1. Built Heritage and Toronto’s Radical Past Tyler Wentzell
Cover Page,
My recent book, Not for King or Country: Edward Cecil-Smith, the Communist Party of Canada, and the Spanish Civil War (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020), follows Cecil-Smith from his childhood as a missionary kid in China, to his adolescence in Toronto and on to the battlefields of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The book has to cover a lot of ground – geographically and thematically – because of the wide range of Cecil-Smith’s political, literary, and military exploits, but readers of Built Heritage News will perhaps be most interested in the buildings in which some of this radical history played out.
The book includes a detailed map of Toronto and the locations of note, but here I would simply like to highlight a few of the buildings that remain today where interesting and often forgotten events took place.
City Hall Courthouse: In the summer of 1931, police across Canada rounded up the leadership of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC). They were charged with a war-time law that prohibited being part of an organization that sought to overthrow the government. The November conviction effectively determined that it was illegal to be a member of the CPC, or to attend its meetings or possess its literature. The trial – the only one of its kind in the English-speaking world – was held in the City Hall Courthouse at Bay and Queen. Cecil-Smith covered the trial as a reporter.
Standard Theatre: Opened in 1922 at the northeast corner of Dundas and Spadina, the Standard Theatre often rented out its hall to communists and anarchists of all kinds. Anarchist Emma Goldman spoke there, and it hosted the Trotskyists’ inaugural rally. In 1929, Toronto police used tear gas inside the theatre (the first time in Canada) to disperse a crowd gathered to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Lenin’s death. In 1933, it hosted a play called Eight Men Speak in support of the imprisoned CPC leaders. Cecil-Smith was one of the writers, performers, and organizers of the play. Despite plans to go on tour, the play was only performed once – it was soon banned and would not be performed again until the 1980s.Today, the ground floor of the building is a Rexall. What remains of the theatre above lies fallow.
Maple Leaf Gardens: Tim Buck, the leader of the CPC, was released from prison in November 1934. The party rented out Maple Leaf Gardens and put on a show worthy of Moscow’s Red Square. 17,000 people attended, and 8,000 stood outside. The arena was decorated with 40 foot tall paintings of Lenin and Stalin, red carnations, red roses, and red taffeta streamers. It was quite the show, especially given that the CPC was still illegal.
Union Station: The vast majority of Canadian volunteers for the Spanish Civil War were organized by the CPC; they were screened and then given luggage, accommodations, and train tickets to Toronto before they were sent on to the ports of Montreal or New York. Almost all of these Canadian volunteers departed from Union Station in groups of three to five volunteers, trying not to attract attention from the police. Their return was completely different. When Cecil-Smith led 250 Canadian volunteers from Spain home through Union Station in February 1939, they were greeted by a crowd of 10,000. As the Toronto Star put it, “Stealthy goers-forth to war who come loudly home.”
Not for King or Country is now in print and available from the University of Toronto Press website and amazon. However, in these difficult times, I would especially like to encourage you to pick up a copy through your local bookstore.
2. Ontario Place: Future Plans still Under Veil of Secrecy Catherine Nasmith
Ontario Place, photo Catherine Nasmith
During a press conference today where Minister Lisa MacLeod announced 2M funding to open Ontario Place for summer festivals, she was questioned by reporters about future plans for the site. She indicated that the bid process is being handled by Infrastructure Ontario in conjunction with the Ministry of Heritage, Sport and Tourism Industry and that commercial interests preclude any announcement of details at this time. She stressed that balancing commercial activities with public access would be critical, that Premier Ford is adamant that the site remain open for Ontario families. She also mentioned that there are many heritage features that must be considered, and that negotiations are ongoing. She also indicated that the City of Toronto is taking part in negotiations, which differs from press reports over the weekend.
Alex Bozikovic of the Globe and Mail asked about any similarities to the Wynne government’s plans to restore the site as a public facility and add modest commercial activities, whether she thought a major commercial agenda would fit with public access to the property. She responded with yes she felt that redevelopment could be balanced with public access, that Ontario Place must be a second home for all Ontarians.
There has been a noticeable change in tone since Minister MacLeod took over, the previous Minister stated that there was nothing that was worth keeping at the site, and that it could be cleared if that was Premier Ford’s wish.
3. Ontario Place To host Summer Culture Events
News: Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
TORONTO - The Ontario government is providing Ontario Place with $2 million to support on-site activities, including several innovative festivals and events that give people the opportunity to safely reengage in arts and culture experiences. As the province safely and gradually reopens, these initiatives will help with the economic recovery of the arts, entertainment and hospitality sectors in Ontario.
