Scarboro Beach Amusement Park

Heritage homes on site of former amusement park
Some of the houses are up for sale facing Kew Beach
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Aug. 12.)

Scarboro Beach Amusement Park in 1907. Photo courtesy of The Beach in Pictures 1793-1932.

A dozen heritage properties on Wineva Ave and Hubbard Blvd were built where Scarboro Beach Amusement Park once stood. It was a destination spot for Torontonians in the early part of the 20^th century.
Harry and Mabell Dorsey paid the Sisters of St. Joseph $165,000 in 1906 for the land between Leuty and Maclean avenues and opened the $600,000 theme park in 1907.
This is where the young and old came to see “waltzing horses, comic bears and the first genuine monkey circus ever in Toronto,” according to The Beach in Pictures 1793-1932 by Mary Campbell and Barbara Myrvold.

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Beachfront heritage homes for sale

Kris Scheuer
(Published in the Town Crier Aug. 13.)

This Hubbard Blvd home is now listed as heritage and had been declared surplus by the owner Toronto Community Housing. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

A dozen Beach homes worth millions are now listed as heritage properties including several sites Toronto Community Housing plans to sell.
They sit on the former site of Scarboro Beach Amusement Park.
The 1920s-built homes on Wineva Avenue and Hubbard Boulevard are mix of publicly and privately owned sites facing Kew Balmy Beach.
Janice Hadfield lives in one of the properties on Wineva and says she’s pleased the home is on the heritage list.

Social housing Toronto beach property fix up

Interior at 42 Hubbard will be gutted, mould removed
Tenants can move back in summer 2011 to renovated apartments
By Kris Scheuer
(Written Jan. 14 for Town Crier.)

The city is fixing up this Beach-front social housing complex. Photo Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Deborah Beaven can’t wait to move back to her beachfront Toronto Community Housing residence.
Beaven lived at 42 Hubbard Boulevard for 20 years before she and all the tenants were relocated so TCH could fix the mouldy low-rise complex
The city-owned social housing provider recently held a meeting to update tenants on when they can return and how the building will be renovated.
“I was happy to know they are going forward and will rebuild,” she said.

Millions to fix up social housing

$220 million will be spent on repairs, upgrades
By Kris Scheuer
(Written Dec. 1 for Town Crier.)

Workers strip old bathroom tiles from a Toronto Community Housing unit during a recent renovation. Francis Crescia/Town Crier file photo.

Toronto social and affordable housing complexes are getting a $220 million facelift over the next two years.
The province and feds are pumping this cash into renovations and retrofits which means everything from new toilets, lighting and fridges to repairs of decks, garages and elevators for thousands of Toronto tenants.
“It certainly helps (to reduce) the state of good repair backlog and helps buildings stay in good repair,” says Glenn Courtney, city manager of social housing administration. “And it provides better living conditions for tenants in these buildings.”
During the first phase, between now and March 2010, the city will spend $98.5 million for 1,217 projects.
The money is spread out among 139 Toronto housing providers but the lion’s share of this cash, $68.3 million is going to the city’s Toronto Community Housing.

Flemingdon social housing needs repair

My sleepover in the community housing highlights the good and bad
Flemo holds place in my heart ever since
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally written for Town Crier Jan/5/06)

On Dec. 5, MPP Kathleen Wynne and I stayed over in the Toronto Community Housing (TCH) rent-gear-to-income apartment located in the heart of one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods.
When I got the tour of the TCH complex, where we were staying I quickly learned why the housing organization was seeking $224 million from the government to repair its 2,200 buildings across the city. Here in Flemingdon, which is southeast of Don Mills and Eglinton, one of the most dramatic needs is to fix the locks on the doors to the buildings and underground garages.
The building where we stayed had a busted front door lock, so anyone can enter the main entrance and congregate in the halls or worse. And this was not an anomaly. Other front and side entrance door locks were broken and so was the lock to the underground garage.
The housing manager John Martin said some gangs hang in this neighbourhood, so imagine having to walk by a drug deal as you make your way to your car or apartment unit?

