Thanks to DECA Visioning Committee for this blog post!
You probably received a notice with your mail recently about public meetings the city and Toronto Police Service are holding on the next two Tuesday evenings regarding plans for a new local police station. (TPS plans to amalgamate its 54 and 55 Divisions under one roof.)
The discussion is particularly important for us because one of the three short-listed sites is the nearly five-acre TTC property at Danforth and Coxwell.
The Danforth East Community Association was formed a decade ago with a goal of making our area’s main street more vibrant, walkable and safe; to succeed we need to continually attract more people to the Danforth sidewalks for different reasons at different time of the day. World-renowned urbanist Jane Jacobs (who died in 2006) identified that TTC site as one of only two in the DECA area with significant potential for creating the type of multi-use hub that the community will need for revitalization.
While DECA has not taken a position, our Visioning Committee and some members are concerned — especially in an era when police stations tend to be walled, big-box fortresses — that this may not be an appropriate use for such a rare and valuable site on our main street.
The other two locations on the short list are East York Civic Centre and the current 55 Division at Dundas and Coxwell.
The two meetings are slated for:
– Tuesday, October 10 (6:30 to 9 p.m.) at East York Civic Centre, 850 Coxwell;
– Tuesday, October 17 (6:45 to to 9:15 p.m.) at SH Armstrong Community Centre, 56 Woodfield Rd.
To learn more about the community consultations and plans for a new site for these police stations, go to: https://www.torontopolice.on.ca/TheWayForward/new-54-55-building.php
Looking back at “Imagine the Danforth”
The images below are renderings of possibilities for the TTC site, created by students, that were presented during Imagine the Danforth in May 2015. The meeting was hosted by DECA and featured the top 10 ideas for Danforth East developed by students at Ryerson and U of T.
Does your family have a budding singer in grade 4 or older who has always wanted to sing in a pop choir or band? If so, you are in luck! The Music Project is looking for singers for their Senior Choir happening Tuesdays at 5:30 PM. Kids in the senior choir will have the opportunity to audition for THE BAND PROJECT— small bands working together with singers, guitar players, drummers, and piano players — happening at 6:15 PM on Tuesdays. In THE BAND PROJECT kid musicians will work with professional musician mentors to learn how to form a band and showcase their skills, plus there are lots of performance opportunities throughout the year!