Junction Triangle

Check out the March 8 2012 article in The Grid about the Junction Triangle's very own puppet shop, Open Door Designs.

While those involved in puppet-making and performance are no doubt aware of how to find the shop, the stretch of Dupont where Open Door is located is a bit off the beaten path. “Foot traffic is a challenge on this strip,” says Bigham. However, this was not always the case. “Evidently, in the early ’50s this was a very commercial street,” Bigham says. “People would get on the train and come down from North Toronto—it was quite a vital neighbourhood.” And, in some ways, with the current influx of young families to the area, Bigham sees it making something of a return to its former self, saying, “the neighbourhood is changing—it’s stroller city!”
In addition to doorway theatres, Bigham also produces larger theatres for schools and libraries—”the first one was commissioned by a grade 10 teacher; now, we’re five years on and we’ve shipped to Italy and all over the states”—and sells a wide assortment of puppets both new, many of her own design and “museum quality vintage,” with the oldest dating back to the ’30s.
She’s currently working on a proposal to take over a building just down the street from her shop to open what would be the city’s only full-time puppet theatre. “I’m hoping it’ll start in October,” she says, “There’s going to be seven performances, once a month on a Sunday. We’ve got this beautiful little venue over here. Five all-ages performances, one adult and one ‘puppet slam’—an open mic for people that are serious.”

You can read the entire article online here, and be sure to look at the gallery of puppet pics.

The Hackernest, a shared-use tech-biz office space that's run by Marketcrashers, a web design company, in the new Junction Triangle Lofts at 231 Wallace is hosting a tech-related BBQ. Details from their site:

When: Saturday, July 9, 2011, 4:00 PM
Where: The Marketcrashers Hackernest, 231 Wallace Avenue Toronto, ON

Ladies and germs, it is a long-established understanding that fire + food = good.

A new business is opening up this week in our area: Cafe Neon at 229 Wallace Ave. in the new Junction Triangle Lofts (just east of the Newmarket/Barrie GO tracks). Their opening day is this Tuesday, July 5th, with regular hours beginning on Thursday.

Some details from email:

We will open 2pm onward for in house coffees, and there will be a dj spinning from 9pm onward and we will have drinks!!

...and from another post on this website:

Hi All!

Ontario Redi-Mix: As seen from Erwin Krickhahn Park.

The Ontario Redi-Mix plant at 57 Wade Ave. has closed down. I don't know the exact date of the plant's closure, but it has now been inactive for several weeks.

Ontario Redi-Mix is the concrete manufacturing and distribution factory that is visible over the railway tracks at Erwin Krickhahn Park. What seemed like a constant parade of cement trucks around the Bloor-Lansdowne area is a direct result of this plant. I know that there were many complaints about Ontario Redi-Mix from residents in the Lansdowne / Wade / Jenet / Paton area stemming from the truck traffic, noise, dust, dirty streets, idling trucks, cracked sidewalks, and much more. I bet the residents of that area are happy to see this place closed down.

Perhaps it will make life better for Junction Triangle residents on Rankin Cres., and users of Erwin Krickhahn Park too? I'm not sure, as I can't say I've ever been bothered by this facility while in the park, but maybe people who live close-by had different experiences (please post if you have!).