This week’s image: at long last, construction has started on the restoration of 502 - 508 Parliament Street.
CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBOURHOOD REVIEW
FEATURED LOCAL ARTIST
Julie Amlin
Forager 2020
“This piece speaks to the current circumstances of feeling isolated in an unfamiliar emotional wilderness - holding tightly to hope while traversing a wild and unchartered terrain.”
LOCAL NEWS
The purple and green Toronto Community Housing rooming houses have been transferred to Dixon Hall. They’re now being repaired and rebuilt. Heritage values are a priority for the exterior work. The paint will be removed and the brick, woodwork, windows, doors and porches will be restored. Interior work will begin in the summer. Tenants will return in early 2022. For a very long time, these buildings have been an eyesore. Now, they’ll be a lovely addition to this part of Parliament Street while still providing affordable housing.
502 to 508 Parliament
The missing goat
Juniper, the tiny Nubian goat stolen from Riverdale Farm overnight on May 5 or 6, is still missing. A $1,500 reward is offered for her return - $1,000 from a Kawartha Lakes resident Michael McCallum and $500 more from an anonymous source. Please contact Toronto Police at (416) 808-5104 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (416) 222-TIPS (8477), online or on Facebook, or by texting TOR and a message to CRIMES (274637).
Submissions for the Cabbagetown Short Film Festival
Submissions are now being received for the 2021 Festival. Films need not be premieres or made in the year of the Festival. Maximum length - 15 minutes, 5 to 7 minutes preferred. Non-English language films must have subtitles. No entry fee. Cash awards are given. Submit your entry before July 15 - online here.
Winchester School sign
A small sign stands in the children’s garden at Winchester School (Ontario and Winchester). Prepared by Catherine Tammaro and the kids from the school, it contains the symbols and the world view of many Indigenous people including the turtle, the sun and moon and the eagle feather. Green Thumbs Growing Kids established the garden - it’s one of three school gardens that the group operates. The blog on its new website explains these symbols and their relevance for the garden.
CafeTO
The City of Toronto in cooperation with the Cabbagetown BIA is blocking off sections of Parliament, Carlton and Amelia for summer use by restaurant patios. Obviously, this won’t happen until the COVID lockdowns are eased to allow outdoor dining. Ten restaurants have joined the project.
Streetscapes in Bloom
This annual gardening contest is now open. The Cabbagetown Preservation Association collects nominees for this award every Spring and then checks them out throughout the summer. In the autumn, a winner is announced. See the details online here and nominate a garden that you like before May 30.
New art in Corktown
Waterfront Toronto wants to sponsor new Indigenous art on the small triangular boulevard at King, Queen and River (opposite the Humane Society). It’s running a survey to gather public opinions that will help to guide the final choices. Click here to see the details and to answer the survey.
Rebuilding the Lower Don Trail
During the rest of 2021, work will be done on surface trail widening and repairs, a new ramp at the Riverdale Park bridge and new stairs at Dundas Street. A detour around this construction will take cyclists onto a temporary two-way trail along Bayview.
ActiveTO - rerouting Bayview Avenue
New bike and pedestrian lanes on Bayview Avenue from Rosedale Valley Road south to Lawren Harris Square in the Canary District will bypass the construction on the Lower Don Trail. Additional bike lanes will continue from there to Mill Street. These are temporary changes. Cars will be limited to one-way southbound traffic on Bayview along this route. River Street (from Spruce to Bayview) and Lake Shore (east bound lanes from Leslie to Woodbine and from Stadium Road to Windemere) will close to motor vehicles on weekends from 6 am on Saturday to 9 pm on Sunday to allow safe wide routes for biking. (Photo: Robin Pueyo)
Foundry progress report
The demolition company hired by the Ontario government has left the site. This is obviously a temporary withdrawal but an encouraging one. By Thursday May 13, 23,237 people had signed the petition to stop the Foundry demolition and $33,016 had been donated to the Legal Defence Fund. The links for the petition and online donations are here.
Lookin’ good
Here’s another great photo - Gwen with her rescue pup Prudence. They’re both obviously lucky to have each other. (Photo: Jo Jock)
Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum Historical Tidbit
Canada’s first professional archaeologist, David Boyle, was a great proponent of educating women. It’s no surprise that his daughter, Susanna Boyle, was encouraged to become a doctor and pursue a professional career. She lived with her father at 316 Berkeley Street in the late 1800s. She graduated from the nearby Woman’s Medical College in 1890. She then joined its teaching staff as a demonstrator in anatomy and histology. She also became active in its Dispensary for Women providing poor and working-class women free health services and offering female doctors practical clinical experience. It eventually became Women’s College Hospital. She pursued her medical career on a part-time basis, especially after marrying a Pennsylvania physician, Arthur S. Hamilton, and moving to Minneapolis. This choice distressed her proto-feminist father. Susanna Boyle’s scientific prominence, however, owed more to archaeology than medicine. She helped her father with some of his work, translated Italian archaeological papers and contributed her own work on craniology (study of the skull). For these activities she has been designated Canada’s first female physical anthropologist. (Image: Susanna Boyle, University of Guelph) For more Cabbagetown history, photos and videos visit the CRPM Facebook page.