Toronto youth leaders of tomorrow

Teens from troubled neighbourhoods get lessons that will last lifetime
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally written Jan/6/06 for Town Crier)

For young people growing up in some of the most disadvantaged communities in Toronto, initiatives like the Youth Leadership Program can be a lifesaver. 
More than 200 youth from high-risk neighbourhoods graduated Dec. 17 from the program, a joint initiative of the city and Toronto Community Housing (TCH). 
Many of the 52 gun deaths (from 78 murders) of 2005 involved youth, either as victim or perpetrator, and many of the shootings took place on or near TCH complexes. The city and TCH responded this summer by initiating a pilot project in 13 communities, including Malvern, Lawrence Heights, St. Jamestown, the Jane and Finch neighbourhood and Flemingdon Park, which is southeast of Don Mills Rd. and Eglinton Ave. East. 
The significance of the successful completion of the nine-week leadership course was not lost on parents, community leaders, media, politicians or youth themselves. 
“I feel proud that we are in this moment. We are Toronto the Good when we work and build together,” said Kwasi Kafele, a community leader and youth advocate.

Toronto social housing in disrepair

Social housing gets millions for repairs

WORKERS tear out the tiles from a shower at 2 Brahmns Ave.

TCH gets $36 mil for upgrades
Money for new kitchens and baths
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally published July 23.08 for Town Crier.)

She waited 30 months to move into her social housing apartment, including a month-long stay in a shelter fleeing an abusive relationship.
But when the 22-year-old North York resident and her toddler got their new apartment in May she discovered the toilet flooded her bathroom floor and leaked into the unit below. 
It was fixed, but the problem returned. 
Soon the single mother, who asked not to be identified, won’t have to worry about her downstairs neighbours every time she flushes. 
Thanks to $36.4 million in provincial money to tackle a backlog of repairs to social housing in Toronto, she’ll be getting a new bathroom.

Mould in city housing forces tenants out

Repairs in Toronto Community Housing could take two years to fix
Residents at Balmy Beach apartments relocated, wait to return home

42 Hubbard will get interior renovations. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

By Kris Scheuer
(Written July 14/09 for Town Crier. Jan 13/10 UPDATE.)
Deborah Beaven wants to know when she can move back into the beachfront social housing building she has called home for almost two decades.
All tenants at 42 Hubbard Blvd. were relocated in March because of mould, although she said some left as late as May. 
The city-owned Toronto Community Housing low-rise building, just steps from Kew-Balmy Beach, has been vacant since.
“I am getting calls and e-mails and (queries) on my Facebook account asking me the status of 42 Hubbard,” said Beaven, the building’s tenant rep. 
“It would be nice if they cared enough to give us an update every three months so we don’t feel we’ve been forgotten,” she said.
The tenants were moved so a solution could be found, say city officials. 
“They couldn’t do the repairs, it was too costly, while people were (living) there while they do the work,” Beaches-East York councillor Sandra Bussin said.

City to sell its beachfront homes

Million Dollar Views in Toronto

Government to unload 5 Hubbard Blvd, which fronts onto Kew Balmy Beach. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

By Kris Scheuer
For those who always dreamed of owning a cottage on the lake, the opportunity may be closer than you imagined.
The city plans to sell a handful of Kew Beach waterfront homes that are too costly to repair. The properties at 3, 5, 7 and 9 Hubbard Blvd. are owned by Toronto Community Housing and are on prime real estate facing Lake Ontario and Kew-Balmy Beach.
“TCH conducted a comprehensive review of our housing stock,” says community housing spokesperson Kyle Rooks. “The goal was to see the best way to invest scarce resources to ensure quality housing is given to our tenants.”
The Real Estate Asset Investment Strategy was completed in December and recommended selling 45 homes and three buildings with 326 apartments. Before that proceeds, an implementation plan will go to the housing board in July and then needs city council approval.