There has always been a fence component to it. It will take a few seasons for the plants and vines to do their work and make the fencing vanish. But when it happens it will be really good.
My heart goes out to you and your family along with the residence of Franklin Ave , that have lost so much.
Q: is it okay if I forward your story to "The Fixer" @ The Star?
They can at least forward your concerns to City Hall and MLS with a media presence closely watching.
Brett, I couldn't agree with you more on the last bit of your message. I am a bi-product of this neighborhood. I grew up on St Clarens Ave (Landowne and Bloor), I've been a residence for over 30 years. I plan on raising our family here, thats why we decided to plant our roots here.
As for the neighborhood, our demographics and ethnicity is dynamic. We have baby boomers to college/university students all living beside each other. I find the level of communication has to be beyond the internet. We need all residences old and new side by side building our community for the better.
I find there are too many separate agenda's i.e. interests from south of the neighborhood vs north of the neighborhood. We must all strive to get on the same page. This is a very critical time as we have a lot going on in our neighborhood in the coming years.
* Brownfield Remediation
* Rail Path
* TAS CONDO Project on Joe Mercury Site
* Castle Point (Old Tower Building)
* Munitions Factory on Sterling Rd (future redevelopment)
* Crime (from Davenport to Bloor)
* Bloor Dundas Avenue Study
* Blue22 Developent (Union to Pearson Airport)
* CN Rail Overpass (crumbling down)
* Parking in Neighborhoods
* Green Spaces
Let's get everyone involved old and new residences alike . We need to come up with some new innovative ideas in order for it to work. We need to unite.
hi its me again , ok so as i said this picture may be wallace looking east , if so then im inclinded to think that the other picture is wallace looking west .....
the picture says symington looking noth , but that would mean the tracks would therefore have to be running east to west , which the tracks in the area do not do. The tracks for the most part in our area run north and south,,,
those checker board sidewalks on the right side look an aweful lot like the checkerboard side walk that was on the south side of wallace as you walked facing east on wallace,,,those checker board patterns on the sidewalk lined up with a loading dock of an old building that was there for years. not sure but maybe the checkerboard cuts were to give the truck wheels more traction on the side walk ....
I remember going to a friends house east of the tracks on wallace and seeing girls using the squares for hop scotch thats why it sticks in my head, and it shue does look like wallace when your looking east...
should make a photo copy of this picture and go there and compare, wouldnt it be surprising if that old multi layered hydro pole thats shown on the left side of the road was still standing there.. there was a lot of those old classic hydro poles along the tracks near wallace and cambell park area...you didnt see to many of them on the west rail line near dundas..
interesting stuff, nice pictures, ive downloaded and blown some up to get a closer look..cool.
Hi all , its me Brett Rycombel the man who started the south perth/ sterling residents group a few years back..some of you may remember me going through the neighbourhood asking people to sign petitions, and handing out community meeting notices back when Mario Silva was councillor and speed bumps , parking and people getting hit by cars at the bloor symington intersection was the big concern of the day...
Well I went to last nights dundas developement meeting and posed the question about the car rental lot / blue 22 excavation and the answer i got back from the city representatives was its still up in the air,,,,
Alot of people at that meeting were surprised when i informed them that the old uhaul lot was being considered as potentially becoming a blue 22 stop, It appears that officials at the meetings neglected to inform the citizens about this , at least thats what people at the meeting told me. And in a community that is already concerned about how the dundas developement will impact pedestrian and traffic flow in the area. So is this a case of our wonderful forthright government trying to slip the blue 22 in under the radar ???....When i asked if the blue 22 was still going to happen and pointed out the excavation is being carried out at uhaul I got a quick reply form an official who shrugged his shoulders and said yes its up in the air ....
many of the people at that meeting were totally unaware that on top of everything else thats happening, that a potential blue 22 stop was being considered for this same area ...you cant help but be suspicious as to why our area wasnt and isnt shown on the development map. At the least our area should have been shown if for nothing more than as a reference to make people aware of the potential of an added extra influx of people and traffic caused by a blue 22 stop.
In a development meeting about density and new buidings going up and how they may effect the area, you'd kinda think the new apartment buildings iin our area as well as the potential for a blue 22 in our community would have been included in the discussion ...
lastly to Gord Perks who i realize is new to the area and could not possibly understand the decades of history involved that prompted me to be a bit hard nosed with him last nite, I apologise, but Gord if you or Adam were in our shoes and seen what we and our parents and grand parents put up with over decades of political double talk then you'd understand why we get leary frustrated and a bit ticked off, ...sorry Gord....after talking to others last nite and today who think they got a handle on what your all about, i may have been a bit harsh, you were only following the appropriate procedure I cant hold that against you....