News Release | Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
4. OHA+M Dan Schneider
Most of Ontario’s pre-2005 HCDs are invalid and unenforceable. Wait…
Just when we thought the status of Heritage Conservation Districts — and their pre-2005 and post-2005 HCD plans — was settled1, along comes an Ontario Municipal Board decision that seems to throw a wrench in the works.
Yes, it’s the OMB, in 2017 actually, when the metamorphosis to Local Planning Appeal Tribunal was still underway. It’s an obscure decision no one much had ever heard of. Too bad it didn’t stay that way.
But, almost three years later, the law firm that won the case has been touting the decision and its role in it. In a June 2020 article on its website, “A Question Of Heritage — Heritage Conservation Districts Post-2005,”2 the prominent Toronto law firm Gowling WLG makes a remarkable claim:
Ultimately, the Board found that the [sic] since the City had not followed the required process for the old HCDP, it had no legal status, and there was no requirement for a Heritage Permit. There is no requirement for a Heritage Permit under the existing OHA, unless it arises under a HCDP adopted in accordance with the post-2005 OHA. [emphasis added; HCDP = HCD plan]
5. Globe and Mail: Future of Ontario Place Alex Bozikovic
Ontario Place should be turned into a park, while still maintaining its architectural legacy
Ontario Place at dawn, photo Catherine Nasmith
What will be the future of Ontario Place? The 155-acre waterfront site on the edge of downtown Toronto is going to evolve, and the Ontario government needs to choose how.
One option is a large redevelopment by a private consortium. Three groups are reportedly in the running. One of these is OPlaceCo, a consortium that brings together Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Kilmer Group, concert promoter Live Nation, construction giant Ellis-Don and the architecture company Partisans. Live Nation holds a lease on the Ontario Place concert venue Budweiser Stage.
The other option is to make it, mostly if not entirely, a park. And there is a strong case that this is the smart thing to do.
Ontario Place has been an important file for the Doug Ford government, because Mr. Ford has taken a personal interest in it. Unfortunately, his government has brought its usual approach to public assets, asking: How can this thing generate cash?
At the same time, during a press conference on Monday, Heritage Minister Lisa MacLeod described Ontario Place as “iconic.”
An iconic cash cow. That’s a contradiction. The government is moving forward with some kind of redevelopment led by private companies. The 155-acre site, which comprises artificial islands and vast swaths of mainland parking lot, is a large canvas. It is also adjacent to the Toronto-owned Exhibition Place.
6. TVO: The story of Ontario's last segregated Black School Jamie Bradburn
Post-Confederation, Ontario was one of only two provinces to legislate Black segregated schools. In 1965, thanks to Black parents and politicians, the last one in the province finally closed
Students from the S.S. #11 school in 1965. (Harrow Early Immigrant Research Society)
Readers of the November 9, 1964, edition of the Globe and Mail confronted a disturbing sight: a photo showing a young Black student at the S.S. #11 school, near Harrow, holding a giant rat that had allegedly been caught on school grounds. Though the photo was likely staged for shock value, it highlighted a shameful reality: as the civil rights movement unfolded in the United States, more than 50 elementary students in rural southwest Ontario were experiencing segregated schooling.
The paper described the conditions it had encountered when visiting the school three days earlier:
8. New York Times: Removal of Toxic Statues Will Wright
Cities Want to Remove Toxic Monuments. But Who Will Take Them?
A statue of the Confederate commander, Richard W. Dowling. is removed in Houston, on Wednesday.Credit...
The furor over the death of George Floyd has reignited demands to remove dozens of statues and monuments around the country that glorify Confederate generals, advocates for slavery, defenders of segregation and others whose racial views or conduct are now widely reviled.
That has left a lingering question: What to do with them once they come down?
Officials have removed 106 Confederate symbols since 2015, when a white supremacist gunman killed nine black worshipers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., according to Lecia Brooks, outreach director at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Of those 106 symbols, 64 were monuments, and just four of those were relocated.
Federal Action Needed – COVID-19 and the Heritage Places Sector Recommendations for Recover
Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre - Shovel Ready
Since the inaugural ‘gatherings of the heritage sector’ on April 2, hundreds have participated in these productive bi-weekly Zoom calls to share the issues they and their heritage organizations and sites and are facing. Those discussions spawned a letter signed by the National Trust and 22 partner organizations recommending $200 million in federal stimulus funds earmarked for projects at heritage places.
Now, we are working to crowdsource the list of #ShovelReadyHeritage projects to send a signal to government that historic places can be a powerful part of Canada’s COVID-19 recovery plans. Why? Because we know that heritage projects create more ‘green’ jobs than new construction, spur private investment, and contribute to community resilience over the long term.
Please ask your Mayor, MPP and MP to support the #ShovelReadyHeritage projects initiative.
To find your local representatives and download the National Trust’s toolkit, click HERE.
