Guild Inn Fire
I was deeply saddened today to learn about a fire in Guildwood Village at the Guild Inn early Christmas morning. When I opened the Toronto Star’s article “Fire destroys garage at WWII training base” – I had no idea that it would be about my favourite place in Scarborough. Before I go any further, I want to point out the Toronto Star’s article was wrong in that the fire was not in a garage, it was a listed, heritage building that served as an Artist Studio on the famous grounds.
The history of the Guild Inn goes far deeper than it’s war time use as a hospital for returning soldiers from the fields of Europe and a training centre for Canadian nurses. It had been an Artist colony that started during the Depression and carried on for decades. It was home to a boutique hotel that allowed tourists to visit the artist’s in residence and home to the founders of my neighbourhood – Rosa and Spencer Clark.
The City of Toronto closed the Guild Inn in 2001 and has virtually ignored the site since. In fact my interest in municipal politics began when contacting then Councillor Soknacki in November 2004 to question whether the City’s plan was to demolish the Guild Inn by neglect to pave the way for a housing development. He ignored my first attempt to communicate with his office, and it was not until February 2005 that his then Executive Assistant and current Ward 43 Councillor Paul Ainslie contacted me to see if I had received a reply and to share with me the details to demolish the site to build a condoized hotel, twice the size of the previous hotel in it’s place on land that would be leased to the developer for seventy five years. It was in my opposition to this plan that Councillor Soknacki suggested I should run against him if I thought he was doing a bad job in relation to this project.
That plan, like the other plans Soknacki’s office pushed to the community fell through, conveniently two months after an election where it was a key issue. The total lack of leadership Guildwood has seen at City Hall has left a once proud symbol of culture and creativity in Scarborough in rough shape, boarded up and awaiting it’s fate and declining.
The building that burned down this morning was a listed heritage building that had been so badly ignored by the City it when it flooded one winter, the water was allowed to sit and freeze, causing mold and damage to the structure. And that was when the City had plans to restore it! From what I witnessed this afternoon when I stepped away from my family’s Christmas celebration to walk over to the site to survey the damage, the building is likely beyond repair. Much of the structure completely burned, and what is left appears gutted. I did not stay long because of reports that Asbestos may have been released into the air by the fire. According to the Toronto Sun, contractors were in the building the day before removing Asbestos as well. It is my hope that the City will at least act quickly in determining the action plan for the current state of the building, and move equally quickly to clean up the site. Boarded up buildings are bad, burned out ones with possible Asbestos are far worse.
It was a cloud that hung over what was otherwise a beautiful Christmas with my family, three generations of Laforet’s whose Guildwood roots go back to 1968, as I found my thoughts returning to the fate of the Guild Inn, and the likelihood that 2009 will be another year of no promises or false promises on the fate of Guildwood’s heart, and residents will be forced to endure another year of their once prized park sitting in a state that does not reflect the spirit of the Inn. The Guild Inn for me will always be a special place, one filled with childhood memories of playing in between the architectural relics, Guildwood Day picnics, Art’s festivals and plays and Christmas carol singing in front of the grand old Inn. It also saw me stand up for what I believe in a very public way by running for public office in it’s defence. I sincerely hope the destruction of this heritage building will force the City to move, and get real with getting the site back on it’s feet and to restore the Guild Inn to being the heart of Guildwood Village.
Finally, my sister Jessica took pictures of the building during her visit to the site today and I will share them once I receive them electronically from her. If anyone has pictures of the Studio building they would like to share, please do pass them along and I will post them as well. Until then, this video shows what the building looked like before the fire.
Tags: David Soknacki, Guild Inn Fire, Guildwood, Guildwood Village, Paul Ainslie, Ward 43
December 26th, 2008 at 1:46 am
Sorry to hear about the loss. Assiniboia recently had a devastating fire of an active building that could have been a historic site. I included a link with photos in my URL.