To Jack and many of the other community organizers, I have this very important thing to say. Computers are all the rage, and alot of us are taking advantage of their ability to quickly share info with one another.
But those of you who are younger or new to this area should realize that a large number of the people who live in these older communities are of a generation that dont use computers, and also dont forget that these are multicultural communities aswell , so english itself can be a barrier to many...i think some of you myself included are taking emails and websites for granted and thinking just because something is posted on a website its a good enough notice to all...
Well its not, lets not exclude those who have lived and paid taxes in this community for decades, lets not exclude them from the information simply because they are not fortunate enough to be computer literate or speak the language, They are Canadian citizens, Tax payers and long standing members in this community too...please lets all do our best to keep that in mind ...
This is a great community and i am proud to have lived , and grown up here with many of you over the last 44 years...everyone who comes to this area is always shocked at how everyone seems to know everyone else, well after a few decades or generations of us living here ya kinda get to know one another :) ....
I still haven't had a chance to check out much of the railpath construction yet myself. If you take photos, feel free to email them to us and we can post to the site (if you don't mind!).
Just noticed yesterday they are putting up a chainlink fence (7 feet high) to separate the path from CN Rail and GO tracks
Under the original plan it was proposed that the trees planted alon the path would produce a natural barrier. I guess the natural barrier of trees wasn't good enough for GO and CN.
Just an update, I'll see if I can take some snapshots of the progress.
The reason it came back is simple: they were waiting for the new rules to kick in for the Environment Assessment. Under the new rules the process is faster 6 months vs 2 years. The new legislation also makes it easier to get passed resistance from the communities oppose to the line.
They are not stupid. The political climate is presently suitable for them to push through their agenda on Blue22.
Im all for better transit, but not the kind that is this frequent going through residential communities.
I don't know why Blue 22 has come to life again all of a sudden, especially since the Olympic bid was its original reason to be and GO had a competing vision that included more stops.
Only 17 % of people come from downtown to the airport as it is so without extra stops to service Bloor and Weston this is a very expensive train set. Personally I don't see the demand for a train every 15 if it is airport only.
I would also add that Blue 22 may screw up the south end of Railpath so we need answers about that too.
I am for increased traffic in the corridor (of which I am one block away) but it has to provide some transit solutions along the whole route and not cut Weston in two.The Weston area group: http://westoncommunitycoalition.ca/ seems to be having website problems.
Tom Fallus Group of 351 Wallace and other "fame". People should start bugging Adam about it NOW as on Wallace the City Planning (?) Department was asleep at the wheel and we ended up getting something that is less than harmonious with the area. We have ben plagued by jr. level planners in our area because the Planning (?) Department is short of planners.
Chris Gallop and Mr Giambrone need to get their info right. I was surprised when seeing their response, as it was news to me.
I like the idea of Blue22, but strongly oppose it going through this highly dense corridor. Trains every 22 mins, 19 hrs of day - i know the details are preliminary and premature, but its sounds noisy already.
Thank You for the followup and clarification. I can confirm a few things since I live very close to the site.
1. Rail Path Construction crew is using the site to access the rail way area, especially the overpass on Bloor.
2. the hole has been dug and is partially fenced off. Hate to see a car drive into it at night time, looking to park there.
3. The construction worker's who i spoke with told me they were demolishing the building. I guess they are awaiting approval from the city to demo.
As for Blue22, im glad its dead because trains every 19-22mins would have taken toll on my nerves and sound would have been non-stop. My last understanding of it was they were waiting for legislation to pass so they can speed up the environment asesstment process.
Well at the end of all this I just hope they develop site for something useful that the community will appreciate.
Now what to do with the other two properties vacant beside (south) U-Haul...
I went to Nonna's one morning last week and picked up a cherry turnover. Went back on Saturday to get a sausage sandwich w/ marinara sauce for myself, and a grilled veggie sandwich for my fiancee. Both were delicious. Very friendly service too.
I'm looking forward to trying their full hot lunch sometime, and apparently they will also be experimenting with extended hours on some nights.
On Saturday my wife and I went for a sandwich at Nonna's place. I must say...it brought back memories of the good old days. Reminded me of my nonna's kitchen! The veal and meatball sandwich was to die for and was an affordable price!!! Keep up the good work! I look forward to the next time we are in town to indulge in your homemade cooking. Thanks F & T
I emailed Councillor Giambrone's office and got a reply from his constituency assistant, Chris Gallop (see below).
