Christmas Reflections

by John Laforet
posted on December 25th, 2009 at 05:38:04 am

To those who will join today with family and friends and celebrate Christmas, may I wish you a Merry Christmas.

My family Christmas tradition sees three generations of Laforet’s celebrating Christmas in Guildwood – where our Christmas dinner has been celebrated since 1968 and with the addition of spouses, children and family friends spans three generations and includes nearly two dozen people.

For me Christmas is a time to share with family and friends, catch up and reflect on the year that is quickly coming to an end. It’s also a time to make decisions about how you will spend the year to come.

This past year has been a unique and totally unexpected one for me that has seen many challenges and opportunities present themselves. My community involvement and activism have taken an angle I could not have predicted they would even when I decided last fall to actively work with Guildwood residents to oppose Toronto Hydro’s project.

While where it has led has been unexpected, the camaraderie and friendship that exists within Wind Concerns Ontario is second to none that I’ve witnessed elsewhere and I feel blessed to consider so many fine Ontarians standing up for their communities to be my friends.

Christmas 2009 will also mark the one year anniversary of the burning of the Studio Building at the Guild Inn – something that tragically destroyed a heritage building on a site with so much meaning to my community. It is my hope, by Christmas 2010 the old Bickford Inn will begin to look like it’s old maintained self again and we can move past the ‘lost decade’ the City of Toronto brought my community at the Guild Inn.

Next year I am sure will be interesting for it’s own reasons, but I look forward to the challenge and know I am in good company as we soldier on.

More Guild Inn Studio Pictures

by John Laforet
posted on January 16th, 2009 at 13:37:45 pm

I wanted to share these excellent pictures I received in my inbox from Guildwood area resident Carl Chalupa. Carl is a long time resident of Scarborough and like many of us has an affinity for the Scarborough Bluffs, and the Guild Inn. As someone who has taken many pictures on the site both before and after the fire, Carl was kind enough to allow me to share these pictures here. I thank him for it, and encourage anyone else with pictures or stories they would like to share to contact me at john.laforet@laforet.ca 

Like many Guildwood residents, as the gate blocking access to the site came down, I began to wonder and speak to others about what should the future of the Guild Inn Studio be. Like many, I am considerably more worried about heritage as it relates to the Guild Inn than I am to monetary considerations. I believe that a very serious, thorough, unbiased review needs to be done to determine if the building can be restored using the original plans to bring it back to it’s former glory. 

It is a disgrace that the City has allowed the whole site to fall into such a state of disrepair and this fire needs to serve as a warning that Guildwood could risk more of it’s history of the City of Toronto does not get on with the job of protecting the Guild Inn now. 

Guild Inn Studio Before and after the Christmas Day 2008 fire.

Bench beside Guild Inn Studio 

Guild Inn Studio window before and after the fire.

Chimneys after the fire.

A view inside

Burned exterior 

Toronto Star’s The Fixer on the Guild Inn

by John Laforet
posted on January 8th, 2009 at 16:53:19 pm

Jack Lakey is more effective than most in getting information out of City Hall. His columns have placed very public pressure on the right people to get things done. Lakey has written a number of times on the state of the Guild Inn, a torn Canadian flag left flying at the site, a flooded Studio basement left to freeze over the winter and cause damage, and now about a barricade that is blocking access to the Guild Inn for non pedestrians.

Last night I took a walk to the Guild Inn to see the site for the first time since my visit on Christmas Afternoon. There was a security guard sitting in an idling Jeep (probably just to keep warm) in front of the barricade who I asked for permission before entering the site. It so happens Lakey’s article today was about the barricade, but what is more important the status of the Guild Inn Studio as it current stands.

It is important to remember that the Guild Inn Studio is a listed heritage building. According to Lakey’s article the Ontario Fire Marshal has decided an investigation wasn’t necessary… No? Do abandoned buildings really just light up on their own? To me this seems like the complete wrong way to go. Workers were in the building the day before it burned. A resident heard an explosion just before 5am when the fire started. We all know the City of Toronto has neglected the site for years, that they denied funding to maintain the main Guild Inn building so that they could make way for demolition. To me, there seems to be enough to investigate.

The next part of Lakey’s article that is concerning is that it appears the City of Toronto is allowing it’s insurer is conducting an investigation  to “determine if there is any chance of saving the studio”. With the greatest respect to folks who work in the insurance industry, this is a heritage building and therefore surely it is not as easy as it is to determine the viability of salvaging other kinds of buildings. What I saw yesterday was not promising. It is clear that the fire has gutted much of the more ornate portion of the building. The second floor is entirely collapsed and there is no roof left over at least one third of the building. The damage is certainly bad, but the decision should not be made by an insurer, considering it’s unique heritage status.

Here is the link to Lakey’s article from today’s Toronto Star. “Post-fire fence shuts park-lovers out”