The Annex Residents' Association
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Community Response
Unit:
West of Spadina, Division
14 call: 416-808-1400 Constables Chalmers and Reynes
East of
Spadina, Division 53
call: 416-808-5319 Constables Bourgeois and Buchholz
Read the minutes of the May 2010 Board meeting.
Click here for the April 2010 Voice of the Annex
Next Board Meeting
September 16, 2010
Annex
Retirement Residence
123 Spadina Road
7:30 p.m. - All Welcome
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TREES
OF THE ANNEX
An educational tour of the special trees
of the Annex
Saturday, July
17th, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Rain or shine
An ARA
initiative co-sponsored by LEAF.
Join Marc Willoughby, landscape architect, certified arborist and
Laurent Brown from LEAF as we explore the historic and newly planted
trees in the Annex. Meet in Taddle Creek Park and head west to observe historic trees and highlight ongoing efforts to restore and
improve bio-diversity in our community.
To register:
Free for ARA members,
$10 for non-members
space
permitting, please send an email to:
louis.florence@utoronto.ca
with names and number of people who will be attending. Space is
limited so respond early! _________________
Jane's Walk
Sandra Shaul (right) and Bobbi Speck
Jane's Walk entitled The Annex and Community Activism
on May 2 & 3 2009 was a smashing success!
Over 50 people joined
Sandra Shaul, chair of the Annex Residents’ Association Heritage
Committee, for a walk through a special part of the East Annex and visited
the places and met the people that contribute to the character of this
neighbourhood
The Annex neighbourhood of Toronto originated in the late 1880s as the
City’s first planned urban suburb. It is home to a unique architectural
style, small urban parks that are maintained by local residents, and
neighbourhood pubs, restaurants and other small businesses that are
popular with residents throughout the city. It is also home to Toronto’s
oldest and one of city’s most active residents’ associations. .
Read Bobbi Speck's
story, the Annex leader of the fight against the Spadina Expressway,
who organized our efforts with Jane Jacobs and many others. The group
walked along Madison Avenue, the other
potential victim of the proposed expressway, to see its unique
architecture, and learned how it has been so well preserved through
adaptive re-use. While touring the streets, the group met
Ecology Park volunteers, during their spring clean up, and learned about
the origins of the park, an Annex Residents’ Association project.
The last stretch of the tour was along Bloor to see the contrasting
architecture of our past and present, including the site of One Bedford (Bloor and
Bedford), the condo tower development, which once again raised questions
about how planning is carried out in our city. The tour
concluded by heading north on Bedford to see Taddle Creek Park, another Annex
Residents’ Association project, and then headed east along Prince Arthur,
to numbers 10 and 14, where activism in the Annex began, and is focused
again. Participants then had the perfect
opportunity to have lunch in the neighbourhood and to visit the ROM,
Gardiner Museum, and Bata Shoe Museum.
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Projects
to preserve the distinctive character of our neighbourhood the ARA
is undertaking and participating in are:
- A Bloor-Corridor Visioning study for the area bounded by Avenue Road, Dupont, Bathurst and Bloor and the areas immediately south of Bloor, in cooperation with our fellow residents’ and business associations and cultural and educational institutions. The study will look at assets such as parks, schools, public transit, parking, and built form so that our heritage can be recognized and intensification in our area can be rationally planned; For more information, please email Robert Brown.
- an Annex-wide Heritage Conservation District study of our most important continuous streetscapes;
- upgrading our limited parks and producing an open space and parks study and strategy
Join us to learn what we have done, what we want to do, and how you can play a role
All are welcome (owners, residents’ tenants, students, and business operators).
News and Updates
Residents can now track the progress of major development applications on the City’s website at www.toronto.ca/planning/developmentapplications
- Read about Annex planning issues.
- Primarily through Section 37 and Section 45 funds, plans are shaped for the improvement of several Annex parks. Find out how to get involved.
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Ecology Park
Saturday mornings 9.00 to 11.00 am. All welcome! All equipment provided! You can find Ecology Park on Madison Avenue, west side just north of Bloor. Ecology Park
map. Come celebrate the re-opening of Gwendolyn MacEwen Park Date: Wednesday July 21st Time: 12:00pm Location: Gwendolyn MacEwen Park (Walmer Road Circle, Lowther Avenue and Walmer Road)
Join us to celebrate the
recently redesigned Gwendolyn MacEwen Park, a unique
community green space in the heart of the Annex. This small
neighbourhood park has been both beautified and enlarged by
reclaiming a portion of the road that surrounds it. Hear
from local residents who contributed to the redesign of the
park and learn more about the park's namesake, the late
Gwendolyn MacEwen.
In honour of the renowned
poet after which the park was named in 1996, local novelist
and playwright Claudia Dey will read one of Gwendolyn
MacEwen's poems. Claudia wrote a play about the life of
Gwendolyn MacEwen, The Gwendolyn Poems,
which was nominated for the 2002 Governor General's Award
and the Trillium Book Award.
Please rsvp to
councillor_vaughan@toronto.ca or by calling
416.392.4044.
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Read about the East Annex Heritage Conservation District Study at http://www.toronto.ca/heritage-preservation/hcd_east_annex.htm Want to help?
Volunteers with specialized skills needed for:
Are you interested?
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