In short, the site is owned by the Tom Fallus Group, who are now doing an environmental cleanup of the soil, will be demolishing the existing buildings, and probably submitting a development application soon. The City is also using this land as an access point during Rail Path construction. None of this has anything to do with Blue22, which is pretty much dead.
From Chris Gallop:
There are two sets of contractors working in that area on separate projects, so that's probably adding to people's confusion.
Firstly, the site was bought recently and the new owners are proceeding with doing an environmental clean-up to remove any contamination. That is what the excavation is about, they are removing contaminated material and will replace it with clean fill. The new owners have also applied for demolition permits to remove the existing structures on the site, and the permit will likely be approved by the end of the month. They plan to make development applications at a later time, my best guess is they'll file an application next spring at the earliest, after which there will be mandatory public consultation meetings to go over the developer's proposal.
Secondly, there is also a City contractor using this site to access the railway area behind it. The City crew has begun the construction of the new West Toronto Railpath park, which will be a park trail that will go along the tracks from from Dupont down to Dundas. The current estimate is that the new park will open to the public sometime next summer.
The new owner is not SNC Lavalin, it is the Tom Fallus Group (the same people who did the development at 351 Wallace, for example) and to the best of my knowledge the Blue 22 project is pretty much dead, due to a lack of interest from the Federal Government in moving it forward.
Hope that helps, if you have any more questions let me know.
Have you tried contacting Councillor Gimabrone's office to see if they know what's happening here?
I also noticed the hole etc., but have no idea what's they're actually doing.
I haven't followed the Blue 22 issue lately, but my understanding is that the current idea is pretty much dead. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes ahead in a different form though. I didn't like the idea of a direct non-stop rail link between Union Station and Pearson, but a rail line that provides frequent links to other points along the way might be a fantastic addition to the transportation network.
Yes, the website is still going. The individual committees will also continue to meet and work on projects. It's only the next big general meeting that has been pushed off for a while.
Anyone who signed up for any of the committees will probably receive emails soon about these projects. Stay tuned. I believe the Safety Committee has already sent out some correspondence regarding the upcoming safety audit.
Notably:
"should that not be a go, Castlepoint says they will continue with redevelopment, and will seek businesses in the creative industry as tenants -- graphic arts, architecture, IT, recording studios, etc."
There has always been a fence component to it. It will take a few seasons for the plants and vines to do their work and make the fencing vanish. But when it happens it will be really good.
Hi Richard,
My heart goes out to you and your family along with the residence of Franklin Ave , that have lost so much.
Q: is it okay if I forward your story to "The Fixer" @ The Star?
They can at least forward your concerns to City Hall and MLS with a media presence closely watching.
Let me know.
Thank You,
Ranajit
Brett, I couldn't agree with you more on the last bit of your message. I am a bi-product of this neighborhood. I grew up on St Clarens Ave (Landowne and Bloor), I've been a residence for over 30 years. I plan on raising our family here, thats why we decided to plant our roots here.
As for the neighborhood, our demographics and ethnicity is dynamic. We have baby boomers to college/university students all living beside each other. I find the level of communication has to be beyond the internet. We need all residences old and new side by side building our community for the better.
I find there are too many separate agenda's i.e. interests from south of the neighborhood vs north of the neighborhood. We must all strive to get on the same page. This is a very critical time as we have a lot going on in our neighborhood in the coming years.
* Brownfield Remediation
* Rail Path
* TAS CONDO Project on Joe Mercury Site
* Castle Point (Old Tower Building)
* Munitions Factory on Sterling Rd (future redevelopment)
* Crime (from Davenport to Bloor)
* Bloor Dundas Avenue Study
* Blue22 Developent (Union to Pearson Airport)
* CN Rail Overpass (crumbling down)
* Parking in Neighborhoods
* Green Spaces
Let's get everyone involved old and new residences alike . We need to come up with some new innovative ideas in order for it to work. We need to unite.
Regards,
Ran
Photo of graffiti on back of buildings adjacent to (south of) U-Haul Site
hi its me again , ok so as i said this picture may be wallace looking east , if so then im inclinded to think that the other picture is wallace looking west .....
Brett Rycombel
cheers .
the picture says symington looking noth , but that would mean the tracks would therefore have to be running east to west , which the tracks in the area do not do. The tracks for the most part in our area run north and south,,,
those checker board sidewalks on the right side look an aweful lot like the checkerboard side walk that was on the south side of wallace as you walked facing east on wallace,,,those checker board patterns on the sidewalk lined up with a loading dock of an old building that was there for years. not sure but maybe the checkerboard cuts were to give the truck wheels more traction on the side walk ....
