Tag Archives: City of Toronto

Weston Lions Arena under threat.

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The entrance to the historic arena.

Weston Lions Arena was financed and built by Weston Lions in 1949 and has provided an indoor ice rink (and from 1959 an open air pool) for generations of Westonians. Now, without any meaningful consultation, local Councillor Frances Nunziata has in effect engineered a corporate takeover of the facility by the charitable arm of Maple Leaf Sports Enterprises, a giant real estate and sports franchise company. MLSE wants to turn the site into what they call an ‘MLSE Launchpad’. The arena along with its unique features (including a sand base under the ice and a barrel roof made of douglas fir beams) will be demolished and a multiple sports facility will be built. The problem is that one of the sports won’t be hockey. This apparently will be a ‘leasing arrangement’.

MLSE owns many (financially) successful teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts. It’s biggest shareholder is Rogers – yes, the cable and telecommunications giant. Why would a for-profit company be interested in redeveloping Weston Lions Arena?

The answer is money. Corporations love to show off their good corporate citizenship by donating to communities. It’s a tax write-off and in theory, good public relations. Access to the MLSE Launchpad will be free and provide an outlet for youth where they can burn off some steam and learn some skills. New sports talent can be discovered and developed in such facilities. All well and good but MLSE and Councillor Nunziata are coy about the future of the ice at Weston. The Weston Minor Hockey League will be left without a place to play. Nunziata says that she will find ice for the league’s next season – and then presumably they’re on their own to find a new home. This is the same councillor responsible for the wildly unsuccessful Weston Hub the demise of the Weston Farmers Market and the infamous bike lane to nowhere, used by nobody that causes traffic jams along Scarlett Road.

There are more questions than answers with this proposal. Is this a done deal? Who decides what the new facility will look like and who will run it? When does the community have a say? What are the alternatives to placing this community asset into private hands? Why not develop another site?

This is a case of the city falling over itself to receive a pittance of corporate charity without a community-wide consultation. What are the details of this arrangement? MLSE is not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. This is a behind closed doors elimination of a hard-won community asset. If MLSE and Rogers aren’t prepared to keep an ice surface going, what does that say about their respect for the people and history of Weston?

Why does our historic arena have to be destroyed?

Read more here.

Tree planting this weekend.

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Newly planted trees in the wild area in 2017.

From City of Toronto and Humber River Citizens Alliance:

Commemorate the lives lost to Hurricane Hazel and enhance the natural habitat. This event will feature a short talk by historian Madeleine McDowell and a ceremonial tree planting with Vivian Recollet, an Anishinaabe Grandmother Waterkeeper. Meet south of Raymore Bridge, on the east side of the Humber River Recreational Trail (by the old bridge abutment).

When: June 10, 2023

Event Time(s): 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Where: Raymore Park

93 Raymore Drive, Etobicoke, ON M9P 2S4, Canada

Cost: Free

Individuals and small groups do not need to register and are welcome to attend. Registration for groups of five or more people has reached maximum capacity and is now closed. Email us to add your group to the waitlist.

Website: www.toronto.ca

Email: greentoronto@toronto.ca

Chapman Road Sewers set to carve up Raymore Park

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Once upon a time, when infrastructure repairs were carried out in a natural setting, not much thought was given to vegetation. It was assumed that plants would take care of themselves once land was allowed to return to a natural state post-construction. Today, we are far more thoughtful and city contracts are written to specifically protect vegetation when possible and restore it if destruction is necessary.

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The sewer that runs along the Humber Creek has reached capacity and must be upgraded or ‘rehabilitated’. A stretch of vegetation has been cleared in preparation for the installation of a higher capacity sewer network that will serve residents of the area. The Chapman sanitary sewer as it is known runs from Royal York Road, roughly following the Humber Creek and crosses under Scarlett Road into Raymore Park before joining up with main sewer that runs alongside the Humber.

Amazingly, as part of the $9 million contract, every one of the hundreds of trees removed on public or private property for the project was catalogued and while only the native ones will be replaced, thousands of other native trees and shrubs will be planted. To get an idea of the modern-day eye for detail and care that will be taken, a set of plans for a small segment of the sewer can be found here.

The swath of land cleared and ready for installation of new sewer pipe and pumping station.

A swath of land between Scarlett Road and the Humber River being prepared for installation of new sewer pipe and a pumping station. Notice how rich the soil is.

The work and re-planting should be completed by next fall and the replacement native trees and vegetation will eventually make the affected land better than before it was cleared (because non-natives will not be replaced). Of course the whole point of the work will be the prevention of sewage back-up into residents’ homes as happened in July 2013. Hopefully this will allow many decades of trouble free use.