Hunt Club oaks may come down By Andrew Hudson
FORESTRY STAFF at the City of Toronto are considering plans by The Toronto Hunt golf course to remove 22 oak trees from the east side of its nine-hole course between Kingston Road and the Scarborough Bluffs. “The canopy got so big that it’s created blocked-sun, airflow and drainage issues on the golf course,” said Chris Neale, the Hunt’s general manager, noting that shade and stagnant air make it difficult for grass to grow well. Volume 44 No. 20
Neale said the club plans to replant twice as many trees as it removes, as per city policy, adding that in recent years, other trees from the property have been milled and used to build the Hunt clubhouse. Neale said the club has also spoken about the plans with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, which looks after a strip of land on the east side of the golf course as well as the shoreline below the club property. Staff at the City of Toronto’s forestry department are expected to approve or reject the removal plan by mid-January.
January 12, 2016
Boppin’ on Gerrard to celebrate New Year Kody Chambers on trumpet gets jazzy with the Glenn Howard Quintet, featuring Glenn Howard on drums, Alex Manoukas on saxophone, Felix Fox-Pappas on keyboard, and Patrick Nabuurs on double bass. The group performed at the Toronto Naval Club for the area’s annual New Year’s Levee January 10. Ward 32 councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, Beaches-East York MPP Arthur Potts, and Beaches-East York MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith were on hand to meet and greet with their constituents and enjoy refreshments and entertainment. The band members are students at the Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. PHOTO: ANNA KILLEN
Kew Gardens renovation upgrades nearly double budget By Anna Killen
THE CONTRACT awarded for the construction of the upcoming Kew Gardens redesign work is nearly double what was budgeted – up from the $650,000 pitched to residents at a community meeting in June 2014 to $1.1 million noted in city documents released late last year. That’s because decisions were made to use better materials and complete the project in one shot, instead of in phases spanning several years, said Ward 32 city councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, adding that proponents found more money for the project in city coffers to pay for the added costs. “The architects, they always design a bigger and better project than what we budget for and then you can have add-ons or do it in phases,” McMahon said. “We ended up getting some financing from other departments, like the accessibility department … We can incorporate more of the plan now and do it in one fell swoop.” Balmy Beach Residents’ Association president Carole Wilson says McMahon should have consulted residents at a public meeting once she realized the price tag was going to jump to over a million dollars. “I don’t think the taxpayers should be paying a million dollars
for what they are proposing,” Wilson said. “And if they could explain themselves it would be interesting for them to do so, but do it at a public meeting, because all we are hearing are rumours. We’re not hearing anything concrete from anybody.” Initiated by the Beach Village BIA, the project is aimed at drawing more traffic to Queen Street from the beach, and creating a better interface between the street and the historic park. Plans have shifted slightly from the architectural plans unveiled in June 2014. Most notably, surfaces which were to be concrete and glass will now be made of grey and black paving stone, material which made more sense from a long-term maintenance perspective, explained Lisa Rapoport from PLANT architect, the company that designed the project. “They’re really nice pavers,” she said. “It’s in a pattern that kind of fades, transitions from one colour into the other and moves towards the water – like a shoreline or drawing sand.” The project’s design involved several stages of community, city and stakeholder consultation. “We listened to what people said and we manipulated the design to respond to the comments,” Rapoport said.
PHOTO: COURTESY PLANT ARCHITECT
The plans for the Queen Street entrance to Kew Gardens include a revamped plaza around the cenotaph, a wheelchair-accessible path, and more trees. The plan is not without its critics.
“The park is going to look like the park,” she said, noting that the entire project is focused on the first 50 feet of the park. “This is literally changing the front door. The street is going to look really different … It’s just going to be great to have a really urbane way of hanging out on the street.” McMahon is looking forward to the changes, and said there is some
misinformation in the community about what the finished project will look like. “We’re not paving over Kew Gardens. We’re expanding the flower beds, we’re adding more trees and more benches,” she said. Construction on the project is set to begin early spring – a delay of several months following a drawnout bidding process and concerns
that construction in the fall would disrupt Remembrance Day ceremonies, said McMahon. The city awarded Pine Valley Corporation a $1.1 million contract for the work in late November after a tender process that started in June of last year. Kew Gardens continues on Page 2