the creative sector). Daniels Corporation plans to relocate here as well.
The second phase will consist of 900 apartment suites within two towers. One, named the Lighthouse Tower, will rise 48 storeys above the harbour. Sales will begin in the fall.
TOLLKEEPER’S COTTAGE MUSEUM (COMPLETE WITH WELCOMING CHICKEN), 750 DAVENPORT RD.
The Tollkeeper’s Cottage is located in Tollkeeper’s Park on Davenport Road. It’s Canada’s oldest tollhose. For more information and hours – http://www.tollkeeperscottage.ca
‘TORONTO THE GOOD’ AT NIGHT BY ROOFTOPPER & URBAN EXPLORER OSCAR FLORES
OSCAR FLORES is a TORONTO-based photographer, urban explorer and rooftopper. You can see much more of his work on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr and Instagram – https://twitter.com/416shots & http://416shots.tumblr.com/
FOUND UNDER A PARKING LOT, KING RICHARD III IS LAID TO REST IN LEICESTER CATHEDRAL
As the song goes, “we’ll all be lying equal in the grave”. This was proven true when the University of Leicester unearthed the skeleton of King Richard III in 2012. The last Plantagenet king of England had been lying under a parking lot for about 500 years. His remains were buried today, March 26, in Leicester Cathedral.
TORONTO is an old hand at digging up carparks and finding skeletons under them. No kings, but at least 11 skeletons (PHOTO BELOW) were found buried beneath the Don Jail carpark in 2007. Evidence shows they were prisoners sent to the gallows in the late 19th century. The old Don Jail, which opened in 1864, was the scene of more than 24 executions before the death penalty was abolished in 1976.
Below the asphalt of St. James Cathedral’s parking lot were several unmarked graves, and beneath the schoolyard of St. Paul’s Catholic School (adjacent to the Basilica of St. Paul’s) is an unmarked graveyard of victims of the Great Irish Famine.
TORONTO TRANSIT COMMISSION’S SUNDAY STOPS HAVE ALL DISAPPEARED
Harking back to an earlier time TORONTO’s Sunday transit stops, located near the city’s churches, are now things of the past. In an attempt to speed up service they were all removed.
WE’RE LOSING AN 1889 COACH HOUSE, BUT GAINING A 50,000 SQ. FT. HIV/AIDS HEALTH CARE FACILITY
CASEY HOUSE, corner of Huntley and Isabella Streets, was the first institution specializing in HIV/AIDS care in Canada. Founded in 1988, the hospital is named after Casey Frayne (who died young in a motorcycle accident).
His mother, the late journalist June Callwood, recognized a serious need and worked tirelessly to get Casey House off the ground.
To better cope with this ongoing disease, Casey House is now in the process of building a new, award-winning, health care centre. Scheduled to open in 2016, the centre will allow a doubling of its care capacity, and the introduction of a new Day Health Program, providing one-stop care and treatment from first infection to end-of-life care.
Unfortunately there isn’t enough room on the property for this beautiful old coach house <PHOTO ABOVE>. It’s being demolished. Fortunately the 1875 William R. Johnston mansion <PHOTO BELOW> fronting on Jarvis Street is being restored, and will be folded into the new hospital centre.
<GROUNDBREAKING for the new hospital, Monday, March 30/2015>
TORONTO IS NOW CANADA’S TRADING HUB FOR CHINESE CURRENCY – A BIG WIN FOR THE CITY
TORONTO and VANCOUVER were rivals in a two year competition to become Canada’s trading hub for the Renminbi (or Yuan), China’s currency. TORONTO, because of its prominent financial sector, won the contest.
Other cities around the globe including London, Frankfurt and Seoul are already offshore trading hubs, but Canada is the first in the Americas to be designated. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates that the hub could boost Canada’s exports to China by as much as $32-billion and cut Canadian importers‘ costs by as much as $2.75-billion over the next decade.
THE MATADOR CLUB, A GENUINE TORONTO HONKY TONK, IS ON ITS WAY BACK
They were going to turn it into a parking lot, but not anymore. The storied Matador Club, 466 Dovercourt Road, is making a comeback in 2015.
<PHOTO – R. Jeanette Martin/NOW magazine> This after-hours club, known locally as a “booze can”, was a go-to late night destination for musicians of all stripes including Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Joni Mitchell, Stompin’ Tom Connors and Leonard Cohen. Catherine O’Hara and Indiana Jones (aka Harrison Ford) paid a visit, as well as garden variety locals who wanted to stay up late, have a few drinks, do some dancin’ and party. There was live music every Friday and Saturday night from 1:30 until 5:30 am.
k.d. lang’s official video for “Turn Me Around” (1987) features the Matador sign and street frontage as well as long shots of the stage and its dusty cowboy boots.
Founded in 1964 by ANN DUNN, the after-hours dance venue was shut down in 2007. Present-day owner PAUL McCAUGHEY will keep the hallmark sign and restore the century-old building into “a high-end, mature and elegant music/event space.”
Leonard Cohen’s 1992 music video “Closing Time” was – in a way – a love song to The Club Matador.
Ah we’re drinking and we’re dancing
and the band is really happening
and the Johnny Walker wisdom running high
And my very sweet companion
she’s the Angel of Compassion
she’s rubbing half the world against her thigh
And every drinker every dancer
lifts a happy face to thank her
the fiddler fiddles something so sublime
all the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it’s partner found, it’s partner lost
and it’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it’s CLOSING TIMEYeah the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it’s partner found, it’s partner lost
and it’s hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it’s CLOSING TIMEAh we’re lonely, we’re romantic
and the cider’s laced with acid
and the Holy Spirit’s crying, “Where’s the beef?”
And the moon is swimming naked
and the summer night is fragrant
with a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
down the snakes and up the ladder
to the tower where the blessed hours chime
and I swear it happened just like this:
a sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
the Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can’t say much has happened since
but CLOSING TIME
<PARTIAL LYRICS “CLOSING TIME” – Writer(s): Leonard Cohen
Copyright: Sony/ATV Songs LLC, Stranger Music Inc.>
MAYOR TORY: “(I DID NOT FALL) OFF SOME TURNIP TRUCK PULLING INTO DOWNTOWN TORONTO.”
Mayor JOHN TORY has drawn the proverbial line in the sand. He will not help former city councillor DOUG FORD raise any money to pay off his campaign debts. Mr. Tory made it clear that Ford’s attack ads during last fall’s election campaign offended him deeply, and he’d be nuts to “raise money which would finance, in effect, quite directly the running of ads that called into question my character.” In the past the Mayor has helped several former rivals for the mayor’s chair – David Miller, David Soknacki, Jane Pitfield, and even Rob Ford (Doug’s notorious brother). But Doug Ford’s personal attacks crossed the line.
“I think people would call into question whether I was thinking straight if I went out and helped raise money to pay off a debt incurred to run ads to attack me over and over again, all day – most of the money was spent on that,” said the Mayor.
Toronto Savvy 