Editor's Note: Today Kae Elgie, ACO Chair spoke to Ontario’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, across all parties the message that investing in heritage through the infrastructure program would be green, yield jobs and save community landmarks was received with great interest.
10. National Post: Calls to rename Dundas Street The Canadian Press
Call to rename Toronto's Dundas Street gets renewed attention with anti-racism protests
Dundas
TORONTO — Renewed focus on Canada’s legacy of anti-Black racism has given fresh voice to calls for public officials to consider renaming monuments honouring the guardians of colonialism, including a street that stretches through much of the Greater Toronto Area.
Those seeking to rename Dundas Street, which crosses Toronto and numerous other southern Ontario cities, argue that street names and monuments should reflect present-day values rather than glorify the likes of Henry Dundas, an 18th-century politician who delayed Britain’s abolition of slavery by 15 years.
Editor's Note: Dundas was the second road laid out in the province, commissioned by Governor Simcoe and laid out by Asa Danforth. It cuts through the heart of so many Ontario towns. A historic alternate name for the street was Governor's Road, and the section between Hamilton and Paris still bears that name. Might be a reasonable change to respect the history of its patron, Governor Simcoe. The first, preceding Hwy 2, went to Kingston.
McLaren Hotel project pits social housing against heritage
Photo from another source
WINNIPEG -- A vote at Winnipeg City Hall on Friday may have pitted social housing against heritage.
City council voted to designate part of the McLaren Hotel on Main Street historic to preserve some of the building's elements. It's a move that could pave the way for a new building beside the hotel to house people coming out of the homeless shelter system.
McLaren Hotel owner Rubi Gill spelled out his plans to city council: a 108 suite addition to rise on the parking lot beside the hotel
One-third of the rooms would be transitional housing for people who no longer need the shelter system, but are not ready to live independently.
"The building will provide the most critical step to alleviate the bottleneck of the housing issue," said Gill.
Gill said the new building could cost more than $20 million and could take at least a year to secure financing through other levels of government as this is a social housing project.
He said he is working with the Main Street Project, which has an office in the current hotel.
Main Street Project Executive Director Rick Lees said many people in the expanded shelter system due to COVID-19 are ready to move to transitional housing.
'Iconic' Preston Springs Hotel needs to be preserved
This iconic structure needs to be preserved as the Ontario Heritage Act indicates, writes Devyn Thomson. - Adam Jackson/Torstar
I am writing in regard to the ongoing discussions around the Preston Springs Hotel.
This iconic structure needs to be preserved as the Ontario Heritage Act indicates.
Paul de Haas purchased this property in 2012 knowing fully this was a protected building and as a developer has not maintained the property, most likely hoping it will be demolished so that he can develop it.
Bottom line is the city needs to do a better job when it comes to conserving heritage and following the designation process. This is our heritage and should not be bulldozed into a dumpster like garbag
13. Ottawa Sun: Niagara Generating Plant to be Renewed
Historic Niagara generating station being transformed into tourist attraction
Niagara is the Falls but now it’s becoming so much more.
As the province slowly reopens from the pandemic, the Ontario government has announced it’s investing in the long-term sustainability of Niagara Region’s vital tourism sector.
Lisa MacLeod, minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, is in Niagara Falls on Friday to announce a $25-million Niagara Parks Commission project to redevelop the historic Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station.
It’s being touted as a one-of-a-kind, made-in Ontario attraction.
The 1905 heritage building is being transformed into a tourist attraction where visitors will receive an educational experience about Ontario’s power-generating history and see the Falls through a new viewing platform.
14. Globe and Mail: Social Housing in Cabbagetown Homes Vanessa Quon
Mouldering Cabbagetown heritage homes find a higher purpose
Two dilapidated heritage buildings in Toronto’s Cabbagetown are slowly being transformed into new homes for some of the city’s most under-housed.
Over the past few months, Hilditch Architect Inc. has been working on the restoration of the two structures –originally divided into four semi-detached houses – to meet the needs of Margaret’s Housing and Community Support Services – an agency that provides supportive housing options to women living with mental illness and substance abuse.
After restoration and renovations are complete, the four semi-detached houses at 13, 15, 17 and 19 Winchester St. will have a total of 35 self-contained units, made up of 31 bachelor and four one-bedroom apartments. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2021.
The properties, located in Cabbagetown Northwest Heritage Conservation District (HCD), are designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act. Built in the late 1870s and early ’80s, the homes are built in the Second Empire style, which is marked by a mansard roof with dormer windows, Tuscanesque doors and decorative details at the eaves and corners of the building that contrast with the yellow brick of the main walls.
Because of their heritage designation, Hilditch worked with heritage consultants Goldsmith Borgal & Co. Ltd. Architects during the design process for a general review of the restoration of the buildings during construction.
Historic Post Card image
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