Archive for the ‘Scarborough Guildwood’ Category
Simcoe Day – Sir John Graves Simcoe and the Scarborough Bluffs
Today is the Civic Holiday, or Simcoe Day as it is called in Toronto. Sir John Graves Simcoe is an important man in the history of our province and our city. Had Sir John Graves Simcoe not implemented many of the important policies he did during his short tenure as our first Lieutenant Governor, our province and country may have taken a very different shape.
As Lt. Governor, Simcoe moved the capital of Upper Canada to York, later Toronto and ordered the establishment of Fort York to defend it from possible invasion from the United States, whose army he’d known well from his time as a British Officer during the Revolutionary War. As Lt. Governor, Simcoe made Upper Canada the first jurisdiction in the British Empire to outlaw slavery. He also brought Upper Canada it’s courts, modern trials, english common law, and laid plans to develop much of our early infrastructure.
His establishment of Fort York was essential to Upper Canada’s naval defense during the War of 1812. The fall of Fort York in 1813 and the looting and burning of York undertaken by American troops was deemed justification for Britain’s burning of Washington DC in 1814.
Simcoe sent surveyors to survey the lands of other townships, including Glasgow, the settlement that would later be known as Scarborough after his wife, Lady Simcoe set eyes on the mighty cliffs that mark Scarborough’s shores. They reminded her of Scarborough England, she recorded in her diary, and later pressured her husband into changing it’s name. Those diary entries kept by Lady Simcoe have given scores of Ontarians that followed a window into life in colonial York and Upper Canada.
The Scarborough Bluffs are something I’ve often written about, and yesterday afternoon I took advantage of the beautiful weather and the long weekend by taking a walk from approximately Jack Miner School just East of Galloway Road to the Bellamy ravine – where I climbed back up. Along the way I took many pictures of the cliffs, whose image has changed much in my lifetime, and I suspect would not be recognizable to Lady Simcoe, but are nonetheless a truly magical gem we’re so lucky to have in our City.
I took over 100 pictures of various things I saw along my way, and will share others in due time. Today’s pictures are of the beauty of the cliffs, and the realities of erosion along the bluffs.
I hope everyone enjoys Simcoe Day, and takes a moment to imagine what life would have been like when all of our City was as natural and overgrown as the Scarborough Bluffs remain today. I know I can’t help but do this when surrounded by the beauty of the Scarborough Bluffs, a natural environment I will continue to fight with residents of Guildwood to preserve.
Video of Sight and Sound of the Scarborough Bluffs from the foot of Sylvan Park
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – By Galloway
Scarborough Bluffs - Guildwood – By Galloway
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood: Erosion’s Impact on a Tree
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Facing East
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Erosion
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Mud Slide from Erosion
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Bluff Clay Drying after Erosion
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Bigfoot Lives!
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Water runoff from Erosion
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Sylvan Park Beach
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Erosion
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Erosion
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Water runoff
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – Impact of water
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – More Erosion water runoff
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – More Erosion water runoff
.Scarborough Bluffs – Cathedral Bluffs
Scarborough Bluffs – Guildwood – From Sylvan Park
3 Comments »Some Progress At The Guild Inn – Pictures of Guild Inn Hotel Demolition
For the record, the demolition of the cement hotel addition is the only form of demolition on the grounds of the Guild Inn I have ever supported. It pleases me to share with you photos I’ve received from Gloria Valeriote, a Scarborough resident who shares the passion I and many others from Guildwood and Scarborough have for this magical place.
Gloria had seen the photos Jeanette Mahon had allowed me to share of the Guild Inn Studio and kindly offered to share with me photos she had taken over the course of a number of visits to the site during it’s demolition.
The Guild Inn holds a very special place for me. When I ran for City Council in 2006, I did so because I opposed the demolition of the original Guild Inn building, the privatization of 7.5 acres of parkland, which included most of the gardens, the parking lot and access to the path to the water. Raising my concerns about these issues to the Councillor at the time and of the lack of information I believed residents had been given was met with a simple response:
‘If you think I am doing a bad job, you should throw down you’re hundred bucks and run against me.’
So I did.
My position was very unpopular because in my defense of heritage preservation and parkland conservation, I found myself opposing the only plan on the table, and largely on the outside of the debate. Then Councillor Soknacki and current Councillor Ainslie each supported demolishing the heritage buildings. Councillor Soknacki even had the Bickford Inn delisted as a heritage building and sought Council permission for it’s demolition, while Councillor Ainslie was still his Executive Assistant.
I argued from early 2005 that the proposal brought forth by Windmill development (this is somewhat ironic I know) was not economically viable, would harm our park space and would destroy a beautiful heritage site in the process. The response was a thorough mocking. The Toronto Star called me ‘one voice of dissent’ while the Globe and Mail referred to me as the ‘long detractor’ citing my belief that Windmill development’s proposal was not economically viable and would surely not meet the economic objectives they sought.
After a campaign that saw Councillor Soknacki and candidate Ainslie strongly support demolishing the heritage buildings, privatizing 7.5 acres of parkland and building a condoized hotel project twice the size of the current building, in January 2007, Windmill development announced a lack of economic viability to their plan, and it fell through. Thank god it did.
The failure of Windmill Development’s plan has allowed for Centennial College to come up with a more palatable proposal.
My view of supportable parameters for a project was simple, public retainment of parkland, preservation of heritage architecture, a purpose that serves our community. It seems many aspects of Centennial College’s proposal meet those requirements, which pleases me.
As a citizen, I am pleased to see Centennial College acting smartly, and demonstrating that in 2009 as in 2005 the heritage buildings did not need to be demolished for structural reasons as both Councillor Soknacki and Ainslie falsely stated to Guildwood residents repeatedly while selling Windmill Development’s plan on the developer’s behalf. I am glad to see the hotel tower coming down, and hopeful Centennial College will protect the remaining heritage component in their plan.
Below are Gloria Valeriote ’s pictures.
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
I was very happy to see the Federal and Provincial governments commit the significant sum of nearly $5.4 million dollars to community recreation infrastructure spending in Scarborough Guildwood last week. The Federal and Provincial governments will each spend a total of $2.6 million dollars on six projects to benefit residents of Scarborough Guildwood.
Money for community recreation infrastructure is important because it will allow for either the expansion of physical space or improvement of existing space, which in turn will allow for enhanced community use and a greater capacity for recipients to enhance their positive impact on the community they serve.
I look forward to seeing the good work that the community organizations and facilities do be expanding will have on the Scarborough Guildwood community and think both the Ontario Liberals and Federal Conservatives each found themselves on the right track by allocating funding to support community based organizations like these.
I especially look forward to seeing the East Scarborough Boys and Girls expansion. It’s hard for people I think who aren’t from Scarborough to truly appreciate the impact that the East Scarborough Boys and Girls has on the Galloway and Kingston road community especially. In many ways the East Scarborough Boys and Girls is the very example of community based, supportive programming that is required in at-risk and lower income communities.
With the funding that Cedar Ridge will receive, it is my hope it will assist the City in ensuring that that beautiful structure which serves so many great community purposes is better preserved than the Guild Inn has been.
Below is the link to Minister Best’s Press Release on the funding.
Scarborough-Guildwood Organizations to Receive Funding For Recreational Upgrades
Below is the link to the Scarborough Mirror’s story on the annoucement. Government funding to help create more recreation space in East Scarborough
Comments Off