I remember going to a friends house east of the tracks on wallace and seeing girls using the squares for hop scotch thats why it sticks in my head, and it shue does look like wallace when your looking east...
should make a photo copy of this picture and go there and compare, wouldnt it be surprising if that old multi layered hydro pole thats shown on the left side of the road was still standing there.. there was a lot of those old classic hydro poles along the tracks near wallace and cambell park area...you didnt see to many of them on the west rail line near dundas..
interesting stuff, nice pictures, ive downloaded and blown some up to get a closer look..cool.
Hi all , its me Brett Rycombel the man who started the south perth/ sterling residents group a few years back..some of you may remember me going through the neighbourhood asking people to sign petitions, and handing out community meeting notices back when Mario Silva was councillor and speed bumps , parking and people getting hit by cars at the bloor symington intersection was the big concern of the day...
Well I went to last nights dundas developement meeting and posed the question about the car rental lot / blue 22 excavation and the answer i got back from the city representatives was its still up in the air,,,,
Alot of people at that meeting were surprised when i informed them that the old uhaul lot was being considered as potentially becoming a blue 22 stop, It appears that officials at the meetings neglected to inform the citizens about this , at least thats what people at the meeting told me. And in a community that is already concerned about how the dundas developement will impact pedestrian and traffic flow in the area. So is this a case of our wonderful forthright government trying to slip the blue 22 in under the radar ???....When i asked if the blue 22 was still going to happen and pointed out the excavation is being carried out at uhaul I got a quick reply form an official who shrugged his shoulders and said yes its up in the air ....
many of the people at that meeting were totally unaware that on top of everything else thats happening, that a potential blue 22 stop was being considered for this same area ...you cant help but be suspicious as to why our area wasnt and isnt shown on the development map. At the least our area should have been shown if for nothing more than as a reference to make people aware of the potential of an added extra influx of people and traffic caused by a blue 22 stop.
In a development meeting about density and new buidings going up and how they may effect the area, you'd kinda think the new apartment buildings iin our area as well as the potential for a blue 22 in our community would have been included in the discussion ...
lastly to Gord Perks who i realize is new to the area and could not possibly understand the decades of history involved that prompted me to be a bit hard nosed with him last nite, I apologise, but Gord if you or Adam were in our shoes and seen what we and our parents and grand parents put up with over decades of political double talk then you'd understand why we get leary frustrated and a bit ticked off, ...sorry Gord....after talking to others last nite and today who think they got a handle on what your all about, i may have been a bit harsh, you were only following the appropriate procedure I cant hold that against you....
To Jack and many of the other community organizers, I have this very important thing to say. Computers are all the rage, and alot of us are taking advantage of their ability to quickly share info with one another.
But those of you who are younger or new to this area should realize that a large number of the people who live in these older communities are of a generation that dont use computers, and also dont forget that these are multicultural communities aswell , so english itself can be a barrier to many...i think some of you myself included are taking emails and websites for granted and thinking just because something is posted on a website its a good enough notice to all...
Well its not, lets not exclude those who have lived and paid taxes in this community for decades, lets not exclude them from the information simply because they are not fortunate enough to be computer literate or speak the language, They are Canadian citizens, Tax payers and long standing members in this community too...please lets all do our best to keep that in mind ...
This is a great community and i am proud to have lived , and grown up here with many of you over the last 44 years...everyone who comes to this area is always shocked at how everyone seems to know everyone else, well after a few decades or generations of us living here ya kinda get to know one another :) ....
take care all
yours
Brett Rycombel......
No worries, consider it done. I will forward them once I have taken a few shots.
Ran
Hi Ran,
I still haven't had a chance to check out much of the railpath construction yet myself. If you take photos, feel free to email them to us and we can post to the site (if you don't mind!).
Cheers,
Vic
Just noticed yesterday they are putting up a chainlink fence (7 feet high) to separate the path from CN Rail and GO tracks
Under the original plan it was proposed that the trees planted alon the path would produce a natural barrier. I guess the natural barrier of trees wasn't good enough for GO and CN.
Just an update, I'll see if I can take some snapshots of the progress.
Cheers,
Ran
The reason it came back is simple: they were waiting for the new rules to kick in for the Environment Assessment. Under the new rules the process is faster 6 months vs 2 years. The new legislation also makes it easier to get passed resistance from the communities oppose to the line.
They are not stupid. The political climate is presently suitable for them to push through their agenda on Blue22.
Im all for better transit, but not the kind that is this frequent going through residential communities.
I don't know why Blue 22 has come to life again all of a sudden, especially since the Olympic bid was its original reason to be and GO had a competing vision that included more stops.