December 26th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Sorry to read this news, John. A friend of mine once spoiled herself by booking in to the Guild Inn for a long weekend, and then invited a couple of us out for an afternoon visit followed by dinner. We strolled about the grounds, relaxed, ate wonderful food — it all seemed very luxurious to me, so it’s hard to grasp why the city would just let such a place go to ruin. You’d think a decent marketing campaign could have made a success of it?
Well, I’m sorry. I hope you can argue the city into a decent solution for the property.
December 26th, 2008 at 7:38 am
This just breaks my heart. I am a Scarborough girl born & bred, and still go to the Guild at least a couple of times a month to take photos. It is such a spectacular setting, filled with history. It’s a sin what the City has allowed to happen to this gem. Such a shame. I’m really interested in seeing ths hots your sister took, when you have them available. You can see a number of Guild Inn shots at my flickr photo site, if you like.
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22guild%20inn%22&w=37991379%40N00
Thanks for posting this on your blog. I am amazed at how LITTLE news coverage there is so far. Honestly, we just don’t appreciate the history that surrounds us sometimes.
December 26th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Perfect work!Keep posting
December 26th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
This is devestating – As previously posted (by Allclass), the minimal news coverage is amazing.
Thank you for clarifying the location of the fire. How could the press confuse the garage with the Studio, which was a beautiful house.
A sad blow to Scarborough’s history. I’ve sent some pictures of this studio to your email and hope you will post them.
December 26th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hello John!
Just posted pictures of the devasted Studio building at the Guild Inn.
Please visit my blog:
Guildwood Village on the Lake
http://guildwood.blogspot.com
Very sad indeed!
December 26th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
It saddens me to see the once beautiful Guild Inn as it is now. My mother grew up on Livingston Road and knew the former owners (the Hewetson/Clark family) and she played in the Guild Inn and on the grounds as a child. A friend of mine worked at the Guild Inn for years until it closed (no truth to the ghost stores, just fiction). Sadly it is scheduled for demolition in January, 2009 (it’s been acquired by Centennial College) to make way for the college’s new conference centre, restaurant and residence facilities.
December 26th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I grew up around the corner from the Inn, and the willfull deterioration of the main building has caused me no end of depression these last few years
Scarborough is the type of postwar suburb with no sense of history and few people I knew growing up still live there, the Inn was the one landmark I could identify with as embodying my sense of roots in the neighbourhood
isnt it an amazing coincidence whenever a properety owner doesnt want to pay the costs of upkeep of a heritage building theres inevitably a fire?
this story is very similar to the historic private school that burned down in St Thomas last year
http://www.thestar.com/article/432776
and I certainly hope theres a criminal investigation under way
December 26th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Very sad and depressing news. Makes me feel the way I did when I found out Jimi Hendrix had died. This is a piece of history gone forever.
The Studio was certainly one of the fine jewels in the Guild Inn’s crown, and part of what makes the Guild such a unique complex.
I remember when the Guild Inn was ablaze with white lights at Christmas—certainly a very magical place. It’s criminal the ruination that the City has allowed to occur on its watch.
Guild-rez: Beautiful pictures on your blog. Thank you!
December 26th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Maureen:
Apologies—I meant to applaud your beautiful photography as well.
December 26th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
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January 2nd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Hi John. This is a huge loss for the Guild Community. I live in the Morningside/Coronation area. I walk at the guild weekly, been taking photos there for a few years, and have been constantly saddened by the decline of the Guild. I managed to get some images on New Years day of the burned out building. The eerie calm that morning at 8am, while I stared at the rubble was overwhelming. I sure hope they get it together and start work on the other buildings.
Thank you for sharing this. Take care.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:57 am
My husband and I had our reception in the studio cottage in 1985. It too breaks my heart. Our photo was taken at the well. My mother loved that photo. It was so magical. I can not believe what has happened. I too would love to see photos of the studio.
March 2nd, 2012 at 7:31 am
Nembutal pill car game, the lilliputian on and on looked a priggish albeit cardinal state. http://edewica.com