Welcome to Harbord Village
See you at the annual spring meeting!
New location, same great meeting
WHEN: Tuesday, 15 May, 2012, 6:30pm
WHERE: Kensington Gardens (45 Brunswick Avenue)
Because of the overwhelming turnout at both our 2011 spring and fall meetings, we have moved our 2012 spring meeting to the Multi-Purpose Room at 45 Brunswick. This is at the south end of the NORTH BLOCK of Kensington Gardens’ two main buildings.
AGENDA
6:30 – 7:00 |
Meet, greet, catch up on your membership dues |
7:00 – 7:30 |
Area caucuses (for each of the five areas of Harbord Village) |
7:30 – 8:00 |
Activity reports on graffiti removal, heritage preservation, neighbourhood history, spring clean-up, yard sale, and more |
8:00 – 8:30 |
Gwyneth Pearce on researching the history of our houses |
Councillor Adam Vaughan on noisy bars and rooming houses |
Our main presentation on May 15 will be “Travels through time: Harbord Village in years gone by.” Ever wondered how long your home has been standing? Or who first lived in it? Or what your street looked like generations ago? HVRA resident Gwyneth Pearce will offer a short illustrated introduction to some of the key resources – in archives and online – that we can use to piece together the history of our homes and our neighbourhood. We hope to see you at our new location on May 15.
Also on display:
The winners and neighbourhood choices of last year's Brunswick-College Parkette Design Competition have been evaluated in terms of aesthetics and practicality and condensed into three draft designs by PMA Landscape Architects (in consultation with Kensington Health Centre, City Parks and HVRA.) These designs will be displayed for neighbourhood discussion and comment at the HVRA spring general meeting. Please join us, so you can give your verdicts and suggestions. For more information on the competition please see our Parkette Design Competition webpage here.
January 19, 2012
Read Globe & Mail memorial here:
His approach to therapy was used to empty Ontario's psychiatric hospitals
'Remotivation' techniques helped long-term patients cope in the real world, but innovator later came to see the limitations (link)
Cyril Greenland, R.I.P.
On New Year’s Day, Cyril Greenland, a valued member of our community, succumbed to cancer. Since Cyril and his wife Jane moved on to lower Brunswick in 1967, Cyril has been a power for good amongst us. Among many positive contributions, his was a voice of reason in disputes, the soul of discretion in keeping confidences, indefatigable in making peace, an exemplar of good humour and grace under pressure, a striver for the betterment of his community, and a fearless advocate for the homeless and less fortunate among us. In short, Cyril was a rational voice espousing community values for his entire time amongst us. He will be sorely missed.
On behalf of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association, we offer our deepest condolences to the Greenland family.
In keeping with Cyril’s wishes, there will be no funeral service. The Greenland family wishes to acknowledge the staff of Kensington Hospice for their exemplary care. They invite friends who may wish to make a memorial donation to consider the Kensington Foundation, 340 College Street, Suite 220B, Toronto M5T 3A8.
Tim Grant & Rory Gus Sinclair
HVRA announces jury recommendations for laneway names
Laneway committee chairman Gus Sinclair unveiled the results of our laneway naming process at the AGM in October.
Three lanes in HV were named last year after three well-loved neighbourhood families.
After laneway walkabouts with neighbours and preliminary consultations with local residents, the HVRA struck a laneway jury to consider the hundreds of suggestions for the remaining 23. Their suggestions are now unveiled, and their recommendations will go to City Council for review.
Click here for more details on the HV Jury's choices for names for Harbord Village laneways
Our best Fall Fair ever!
Sunday, September 11, 2011 at Margaret Fairly Park
Great photos!
See our Fall Fair webpage here.
4th Annual Harbord Street Pumpkin Festival — a wonderful night to remember
Photo: Wendy Smith
See this year's Pumpkin Fest photos on the fest webpage.
A hearty thanks to the 50+ volunteers who donated their time to make our 4th Annual Harbord Street Pumpkin Festival a big success. Thanks too to the Harbord Street Business Improvement Association for their continued support.
Once again thousands of people came out on November 1st to view over 700 candle-lit pumpkins that festooned tables along 4 blocks of Harbord, west of Spadina. During the Festival, the Harbord Bakery gave away Halloween cookies. The Boulevard Café provided free samples of a quinoa-pumpkin dessert. DT Bistro handed out cotton candy, and donated 300 cupcakes which HVRA distributed along with hot cider at our gathering place at 85 Harbord. Meanwhile, bids were placed fast and furiously on dozens of silent auction items inside 85 Harbord in support of the Saturday afternoon community swims at Central Technical School. Along with warm Fall weather, it was a wonderful night to remember.
Tim Grant, HVRA Chair
Winners of the Brunswick-College Parkette Design Competition
announced at HVRA AGM
October 18, 2011
Harbord Village Residents’ Association is extremely grateful for the magnificent response to the Brunswick-College Parkette Design Competition, which was launched on January 1st 2011.