Only 17 % of people come from downtown to the airport as it is so without extra stops to service Bloor and Weston this is a very expensive train set. Personally I don't see the demand for a train every 15 if it is airport only.
I would also add that Blue 22 may screw up the south end of Railpath so we need answers about that too.
I am for increased traffic in the corridor (of which I am one block away) but it has to provide some transit solutions along the whole route and not cut Weston in two.The Weston area group: http://westoncommunitycoalition.ca/ seems to be having website problems.
Tom Fallus Group of 351 Wallace and other "fame". People should start bugging Adam about it NOW as on Wallace the City Planning (?) Department was asleep at the wheel and we ended up getting something that is less than harmonious with the area. We have ben plagued by jr. level planners in our area because the Planning (?) Department is short of planners.
Chris Gallop and Mr Giambrone need to get their info right. I was surprised when seeing their response, as it was news to me.
I like the idea of Blue22, but strongly oppose it going through this highly dense corridor. Trains every 22 mins, 19 hrs of day - i know the details are preliminary and premature, but its sounds noisy already.
Anyhow lets see how this progresses.
The Toronto Sun is reporting in today's paper that Blue 22 might be moving forward again.
Thank You for the followup and clarification. I can confirm a few things since I live very close to the site.
1. Rail Path Construction crew is using the site to access the rail way area, especially the overpass on Bloor.
2. the hole has been dug and is partially fenced off. Hate to see a car drive into it at night time, looking to park there.
3. The construction worker's who i spoke with told me they were demolishing the building. I guess they are awaiting approval from the city to demo.
As for Blue22, im glad its dead because trains every 19-22mins would have taken toll on my nerves and sound would have been non-stop. My last understanding of it was they were waiting for legislation to pass so they can speed up the environment asesstment process.
Well at the end of all this I just hope they develop site for something useful that the community will appreciate.
Now what to do with the other two properties vacant beside (south) U-Haul...
Saga continues,
Ran
I went to Nonna's one morning last week and picked up a cherry turnover. Went back on Saturday to get a sausage sandwich w/ marinara sauce for myself, and a grilled veggie sandwich for my fiancee. Both were delicious. Very friendly service too.
I'm looking forward to trying their full hot lunch sometime, and apparently they will also be experimenting with extended hours on some nights.
On Saturday my wife and I went for a sandwich at Nonna's place. I must say...it brought back memories of the good old days. Reminded me of my nonna's kitchen! The veal and meatball sandwich was to die for and was an affordable price!!! Keep up the good work! I look forward to the next time we are in town to indulge in your homemade cooking. Thanks F & T
I emailed Councillor Giambrone's office and got a reply from his constituency assistant, Chris Gallop (see below).
In short, the site is owned by the Tom Fallus Group, who are now doing an environmental cleanup of the soil, will be demolishing the existing buildings, and probably submitting a development application soon. The City is also using this land as an access point during Rail Path construction. None of this has anything to do with Blue22, which is pretty much dead.
From Chris Gallop:
Hi Ran,
Have you tried contacting Councillor Gimabrone's office to see if they know what's happening here?
I also noticed the hole etc., but have no idea what's they're actually doing.
I haven't followed the Blue 22 issue lately, but my understanding is that the current idea is pretty much dead. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes ahead in a different form though. I didn't like the idea of a direct non-stop rail link between Union Station and Pearson, but a rail line that provides frequent links to other points along the way might be a fantastic addition to the transportation network.
-Vic
YES NONNA'S PLACE HAS OPENED FOR BUISNESS.
WE ARE HAVING A GRAND OPENING SPECIAL
ANY SANDWICH PURCHASED WILL GET A FREE REGULAR SOFT DRINK INCLUDED.
HOPE TO SEE PEOPLE FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD SOON.
NEW OWNER JOANNE
Looks like a new Italian take-out restaurant called Nonna's Place is getting ready to open up, next to the C-Store.
Yes, the website is still going. The individual committees will also continue to meet and work on projects. It's only the next big general meeting that has been pushed off for a while.
Anyone who signed up for any of the committees will probably receive emails soon about these projects. Stay tuned. I believe the Safety Committee has already sent out some correspondence regarding the upcoming safety audit.
Cheers,
Vic
wow.
Keep the site going Vic at least.
I read about the Plan B for the site on this blog:
http://digin.ca/blog/2008/02/notes-from-castlepoint-film-studio.html
Notably:
"should that not be a go, Castlepoint says they will continue with redevelopment, and will seek businesses in the creative industry as tenants -- graphic arts, architecture, IT, recording studios, etc."