by Sally Gibson
COMING EVENTS
Speaker’s Corner with David Crombie
CPA Annual Meeting
The Cabbagetown Preservation Association’s annual meeting happens on Monday May 31 at 7 pm. It’ll be a Zoom event - save the date. The business meeting will be followed by two special events. First, a Cabbagetown home will receive the Peggy Kurtin Award for Excellence in Restoration. Then Gilles Huot will present Cabbagetown through Time, a 30-minute talk with photos and maps. For more info and to register, click here.
Farmer’s Markets
Tuesday June 1 is still the target date for the opening of the Cabbagetown Farmer’s Market (Sumach and Winchester). Thursday June 3 is the target for Underpass Market (29 Lower River Street) in Corktown. Both Markets are all ready to go as soon as a green light happens. Provincial guidelines are changing and announcements that affect the Markets are still being rolled out, so these dates may change.
CPA plant swap
The 2021 swap was scheduled for Sunday May 17. Unfortunately, it’s been cancelled.
IN THE MEDIA
Food security in Regent Park
Another Port Lands bridge
The second bridge for the new Port Lands has reached Toronto from Dartmouth Nova Scotia. There’ll be a pair of these bridges joining Commissioner Street and the Don Roadway - the other one will get here later in the Spring. On Wednesday, David Rider did a Toronto Star story describing it and its voyage to the city. For more pictures and a detailed description of its trip, read the Waterfront Toronto Facebook page. (Photo: Waterfront Toronto).
YOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS
Michael Grant and Michael O’Brien have just listed this home - a great condo alternative. Check out the details online. Michael & Michael, Bosley Real Estate, (416) 465-7527
Piano needs a good home
Rosalind has a lovely Nordheimer by Heintzman upright piano that she wants to give - free of charge - to a good home. Call 416-934-0542 or email her.
252B Berkeley
BUSINESS NEWS
Welcome to The Frame Maker
Congrats Blooming Flower Bar
Blooming Flower Bar (194A Carlton) is one of nine Toronto florists highlighted in Toronto Life last week. Anji says, “Our flower bunches were planned as daily low-cost Instagram-only specials for Cabbagetown residents, but they’ve become extremely popular for people all over the city. So we’ve just added them as a weekly subscription.” (Photo: Maliha Qureshi, Toronto Life).
Fresh Ontario produce
Fresh Ontario asparagus and rhubarb are both available at St Jamestown Steak & Chops (516 Parliament). It’s the start of the amazing spring and summer season.
Furniture Clearance Sale
Tired of your old sofa or armchair? Kendall & Co (514 Parliament) is having a clearance sale of selected Canadian-made floor model furniture to make way for new styles. Enjoy these savings now. Shop online to browse all the deals. The shop is open for virtual appointments to assist with your plans for new furniture, reupholstery, rugs, drapery, window shades and wallpaper. Noon to 5 pm weekdays during current lockdown. Curbside pick up or delivery available. (416) 363-9914 and email.
RESTAURANT NEWS
The new people at Peartree
BBQ special this weekend at Stout
From Friday May 14 to Sunday May 16, Stout Irish Pub (221 Carlton) is offering a NY sirloin along with a Cajun dusted pork chop and jerk rubbed chicken breast with grilled corn on the cob, baked beans and a potato salad for $45. Add a bottle of red wine for $25. Available for takeout (647) 344-7676 or email to Madeleine.
Congrats to Cherry Street Bar-B-Que
The Cherry Street Bar-B-Que (275 Cherry) is listed as #1 among Toronto’s nine best barbeque restaurants by blogTO. Read the review here. (Photo: Jesse Milns, blogTO).
Testing at Paintbox
Paintbox (555 Dundas E) is the first Toronto workplace to use the Covid Rapid Test device. Employees are tested on a rotating basis and temperatures are taken daily. This makes sure that both the employees and the customers are safe and healthy.
Ice cream in Regent Park
The Lansdowne Cone opens for the season at 555 Dundas East on Friday. Look fo the convenient streetside window. Monday to Friday from 3 to 10 pm and weekends from 11 am to 11 pm. Thanks to Victoria Hadden for this alert - ice cream addicts everywhere are grateful!
Cyril remembers a trip to a Belgian beach
He’s offering Waterzooi - a creamy soup, made with chicken, a few simple vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots and celery) and a "bouquet garni". Its unique quality is its use of a liaison, a mixture of cream, egg yolk and cornstarch that enriches the dish and gives it a rather silky texture. 3 to 9 cups at $4/cup and 10 or more cups at $3.50/cup. His juice is orange pomegranate - 2 cups for $9. Order by email to him.
CONTACT INFO
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