On May 1st, 2011, 27 entries from eight countries were judged — by a panel of five landscape professionals and by members of the Harbord Village community. Since every entry was stunningly beautiful, highly imaginative and well adapted to the parkette’s difficult urban and social environment, judging was extremely difficult. Nevertheless five winners were chosen, three by our judges and two by the community.
You can see the WINNERS here
and all SUBMISSIONS here.
Now the difficult part begins: turning these dreams into reality. In spite of today’s difficult economic times – which we know our submitter architects must be all too aware of – we anticipate that transformation beginning soon.
Tim Grant returns as HVRA Chair
Tim Grant returns as HVRA Chair
With thanks to pro tem Chair
Gus (Rory) Sinclair
Several months ago — after a year and several months as our outstanding HVRA Chair & President — Tim Grant stepped down to take a run for the Ontario Green Party in our riding of Trinity Spadina.
We congratulate him on his effort and offer sympathy for his defeat by NDP incumbent Rosario Marchese, but are delighted at his return to the chair, following his acclamation at our AGM election in mid-October.
Tim is a long-time member of the HVRA and a dedicated environmentalist and teacher. Over the years, he led numerous tree-planting activities, including a detailed inventory of the Harbord Village’s 4000 trees.
In 2007-2008 he co-chaired the Downtown West Solar Energy Project that enabled 65 Trinity-Spadina households to add solar panels to their rooftops.
Tim continues to co-chair Tower Power Toronto, an organization that helps those in over 250 condo and co-op residential buildings green their operations. (He would hasten to add that none of these involvements would have occurred without the active participation of a great many others!)
A former high school teacher, Tim has been the co-editor of Green Teacher magazine for the past 20 years. During this time, he has co-edited six books and given hundreds of presentations around the world on how best to educate young people about the environment.
He was a founding member of Energy Educators of Ontario, the Ontario Environment Network, Environmental Education Ontario, and for many years the Vice-Chair of EECOM, the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication.
We thank Gus for stepping in for several months to fill the vacancy pro tem. He remains on the board as our Past-President.
NEW!! Our 12th edition of the Harbord Village Directory for Conservators and Restorers of Heritage Properties was released on October 18, 2011.
The Harbord Village Directory for Conservators and Restorers of Heritage Properties is a 52-page booklet that answers this question with respect to every one of a building's street visible elements, from the chimney top to the garden fence (with roofs, windows, 
doors, porches, railings and paint colours in between).
The Directory also gives advice to those who would restore their interiors and to those who would recreate Victorian gardens in front of their homes. You need to replace an original Victorian door or window repair a piece of stained glass, turn a wood column or know how to discover the original paint colour of your house? The Directory will tell you how to do it yourself or how to find the expert who can do it for you — and much more.
You can download a PDF file of the Directory by clicking here.
If you prefer a printed copy of the directory — along with a free heritage paint colour chart — you can purchase it direct at HVRA meetings or our Fall Fair, for just $5/copy.
By mail order please send $8 to:
Richard Longley
68 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, ON M5S 2L7
416-961-2766
Back in the Swim at Central Tech High School
Saturday afternoon Public swim time returns!
We are pleased to announce that the community swim is back in action as of the 29th of October at 2 p.m
WHEN: Every Saturday afternoon as of October 29, from 2 pm to 4 pm
WHERE: Central Technical High School pool at Lennox and Lippincott Streets
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Recreational swim space as well as lane swimming available
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Certified lifeguards on duty at all times
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In order to continue funding the program, a two dollar per adult donation, and a loonie donation per child is appreciated at the door
Please note that we have had to increase the donation fee a bit and hope that you will all understand.
For more info regarding the community swim at Central Tech contact us at centraltechpool@gmail.com
We look forward to seeing you at the pool!
Our very best to all of you that have supported our program.
Fernanda and Susan at the CTS Pool
Margaret Fairley Park revitalization
Councillor Adam Vaughan has secured developers’ funds to improve Margaret Fairley Park and invited community participation in the process. The Friends of Margaret Fairley Park Steering Committee is leading our community’s involvement in the revitalization project.
photo: Mindy Stricke Photography
The group held a Brainstorming Fair on February 13 to gather ideas, and invited further input through a web-based survey. A small grant from HVRA supported the hiring of writer and park Friend Jessica Humphreys to weave the various ideas together and author a design brief that clearly captures the community’s vision for the park.
The design brief was submitted to project manager Bob Duguid, City of Toronto Parks Department, on March 29. It forms a major component of the Request for Quotations document that is currently being sent to select landscape architecture firms to bid on the project.
According to the terms of the RFQ, the Friends of Margaret Fairley Park will be represented on the project working group along with Rebecca Hewitt from Councillor Vaughan’s office. Three community consultation events will be held over the summer of 2011 and the final design for the park should be ready in the fall. Construction is expected to take place either in mid-to-late fall (definitely after the HVRA Fall Fair!) or early in the spring of 2012.
