LeasideLife issue 24 draft 2_LeasideLifev1 13-12-17 8:57 AM Page 1
No. 24 • January 2014
Leaside Life leasidelifenews.com
WILL ASHWORTH
The antipasto lady in Garden Court - Page 34
The house at 21 Evergreen Gardens that sits on a 95-foot square lot
The Battle of Bennington Heights Howard Tencer and Tracey Fines have lived in Bennington Heights for almost 10 years. They are, among other things, builders of modern, contemporary homes. Two examples of their work can be found at 445 Heath St. East and 8 Evergreen Gardens. Their original development plan was to buy 21 Evergreen Gardens, sever the 95-foot (29 metres) by 95-foot (29 metres) lot into two
Will Ashworth The business of Leaside
equal parts and then build two homes, one of which their family would inhabit. ✦✦
Piper praised for Mandela effort Leaside resident John Piper, chair of the Leaside 100 committee, has been named in two Toronto Star articles for his work in Toronto for Nelson Mandela. Columnist Royson James wrote, “Gordon Cressy (United Way, YMCA, Learning Partnership, former alderman) and his sidekick John Piper (who would later found the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund here and spearheaded Mandela’s 1998 SkyDome visit) were hoping to hold a concert at Massey Hall, part of the Arts Against Apartheid initiative. “Before [Dave] McCamus [a Xerox Canada CEO] could nod, he found himself on a bus to Hamilton, along with singer Salome Bey, Piper and Cressy to convince legendary singer Harry Belafonte to perform at the concert. Belafonte did. “‘I just got caught up in the spirit of it all,’ McCamus said Friday. John and Gordon asked, I gave them a place to meet and plan; I was just an enabler on the whole thing.” And Haroon Siddiqui, also a columnist, wrote, “During Mandela’s second visit here, in 1998, John Piper, a media consultant, took unpaid leave for three months to work full-time to help fill the SkyDome with 45,000 school kids. “Piper and [Canadian South African Zeib] Jeeva have since toiled for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.” ■
Save Our Bennington is a group of concerned individuals living in Bennington Heights who’ve joined together to fight hyper-growth in the area. Well organized, their lawn signs read: Will Densification Destroy the Character of our Neighbourhood? ✦✦
That’s a perfectly reasonable question. But the answer’s not BENNINGTON, Page 4
Have we broken the $3 million house barrier? If Leaside hasn’t broken the $3 million barrier for a house sale, we can’t be far away. The 5,200 square-foot home at 128 Rykert Cres. in North Leaside, which backs on Serena Gundy Park, went on the market last October at an asking price of $3.75 million and sold in a week. Because it was an exclusive listing there is no public information on the final price. A sale that quick usually means something close to the asking price. The only previous listing over $3 million, which started on MLS $3 MILLION, Page 2