Everyone is welcome to contribute to the process. To stay up to date, read the design brief or get in touch, please see the Friends of Margaret Fairley Park blog at: http://margaretfairleypark.blogspot.com
or email fmfpark@gmail.com.
The Aura Lee Field: Community Consultation and Survey
The Aura Lee Playing Field and Athletic Facility, Also known as the Robert Street Field, has had an interesting history involving land trades with the city, shared usage, and many stakeholders.
When our community was built before and after the turn of the 20th century, there was housing on the east side of Robert all the way north to Bloor. These houses came down in the 1950s to make way for a playing field and athletic facility for the University of Toronto. Why? Because the University owned an athletic facility between Yonge and Avenue Road just north of Davenport that the City wanted to consolidate into what became Ramsden Park. That facility was the Aura Lea Field and the name was officially applied to the new field on Robert Street.
photo: Google 2011
For the next 40 years, the rink, tennis courts and the field were operated and maintained by the City in exchange for shared use by the community and the University. In 1998, the cooling plant for the rink finally failed after numerous patch-ups. There were tentative discussions about renovating the rink alone and later revitalizing the field with a smaller rink and an artificial-turf field-hockey pitch. These ideas all foundered.
Today, the University is analyzing how it can serve anticipated numbers of University students, faculty, and other staff, with a view to taking over the next 3-5 years. The university has asked for the input of the community as to how these properties in our neighbourhood might be developed and configured, and how they could be shared. University representatives are aware of the importance of community support for their initiatives, and community members are appreciate of the opportunity to share the use of university property.
To that end, HVRA instituted one of the most ambitious community consultations it has undertaken. A steering committee was struck: Rene Roy and Wendy Rotenberg – residents of Robert north of Harbord – and Gus Sinclair, then past Chair of HVRA. A survey was devised with the able assistance of Richard Gilbert. To ensure that all residents of HV could participate in the survey, flyers were sent to every HVRA household inviting participation using an on-line or paper version of the survey.
We had an outstanding response. Almost 250 HVRA residents completed the survey.
Richard Gilbert analyzed the numerical aspects of the survey results including the responses to the survey’s six multiple-choice questions. Richard’s report is here.
Angie Andreoli summarized the responses to the one open-ended question in the survey. (Some respondents wrote pages!) Angie’s report is here.
Rory ‘Gus’ Sinclair
Chair pro tem HVRA
New on our website! a webpage dedicated to our Community Builder Award Winners.
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Each year we recognize those who have made outstanding contributions in three categories: Community Builder, Front Yard Garden and Heritage Restoration. Visit our new Award Winners webpage to see the amazing collection of individuals and homeowners who have made wonderful contributions to our neighbourhood. Harbord Village is a much better place for their efforts. |
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The Bloor Borden Farmers' Market has wrapped up for the winter
We look forward to seeing you again in June, 2012!
Photo Wendy Smith: Bloor Borden Farmers Market August, 2010
The market is made possible by many organizations and depends on community volunteers from three residents' associations, including the HVRA.
MyMarket, a certified Farmers' Market featuring real farmers selling only what they produce, opens its stalls each Wednesday, from June to October — from 3 to 7 pm — at the same location in the Borden Street parking lot south of Bloor. For more information, see our Farmers Market webpage.
VOLUNTEERING WITH OUR FARMER'S MARKET
It's never too late to volunteer. The market is dependent on community volunteers from residents' associations including HVRA. Please email Terri at bloorbordenmarket@gmail.com to learn about ways you can help.
Find your tree!
Our Google Earth map will show you your street, your house, your tree — and the entire Harbord Village canopy.
Check it out on our Harbord Village Trees Inventory webpage.
Reading recommendation from the HV Tree Committee:
Here's a timely article about tree care from the Fine Gardening website: What's Wrong with That Tree?
Neighbourhood News
Phase 2: Harbord Village Heritage Conservation District Plan
January, 2010
HVRA is pleased to announce that City Council has approved and is enacting a bylaw to put into effect the Phase 2 Plan, which includes 239 residential properties in three areas:
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The east and west sides of Robert Street from College to Bloor
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The south side of Sussex Avenue from Spadina to Robert Street
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The north side of Russell Street from Spadina Crescent to Robert Street and the west side of Spadina Crescent and Avenue from Russell Street to Willcocks Street
This phase complements the Phase 1 project previously approved, which included properties on Willcocks Street, Brunswick Street, and a small number of properties on Robert and Spadina providing entry to Willcocks Street.
Thanks to all the people in the neighbourhood for their support in this endeavour, and to the volunteers who worked at the archives and libraries. The history and descriptions of all properties in Phase 2 has been compiled in the inventory, and this information will be communicated to property owners.
The committee, along with all the volunteers, are eager to organize the commemoration of this great achievement.
Congratulations to all.
For more information on the Harbord Village Heritage Conservation Districts, please visit our Heritage Preservation webpage here.
Above: Barton Cottages on Robert Street,
included in the Phase 2 Harbord Village Heritage Conservation District Plan
